The Cache
The cache is a magnetic nano placed on the railings outside the church. Please be careful when taking and retrieving, as it is in a residential area and non-cachers noticing could lead to the cache being taken. If you can't remember where the cache was when placing it back, refer to the hint. To get here from Belfast via public transport, the 2E and 2H busses can be taken from the stop outside the Tesco on Royal Avenue.
The Church
Rathcoole Presbyterian Church was established in 1955, in the very earliest years of the estate. As families were moving in from North Belfast, a local church was deemed necessary. The church was thus opened, with Rev. Bill Davison being it's first Minister, succeeded by Rev. Bobby Allen in 1967 and Rev. Frank McKeown in 2002. Two other churches would later open in the estate, with Rathcoole Baptist Church beginning worship in the Ardeen Hall in 1957, and the Newtownabbey Methodist Mission moving from it's original premises in North Belfast to the estate in 1974.
The Estate
Rathcoole Housing Estate was one of the large-scale housing schemes in Northern Ireland in the 1940s and 50s. The early decades of the estate's existence saw residents visiting Belfast for shopping, but the late 70s saw an expansion, with numerous shopping areas opening up, including the Abbeycentre shopping centre. Around the same time, in 1977, Newtownabbey was given the status of 'borough', which included Rathcoole in it's umbrella.
The Church Micro IE Series
The Church Micro IE series is open to everyone; if you have a church you would like to place a cache at then please contact THE_Chris through Geocaching.com. This is to keep track of the numbers of the churches and give you the general format for the cache page. In the UK there are nearly 10,000 caches in the series so we have some catching up to do! Also, if you currently have a published cache at a church that you would like to include in the series, get in contact and we can add it.