Ballywillan Church (Ballywillin) is situated about one mile outside Portrush on the Ballywillan Road. The old graveyard at Ballywillin is unusually large when compared to other churches of a similar period. Ronan Lundy visited the graveyard with William Roulston of the Ulster Historical Foundation and historians Dr Bob Curran & Hugh McGrattan.
Ruins of the old Ballywillan church
Ruins of the old church here date back to the 12th Century. It has no roof now but the walls are intact. William Roulston says that this is an important site from an archaeological point of view.
It’s not known who built this church, nor is there a definite date of its building but this place would certainly have been the main Parish church for Ballywillan.
In the early 17th Century came the reformation and, as was the case with so many others, this church would have been taken over by the Church of Ireland.
Surviving records show that throughout the 17th Century the church here had fallen into a dilapidated state and it was really only towards the end of the century that it was repaired to be an operational C.o.I. church.
As such it would have continued in use up until the 1840s, when a new church was built in nearby Portrush.
Prior to that time, the churchgoers who came here would have been Presbyterian rather than C.o.I. Portrush was only a village at the time and thus the congregation here would have been made up of locals from within a five mile radius or thereabouts. The congregation was fairly small too, probably less than 100 people, even though the building itself was quite substantial. Maintaining a large building was a drain on their resources and so they actually walled off part of the church interior to make the place smaller and more suitable for their purposes.
Princess Dorothea's Grave
Dr Bob Curran tells us that the oldest headstone in the graveyard is a particularly interesting one. It marks the grave of a Royal Princess, the illegitimate daughter of James 2nd, King of England to be exact!
King James was on his way in 1689 to the siege of Derry. He stopped off en-route for 3 days in Ballymoney. Whilst there he “took a shine”, as they say here, to a local farmer’s daughter. This farmer thought he might gain some favour from the King by offering his daughter for an evening’s companionship. This he did. King James took him up on the offer but moved on after his short stay, never to return.
It later transpired that the farmer’s daughter was pregnant. King James, who actually had seven illegitimate children during his life, denied having any relationship with the daughter of the farmer.
The child she bore was called Dorothea and was brought up into a Protestant Family. She subsequently married a wealthy Coleraine Merchant called Ross and died early in life, only in her twenties. Local legend has it that she actually died giving birth.
Dorothea, daughter of King James 2nd, is now buried right here in Ballywillan. Her headstone is said to have been erected by Queen Anne, her half sister. On the headstone is the Stuart Coat of Arms and a Fleur de Lys.
It’s worth considering that had Dorothea Ross lived to survive William 3rd and Queen Anne, She would have had claim to the Throne of England.
Had she lived she would have also changed the entire history of both Ireland and England. William was not popular and there were those with a definite interest in having him replaced.
Any successor had to be a Protestant and Dorothea would have made an ideal candidate. She was well thought of, well married and would very probably have been a popular choice at the time.
The Coat of arms and the Fleur de Lys is just visible in this photo of Dorothea's headstone
This is a six stage multi-cache.
The final cache is a small camo bison tube containing a log and a pencil and is a short walk from the graveyard carpark. Please be respectful of the graves and watch your footing as the ground can be uneven in places. If visiting Princess Dorotheas' grave walk up the path and turn left at the church doorway. Then turn right and right again that will bring you to the back of the church. The grave is suituated to the left at an angle. McLaughlins grave is behind it. Her headstone is flat to the ground. See cords and photo.
**********PLEASE NOTE THIS CHURCH IS BESIDE AN EXTREMEL.Y BUSY ROAD AND CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN ESP WITH YOUNGER CHILDREN. PARKING IS AVAILABLE IN THE GRAVEYARD CARPARK JUST OFF THE MAIN BALLYWILLAN ROAD***********
Stage 1 - N 55 11.274 W 006 38.049 What year did Albert Andersons wife pass away? make the last digit A
Stage 2 - N 55 11.266 W 006 38.041 what date in August 1877 did Olivia Henrietta Anges daughter of Robert Crookshank pass away? make the last digit B
Stage 3 - N 55 11.266 W 006 38.050 what age was Samuel Stewart Crossreach when he passed away in 1873? make the first digit C
stage 4 - N 55 11.261 W 006 38.034 what year did William McNeill lose his life due to the upsetting of the lifeboat? make the second digit D
stage 5 - N 55 11.260 W 006 38.021 Captain William Clarke what year did his daughter Sarah pass away? take the last two digits and swap them around. make this E
stage 6 - work out the following N 55 11.ABC W 006 3D.0E