Museum Heritage Talk : Leid And Lairn 2026, Ballywalter 400

Ballywalter Presbyterian congregation, the oldest on the Ards Peninsula, marks 400 years at the heart of the village.
The original congregation first met at Whitechurch, a 13th-century church restored by Sir James Hamilton, who,
along with Hugh Montgomery, acquired much of North Down and Ards in the early 1600s.
Presented by local historian Billy Carlile, this talk centres on the Reverend James Hamilton, nephew of Sir James and
first minister of Ballywalter, telling his story and, like others, the stony path to Presbyterianism.