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The church building and its origins
Due to the antiquity of the building, its location and its unusual architecture, the church building is worth a mention here. The
building was formerly Peel's Mathematical School which came into being on
what would seem to be this original site.
The Mathematical School
In his will of 1763 the Reverend James Moore, a member of the famous Moore
family of Patrick, left the annual rent of his Dublin houses for the
erection and endowment of a Mathematical School in Peel "in order to
have ten poor scholars taught gratis for ever in the different branches of
that science".
From food for the mind to food for the soul
The School flourished for the rest of the century but at the beginning of
the nineteenth it suffered because of the eccentricities of one or two of
its masters.
By 1880 the Master was unable to get his stipend and in 1892, with only
six pupils remaining, the school closed.
It became among other things, a Working Men's Club and a Salvation Army
Citadel before being purchased by Grace Baptist Church in 1985.
The church completed an enormous restoration project in 1996, when the roof, windows and doors were all made to replicate those of the original building. Because of its historical interest it is classed as a 'Heritage Building', is frequently viewed by holiday-makers, and regularly visited on Heritage Open Days. Whilst the main hall has a regular seating capacity of 48, this expands greatly for special occasions! Furthermore there is seating in the kitchen area if parents need to take children out during the meetings. The services are relayed over by loudspeaker so you can still participate fully whilst out of the hall. At this time we do not have any induction loop facility but the lectern is usually well amplified. |
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