Dunsfort Parish Church (1776)
Under a sense of duty Mr Smyth wrote a letter of admonition to the great man of the parish, who was living in open sin. This, instead of leading him to repentance, excited his hostility, so that he deprived the writer of his house, and ordered his tenants not to receive him. Thus the faithful minister and his family were compelled to seek shelter in a little thatched cabin, with only two rooms and no attendance; but this reverse of fortune did not give Mrs Smyth an uneasy thought. She could write, "Glory be to God for such a shelter! It is more than the King of kings was always assured of." Animated by this spirit, she entered heartily into the duties of her new position, rising early and late, taking little rest, and denying herself all but the mere necessaries of life.
The fearless testimony and faithful preaching of Mr Smyth, accompanied by the saintly life of his devoted wife, made a deep and gracious impression on the mind of the Hon. Miss Sophia Ward, daughter of Lord Bangor, showing her the transitory and unsatisfactory nature of worldly pleasure and leading her to see the necessity of a life devoted to God in order to happiness. So that during the dispute between Mr Smyth and her father, not only were her sympathies with the faithful minister and not the faithless parent, but she was enabled by Divine grace to lay hold for refuge on the hope set before her in the Gospel. She also formed a high estimate of Irish Methodism, which she retained during her subsequent protracted life, and generally manifested in the final disposal of her property.
'History of Methodism in Ireland' by Crookshank,p301-2 and p306-7.
Additional Information
This church was built in 1791 on the site of another.