About
The Christmas Tree festival runs from Friday the 2nd to Monday to Monday the 5th of December. The Festival is free, however, people may make a small donation if they so wish, and there are refreshments in the parish centre with a small cover charge, just for catering purposes. All proceeds are in aid of church funds.
The festival, which encompasses the various organisations of the parish and those who use the parish centre, have made 23 trees in the church with one extra tree in the parish centre for those who wish to remember someone they love by writing their name or a small prayer on a tag and placing it on the tree.
Refreshemnts available - group bookings welcome. Contact Melanie McAlister on 07789208465 or email melaniemcalister39@gmail.com.
History of the church - this year we celebrated 150 years of Christ Church in Derriaghy in its current form, however, there has been a church in this area for around 800 years. The origins of the parish date back to the eleventh century although the earliest reliable documentary evidence dates from 1204. The first rector of the parish was the Rev. Milo Whale. In modern times parishioners often refer to the rector as vicar, a usage which goes back to mediaeval times when in 1356 Richard Fitzralph, a famous Archbishop of Armagh held the lands and rectorship of Derriaghy and appointed a vicar to administer the parish. The current rector of the parish, including St Andrews Ballycolin, is Rev Aaron McAlister.
