Markethill
Methodist

Where it all started...

Surgeon-Major Joseph Marshall Lynn was a

prominent Armagh Methodist. He settled at Markethill, Co Armagh in 1831, previously having a distinguished

career in medicine at the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dublin.

​Major Surgeon Lynn was appointed as surgeon at Markethill Dispensary in November. His father and Mother were Methodists, and he was also a committed Christian in that tradition.

When Lynn arrived in Markethill, Methodism did not exist in the village – there were no meetings, not even a prayer meeting existed.

He was the main motivator in establishing the Markethill Methodist Church in 1833.

Lynn became a distinguished leader of Armagh Methodist Church when he moved there in 1854 as Surgeon-Major to the Armagh Militia, 3rd Battalion of Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was instrumental in the improvement and extension of the Abbey Street Church and was a prominent member of the Temperance movement. He was involved in organising the Armagh Rail Disaster on 12 June 1889, and on that fateful day when 89 were killed he attended the many injured.
Surgeon-Major Lynn died in 1899 and is buried in the grounds of the Church of Ireland at Glaslough, County Monaghan.

 

Markethill Choir...

For many years in the mid 1800’s the Markethill Methodist Choir met early in the morning at 5am, in Surgeon Major Lynn’s House and 'after a cup of coffee, to sally out [walk with purpose] and sing from one end of the town to the other, that grand old hymn

"Mortals, awake, with angels join,
And chant the solemn lay;
Joy, love, and gratitude combine,
To hail the auspicious day."'

The townspeople were woken up! By the time the singers reached the Chapel it could barely hold all who wanted to attend.
The local Sergeant John Henderson objected to this open-air demonstration until he saw it for himself and was so impressed with the procession and lamps and singing, that he became a supporter and eventually a class leader.

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Rev James Swanton Waugh...

Rev James Swanton Waugh, born on 22 March 1822 was a Methodist Wesleyan clergyman, His father, Rev John Waugh was also a Methodist Minister originating from Markethill Methodism.
James was educated at private schools and at the Royal School, Dungannon and in 1840 he was ordained and appointed to churches in Dublin. Later he volunteered to serve on the goldfields in Victoria and arrived in Melbourne on 8 February 1854. He served as the President of Wesley College in Melbourne, Australia from 1866 to 1883. As president of Wesley College, Waugh sought a 'liberal and pious' education grounded in Scripture. He was also the President of the Australian Methodist Conference in 1865 and again in 1884.
The Rev James Swanton Waugh died in 1898.

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