Kilrea (1817)
The reports furnished by the missionaries were most encouraging. Mr Noble writes that there had been "a most glorious work in the county of Derry." In a small tract of country between Kilrea and Garvagh, a circuit was formed that received two missionaries every night in the month; classes were commenced in almost every village, and the congregations were very large. The services sometimes continued for five or six hours, while the people expressed the agony of their souls by strong and bitter cries. At one of these meetings in Kilrea, during which many were converted, when the preachers and leaders were exhausted, the service was continued by some devoted sisters who were present. Scarcely a night passed that some were not made happy in God. In one little village, previously noted for its wickedness, the public-house was shut up, cock-fighting abandoned, and nearly all the people converted.
and at Kilrea, the work prospered gloriously, while several hundred had been converted to God, and it appeared as if the blessed work was only beginning. A few months 1ater, Mr Richey writes, "Our prospects are of the most encouraging kind;" and refers to the conversion of a young man, and also a young woman who had been Roman Catholics. The latter exposed to such violent persecution that she had to leave I, father's house, and, in order to obtain a livelihood, enter Beryl, Mr Noble mentions a family named Crilley, that had renounced Popery, joined the Society, and received the missionaries into their house.
'History of Methodism in Ireland' Volume II p418-9 and p434.
Additional Information
Location is unknown, possible Church of Ireland.