Journal Volume 7 2013

Delgany church

A Guide to the County of Wicklow, Rev. G N Wright, 1822

The village of Delgany lies about a quarter of a mile to the east of Belle View gate; the road is along the demesne wall, and there are many neat and tasteful cottages on the road side. The town has grown up under the fostering hand of the amiable proprietor of Belle View, whose name is proverbial throughout the kingdom for intelligence, benevolence, and nationality; it is laid out with judgment, and the cottages are built with excellent taste in rustic architecture. There is a day-school for poor children in the village, and other little institutions for the benefit of the industrious poor, which, though now common in various parts of the kingdom, were first established by the owner of Delgany. Next after the delightful situation and view from the village, the church is the object most worthy of attention; it is a light Gothic building, 102 feet in length by 34 in breadth: over the western entrance a steeple rises 90 feet in height, containing a clock and bell; beneath the dial-plate of the clock is inserted a stone tablet, bearing the arms of the La Touche family, together with the following most suitable and modest inscription: —

This church was built
A. D. 1789.
Of thine do I give unto thee,
O my God.

Delgany Church

The church was built by Peter La Touche, Esq. in 1789, after a design by Whitmore Davis, of the county Antrim; and upon its completion, in 1790, thanks were returned in the public papers to the generous benefactor, in the name of the parish, by the Rev. Joseph Stock, rector, and the church wardens, John Scott and John Rawdon, Esqrs. In front of the church-door is a long shed for the protection of horses, carriages, and servants, during service, a plan quite novel, and a most useful appendage to a country church.