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REPRESENTING THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF 2X2 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS ON THE INTERNET
The Life & Ministry of William Irvine
CHAPTERS
1
2
3
4
5
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7
8
9
10
11
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Chapter Index
Chapter 10
1906 - 1913
Revised January 5, 2013
Irvine’s Annual Convention Tours
1906: FIRST Conventions Held in NORTH AMERICA
1907-08: FIRST Workers to Die
1907: FIRST Convention in New Zealand - Christchurch
1908: FIRST Convention on Australian soil
- Northcote NSW
1909: FIRST Debenham, England Conv. (Oldest Conv. in World)
1910: Bethel Mission In South Australia
1910: W. C. Trimble Publishes
Pamphlet "Do They Walk the "Jesus Way"?
1913: John Irvine Dies
1913: Court Cases
1913: Crocknacrieve
Conv. Photos
Chapter 10
FIRST Conventions Around The World
1905-06:
There were no conventions held at Crocknacrieve these two years. The first convention there was held in 1904 and the next one was held
in 1907. "Where as hundreds
had attended in 1904, thousands
attended in 1907.
The 1910 Convention was even larger
with more than 3,000 attending. The main tent was lit for the
first time by
electricity, thanks to a ‘suction gas engine.’...There was no
convention in 1912 probably
because of the political tensions of that time....In
1913 there was another
Convention at which upwards of 1,000 attended. The whole
establishment was lighted by electricity, generated by suction gas, and
water
was pumped by an electric motor. The pilgrims apparently believed in
enrolling
the services of the products of modern civilisation. Where some years
ago all
the workers journeyed about on bicycles now Mr. Irvine and some of the
leading preachers were travelling about on motor cycles. This
convention was
the last convention on a very large scale. Thereafter, instead of
one very
large convention there were several smaller ones, at which 400 to 500
attended.
Instead of lasting four weeks they now lasted but four days. There were
no
conventions at Crocknacrieve after that until 1916. From then on they continued
annually until 1921, when John
West sold the property to Simon Loane.
John and Sara West moved to a larger property in Rossahilly.
After Edward Cooney was excommunicated, those who
agreed with him continued to meet at John West’s new home in
Rossahilly. The
other branch of the pilgrims (called Reidites by the locals) continued
locally under Wilson Reid, and still hold
a convention each year at the end of June at Gortaloughan.
1907, JULY: William Irvine returned from his second trip around
the world, having been away from home since September, 1905. He wrote, “I
got home in August after having meeting in Canada in two places. Came back to
the States that year and had meetings and conventions and went back to Ireland
for July again, by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.” (October 13, 1920 Letter
to Dunbars) Two of the chief pioneers of the movement, Mr. Wm Irvine and
Mr. Edward Cooney, were both present at the July, 1907, Crocknacrieve Convention
held in County Fermanagh according to the Impartial Reporter, July 18, 1907
1908-1913: For the next six years (1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914), William Irvine went on a worldwide convention tour every single year. He wrote that he went “back to States and so on every year, til 1913.” (October 13, 1920 Letter to Dunbars) “9 years ago since I landed in New York for the last time—going.” (September 12, 1923 Letter to Dunbars) These six trips, plus his 1903, 1905 and 1914 trips totaled nine times he went around the world.
The American Family Immigration History Center at Ellis Island
at: http://www.ellisisland.org
shows the passenger records for persons passing through Ellis Island
between 1892 and 1924. Ellis Island lies in the NY harbor, and
was
a US immigration station for more than 60 years. Their records
show that William Irvine, George Walker
and Irvin Weir arrived at Ellis Island from Glasgow, Scotland on
September
14, 1903, aboard the ship Columbia. Their records show
Irvine
was a Scot, 40 years of age; Geo. Walker as Irish, 26 years of age, and
Weir as Irish, 25 years old. They also show Wm Irvine arriving on
Ellis Island on Sept. 18, 1909 on the ship Campania at 46 years
of age; and arriving on August 30, 1913, on the ship Lusitania,
at age 50. It also shows John Carroll and Charles Glenn arriving
on May 16, 1904 on the ship Furnessia.
Wm Irvine was reported to be a visitor at many conventions around the world, but he always made it back in time for the Crocknacrieve Convention held in July of each year (or we could say he left just after the Crocknacrieve conv.). He was primarily a convention speaker; yet most of the friends were not aware that he was their founder and chief when they heard him speak at their conventions. However, it did not go unnoticed by the reporters of the local Enniskillen newspaper, The Impartial Reporter, who made it a point to mention the founder's presence and cover his sermons. Since he was abroad the majority of the time, he didn’t have a regular field where he preached during the year, as did the other workers.
1906, CANADA: The FIRST CONVENTION IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA was held in TORONTO,
ONTARIO, CANADA in a rented house and a tent.
Since Irvine said he had been to meetings in Canada in two places between 1906
and 1907 (October 13, 1920 Letter
to Dunbars), he very easily could have been present at Canada’s first
convention held in Toronto in 1906. According to Notes on George Walker's Early
Days in America as related on October 29, 1979: "The first convention
in North America was in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1906. A 15' x
40' tent and a rented house were used. This was the only convention that year.
In 1907, the rented house had bed bugs, so the women spent only one night
there. Dining, meetings and men's sleeping were all in the tent.
APRIL, 1906, PASO ROBLES, CALIFORNIA: THE
FIRST
CONVENTION IN THE UNITED STATES and THE FIRST CALIFORNIA CONVENTION was held at Paso Robles,
California on James and Ina Hills' place. There was a baptism a few miles up the
Salinas River at Lake Isabel, where 25 were baptized. The SECOND California
Convention was held in 1907 at San Luis Obispo.
James Bone wrote: “While the tent was still up they had convention there which was the first convention held in California and according to Willie Jamieson, was the first convention held in North America in April 1906, the week after the San Francisco earthquake. There was a baptism a few miles up the Salinas River at Lake Isabel. We believe there was twenty-five baptized.” (SEE California Accounts)
"Our
first convention was in a little building in Paso Robles...must
have been
in April, 1907, the time the river flooded, and Pa got in a boat and
tried to
get to the other side to get the preachers as they were at McPhails
and the crowd all at our place. William
Irvine
got in the boat, and it tipped over and he almost drowned...The very
first convention that was held in Paso Robles was a small one--the
workers were
Irvin Weir and Willie Jamieson...and it was for one day only. In
1907
convention, the workers were Willie Jamieson, Irvin Weir, William Irvine and (Jack
Carroll?). Later on
"During this convention it rained very hard and the Huero
River came up and was impossible to cross. The visiting workers were at
McPhail's place on the other side from
convention.
Papa made a boat right quick. He and a visitor from
"From there the workers went to Paso Robles and were there for the convention in 1909 on the Jim Hill place east of Paso Robles. It was during that convention that a flash flood came down the river and separated the workers from the rest of the people as they were staying at McPhails, which was across the river. Jim Hill and some others made a boat and Jim Hill and ***another man*** got into it to bring the workers across the river. The boat upset in the current and ***the other man*** got hold of a tree. They threw a rope to him and pulled him back. Jim Hill held on to the boat and went down the river about one-third mile until the river made another bend, and he got out on the other side from where he started. I think it ended up by them going up the river to a wider, shallower place, and Sid Dayton getting them across with a horse. (An Account of the Spread of the Gospel in the Early Days in California by James Bone) (NOTE: this Account omits the "visitors" name, who was William Irvine.)
Incidentally,
James Adelbert and Ina Hill named one of
their sons
William Irvine Hill, born
1907,
DECEMBER -
SECOND
1907, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - THE FIRST MIDWEST CONVENTION. "The first convention in Illinois was in Chicago in 1907. This convention took in all the Midwest. About 60 people attended." (Notes on George Walker's Early Days in America as related on October 29, 1979)
1907, NEBRASKA: The FIRST Convention in Eastern Nebraska was held in the Fall of 1907 at Petersburg on Frank Sullivan's place. In 1910, convention was held in West Point, Eastern Nebraska on Victor & Kate Landholm's place, and Wm Irvine was a visiting worker. The FIRST Convention in Western Nebraska was held the Fall of 1915 at Joe Foster's in Aldien. (From: "Workers Going forth from Nebraska)
1907, PENNSYLVANIA: The FIRST Convention in this state was held at Philadelphia, 1906. According to Berlin Raymond's account of Abbie Barton's death, a convention
was held at Pittsburgh, PA in October, 1907.
1907, WISCONSIN:
The FIRST Convention was held at Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin on Carlson property.
1907, NEW ZEALAND: The FIRST Convention on New Zealand soil was at Christchurch in March, 1908. "In March 1908, a Convention was held in Christchurch, after that convention several workers went on to Australia." (from John Hardie - Concerning his Arrival in Australia and New Zealand)
1908, MARYLAND: The FIRST Convention was held in Baltimore; subsequent conventions were held at Brooklyn, Maryland on the Hawkins farm from 1909 through 1953; then moved to Downings, Virginia in 1954.
1908, MICHIGAN: Eldon Tenniswood recalled the Toronto Convention and the first convention in Michigan: "There was a convention in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, during the summer of 1907, and Dad went to that convention. The next year there was a convention in Sunshine (Michigan) on Dad and Mother's farm. That year, 1908, the workers dug a well on Grandpa Tenniswood's farm to provide plenty of water for the convention. I think the workers were Jimmy Jardine, John Patterson, a Scotchman, who had been coal miners (sic) [NOTE: NO NAME GIVEN**], Charlie Hughes and their companions...There were 4 conventions at Sunshine. Three were held on our parent's farm and the last one was held at Theron and Fanny Van Scicle's farm. In 1912, the convention was held at Rogerville, on Mr. and Mrs. Davies' property. The next year it was held on Fred Klaty's farm in Carsonville, where it has been continuously since 1913." (Early Days in Michigan by Eldon Tenniswood, October, 1981) Note: Why wasn't the name given for the worker identified as a Scotchman and coal miner? All the others' names were given. The two points of information given are true of William Irvine.
1909, OREGON: "The FIRST convention in Western Oregon was held on Perry Meeks' farm in January, 1909. Willie (Jamieson) said it was about one year after they arrived in Oregon. Some friends and workers came from Washington and there were about fifty-two present." (According to "When the Gospel came to Oregon in Dec. 1907" compiled by Ada Park in 1985) Mr. and Mrs. Meeks' farm was located in Canby, Oregon.
1908, CANADA, VANCOUVER. The "FIRST convention in Vancouver was in 1908, just a month apart from the Oregon convention in 1908." The "FIRST convention in Eastern Washington and Oregon was in 1912 in a hall in Weston, and in 1913 in the Bortorff home in the country." (from Early Days in California, 1904-1910 by Mrs. Alex McPhail)
1908: AUSTRALIA: FIRST Convention on Australian soil was at Northcote, a suburb of Melbourne, New South Wales, in March, 1908: According to The Bethel Mission Report:. "Sam Jones heard the gospel in Belfast it 1902 and professed and went out to preach that same year. He was about 25 years of age at the time...In 1907 he was moved to come to Australia, and on 27th December, 1907, he and a younger companion, Bob Bashford, departed from London and sailed to Australia on the "Orontes". They arrived in Melbourne in February 1908, in time to attend in March the first convention held on Australian soil at Northcote, a suburb of Melbourne."
1910, INDIANA: "By the first convention in Indiana (Pendleton 1910) there were only a few friends. A few churches were existing to feed the last convention there in 1913." (Account of Indiana)
1911, WASHINGTON: The "...FIRST convention at Miltown, Washington
on the Silvernail farmstead... These early conventions were small. Meetings
were held in the barn in the center isle between the cow and horse stalls...Conventions
have been held continuously at Miltown since 1911 until the present time...some
information...indicates that Miltown convention may have one of the longest
tenures on one site under one family name, but surely a site of the most total
conventions, perhaps one hundred or more." (The Miltown Convention
Story written by Harold E. Silvernail, 1984)
1911, KENTUCKY: Lancaster, was reported in the Lancaster Record. Wm
Irvine, Edward Cooney, George Walker and Alfred Magowan are all pictured on
a 1912 Convention Photograph.
1912, MISSOURI: The FIRST convention held at Loyd Smith's in Jameson,
Missouri. See Workers Photo in TTT
Photo Gallery. Workers at this convention who are also found on 1905
List are: George Samuel, John Doak, John McNeill, Jessie Patterson
and George Manning. Hymn writer Glenn Smith also shown.
1908 CONVENTIONS in Ireland at Crocknacrieve, County Fermanagh and Willsburgh, County Tipperary on the Falkiner's property
1909, OCTOBER - 600 TRAMP PREACHERS WORLDWIDE: By this time, no less than "Six hundred tramp preachers have been proving during the past ten years that these scriptural promises are for the twentieth century and are just as real and as true as when they were spoken." (Impartial Reporter, October 7, 1909)
1909, AUGUST: FIRST SEPARATION OF SEXES at Crocknacrieve convention. “In former years, the people sat anywhere in the spacious tent without distinction of sex, but on Sunday, the women sat on the right and the men on the left.” (Impartial Reporter August 12, 1909). The following year the reporter remarked:
"But all the precautions in the world will not keep the ‘brothers’ apart from the ‘sisters,’ as they mark different places. Mr. Irvine seems to think that it is the women who tempt the men. Some of the women kind would think otherwise. Co-mingling is perfectly scriptural, and naturally right, and separation is morally wrong. Anyhow, virtue reigns, and there is not the slightest, not the faintest imputation against the purity of the Convention, but all the rules that ever were made will not prevent men and women from the natural impulses of healthy life, according to the Christian ideal of mating, according to God’s ordinance, and it is right and fitting that they should come together." (Impartial Reporter, August 4, 1910)Edward Cooney objected to the holding of conventions--he believed they were unscriptural. Although he was a party to them in the early days, he eventually began to speak against them from various convention platforms. This did not make him popular with the overseers and raised difficult questions for them long after Edward had left the area.
1907-8: DEATH OF FIRST WORKERS IN USA: Abbie Barton and Harry Cross. "Abbie Barton was a native of Massachusetts, living near Springfield. Two brothers, Jack Carroll and Hugh Matthews, came from the old country in May, 1904, and she went to their meetings and decided later that year. She went into the work in October of 1907, after the convention at Pittsburgh, PA, where it was arranged for her to go with Agnes Hutchinson to West Virginia. She preached from October, 1907, to February 1908, when she was stricken with typhoid. While ill, she was cared for in the home of people by the name of Hutchinson who were not professing. Her death was on or about February 15th....She was the first worker to die in this country." (Account by by Berlin Raymond)
From: "When the Gospel came to Oregon in December, 1907," compiled by Ada Park in 1985: "Willie (Jamieson) went to Dayton, WA to the funeral of Harry Cross, although it was over by the time he got there. Tom Lyness and Harry were having a mission in Dayton; one night no one invited them home so they slept in a haystack. Harry was bitten by a spider and died on July 2, 1908."
Possibly the FIRST death of a worker on the 1905 list was that of Jim Hodgins from tuberculosis in May, 1907 in the Greytown Hospital, NZ, at the age of 22. He was one of the FIRST workers to go to Australia, along with his sister Francis in 1905, and is buried in the Greytown Public Cemetery, NZ
1909: FIRST DEBENHAM, ENGLAND CONVENTION in NE Suffolk: "This is the oldest convention in the world (since 1909) and the gospel first came to this village of Debenham in 1904." (Letter by Sydney Holt, May 22, 1985) NOTE: This convention is not listed on the 2003 list.
1910: BETHEL MISSION IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA: "Conventions in those days ran for over a week. After convention Sam, (Jones) this time with a different companion -- Jimmy Vallance from New Zealand, together with two visiting senior workers from Ireland, William Irvine and Wilson McClung (Wilson and his wife Annie had come to Australia at the end of 1908) all returned to Bethel. Sam was a gentle sensitive man, not a powerful speaker, and his listeners were strong stubborn religious Germans. Wilson and William, both very forceful men, probably felt the need to see for themselves that the Bethel folk were really genuine and had properly understood the message. Sam and Jim had a great catch of fish in the net, but it was now necessary to get them into the boat, so the visitors planned to run a special series of gospel meetings for about a week before moving on, these being held in Hermann and Lydia Geue's home. However while Sam was away at convention a further complication had arisen. The young converts had been reading their Bibles and realized that they had never been baptised by immersion. They had only ever been sprinkled on the head when they were about eight days old and could now see that this was not right. They felt they should do something about it, so looked up a Baptist minister and engaged him to baptise them! When Sam and his companions met them they spoke enthusiastically of how they had gone ahead and been baptised. The workers then had the difficult task of telling them that this could not be accepted.
"The meetings resumed and went on every night for about a week -- Martha Matz said the purpose of the visit by the two visiting brothers after convention was to confirm the Bethel group, however it is most likely the mission was tested before they left, and this was when the remainder of the "twenty-four" made their stand (for the second time!) But during this week while these babes rejoiced in the messages being given, some sensed there was something amiss with brother Irvine. Even Wilson McClung hung his head when William spoke. This impression was further confirmed the following year at the 1911 convention which William Irvine again attended." (Bethel Mission in South Australia)
1910: W. C. Trimble Publishes Pamphlet "THE TRAMP or GO-PREACHERS" (Sometimes called Pilgrims). Do They Walk the "Jesus Way"? William Copeland Trimble (WCT) of the Impartial Reporter, Enniskillen, noticed that rural districts had contributed many converts to the Go-Preachers, and it occurred to him that the time was right for someone to discuss the points raised at the Conventions in plain language which the simplest could understand. Therefore, he wrote a series of articles in the Impartial Reporter about the Tramp Preachers, and pursued the inquiry: Did they, in their doctrines and practices, follow what they called "the Jesus way?" A number of Readers suggested these articles be preserved in pamphlet form. And that is what Mr. Trimble of Impartial Reporter did.
1910: A publication titled "The Cooneyites or Dippers," became available for the price of 7d. It was advertised in the Nenagh Guardian newspaper as "a plain refutation of the principal errors of the Go-Preachers." It was written by Rev. S. C. Canon Armstrong, B.A. (T.C.D.) who was the Rector of Templederry, Templemore, Church of Ireland, Diocese of Killaloe. It was printed by the Church of Ireland Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd., Dublin, Ireland. Templederry is in County Clare and located 6 miles southeast of Nenagh and 87 miles southwest of Dublin. "There are three sections, the first dealing with 'Infant Baptism,' the second with 'Dipping' and the third with 'Go-Preaching.'" The Preface to the book written by S. C. Armstrong states:
"It is very necessary that our people should be warned against the pernicious teaching of these so-called 'Pilgrims,' who come amongst us with their mouths full of Scriptural phrases and pious words, seeking 'to draw away disciples after them.' While the writer realizes his treatment of the subject to be very inadequate, he yet hopes it may serve this purpose. The Cooneyites openly avow that their object is to up-root and destroy the Chuch (which they do not allow to be a true Christian Church), and to set up their own system in its stead. It follows that any one of us who, knowing this, gives help or countenance to them is false to his Christian profession, and a traitor to his Church. Mark well St. John's warning to his converts: 'If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God-speed. For he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evil deeds' (2 John i:. 10-11)."
(Nenagh Guardian June 25, 1910; and July 9, 1910)
1910 CENSUS OF IRELAND: Although there are about 30 listings for the name "William Irvine," none appear to be the evangelist from Scotland. It would seem that he was not in Ireland when the census was taken. In the previous census for 1901, he and Irvine Weir were listed as "visitors" in the home of James WIlson Robinson and family.
1910: VANCOUVER B.C. Convention - "Mr. I. spoke twice a day and was in fine form...Mr. I. will now be in Calif. and hope there may be good times there also." (Letter by Elisabeth Jamieson from Barton, Oregon dated Jan. 7, 1911 to My Dear Sister) See copy in TTT Photo Gallery
1911: Willie Jamieson returned to Scotland in 1911 for conventions. Jamieson's home was in Berkwickshire, Scotland. He wrote a letter from No. 18 Bridge End St., Duns, Berwickshire, Scotland dated Aug 1, 1911: “There were very large crowds all the time. Wm Irvine as usual did the most of the preaching and I never heard him better.” Ship records show Wm. Jamieson saled from Liverpool to New York on Nov. 2-12, 1911.
1912: NUTFIELD CONVENTION held in County Fermanagh, Ireland, on McClung's property. The August 8, 1912 Impartial Reporter stated: "The Pilgrims brought their convention to an end at Nutfield, Brookeborough on Sunday. Rain poured all day Sunday and prevented any attendance of the general public, while the week day services were attended almost exclusively by members of the party."
1912: CARRICK CONVENTION started in County Laois, Ireland on Pearson's property..
1913: JOHN IRVINE DIES: William Irvine's Father died at 80 years of age. The cause on his death certificate was listed as Chronic Bronchitis, Cardiac Dilatation (Born 1833; died August 12, 1913). Wm Irvine wrote William Pollock, April 13, 1927:
“Every step I have taken has been in opposition to those I loved most dearly. But Father and Mother on their deathbeds left clear witness that they could see that I had done the best thing for all; so that was great comfort and cheer to me after many lonely years when I knew that they were not in sympathy with my work. If I had gone into the Presbyterian church missionary or other recognized work, they would have been delighted, but to take the lowly, lonely path with so much opposition of all kinds, I hurt them badly. Most of my relatives were interested till 1914, when I began to see what’s my work today…”
"My father smoked and used rum, but the bread he brought for his children we ate. Our need and the love we had for him covered all else. I did not know what a good dad I had and what a wicked son I had been til I looked on his face in the coffin when we were laying him away a year before the war. The night before he died he said I was the best son he had. The night after he was buried I knew that I was the most wicked son he had. I had violated the Spirit of Christ and God toward him and caused him to suffer much through my attitude toward tobacco and rum--through the influence of a set of whitewashed sepulchers whom I had mistaken for Christians." (December 13, 1920 Letter to Alfred Magowan)
James Hutchison wrote about John Irvine: "One stalwart member of the Free Church and also one of its managers was Mr. John Irvine…He was involved in the mining industry like his father before him, at first connected with small enterprises that worked minerals, then later as a colliery manager at Dumbreck and the Haughs Pits. At his death in August 1913, he was described as, 'one of the diminishing army of veterans who took part in the historic war in the Crimea (1853-56)'. John volunteered for service with the 79th Cameron Highlanders, was present at the Battles of Alma and Inkerman and also took part in the Battle of Balaclava, where he witnessed the famous 'Charge of the Light Brigade'. He came through unscathed and lived to the ripe old age of 80." (Weavers, Miners and the Open Book – A History of Kilsyth by James Hutchison; published by Kelvinprint in Cumbernauld, Scotland 1986 ISBN 0-9511362-0-8; p. 72).
1913: COURT CASES. The Impartial Reporter, July 17, 1913, recounts a libel suit at a court session held in Bristol, England, brought by the workers against Rev. D. L. Hayward who was issuing a leaflet against the Go-Preachers, implying they were engaging in white slave traffic, and procuring women for prostitution under the cloak of religion. The workers were successful in obtaining damage awards. The article states: "William Irvine, one of the founders of the Go-Preachers Society, said it was Protestant evangelical" and that "I have never known of a new sect being founded without opposition".
The Impartial Reporter of December 18, 1913, concerns a court case where Edward Cooney sued for libel against The People, Ltd., a London newspaper, and won. While under oath, Mr. Cooney was asked by Mr. Justice Darling, "Were you the founder of this sect?" Cooney replied, "No, William Irvine was the first, about sixteen years ago." This works out to 1897. In the early years, no one seemed to have any qualms, hesitation or reluctance in pointing to Irvine as the founder of this fellowship, as shown by numerous Impartial Reporter articles.
It is possible for reporters to slant and misrepresent what they write, and certainly, one would not want to be so gullible as to believe every book and newspaper article that is written. There were obviously strict laws in effect in the United Kingdom against slander and libel at this time. The Impartial Reporter covered incidents where the workers and friends went to court and WON suits for libel. Taking into account the risks involved, in all likelihood, the newspapers presented facts and details accurately; i.e. people involved, dates, locations, etc. Undoubtedly, the reporters were guilty of insinuating into their reports their own personal opinions and judgements of the facts; however, opinions do not alter facts or truth in any way, and the reader is free to form his own opinion about what he reads.
1913: CROCKNACRIEVE CONVENTION - Last one Wm Irvine would attend: "The year 1913 marked the end of a phase in the development of the Go-Preacher movement. This was the last convention on a very large scale, where thousands of people attended, to be held at Crocknacrieve or elsewhere; the last that had a 4-week duration; and the last William Irvine was to attend. He did not know it would be his last, nor did anyone else at that time. But events moved rapidly, and, for better or worse, this fellowship was never to be quite the same again." (The Life and Ministry of Edward Cooney 1867-1960 by Patricia Roberts p 112)
Apparently there had been some modernizing to the convention. "The whole establishment is lighted by electricity, generated by suction gas, and water is pumped by an electric motor. In fact, the Pilgrims apparently believe in enrolling in the service all the products of modern civilization they can. For instance, some years ago all ‘the workers’ journeyed about on pedal bicycles. Now Mr. Irvine and some of the leading preachers travel on motor cycles." (July 3, 1913 Impartial Reporter)
It would not surprise the Author to learn that Goodhand Pattison was responsible for installing the electricity: "In 1909, William Goodhand Pattison set up a mill for grinding corn and sawing timber at Templemore Road, Cloughjordan, a road better known as the 'Windmill'…he installed an engine driven by gas extracted from anthracite coal to work a generator, which provided electric power for the machinery in the mill. He decided to use the electric current surplus to his needs to provide an electricity supply for the town. Poles and wires were erected along the streets for houses, shops, businesses and also for public street-lighting." (In and Out of School - in the Home of the MacDonaghs by Roche Williams, 1999, p. 202)
Apparently wine was served in the Early Days, rather than grape juice: "Every Sunday morning the Lord’s Supper is observed. A piece of bread is passed from hand to hand, followed by WINE in mugs." (July 10, 1913 Impartial Reporter)
Photo Gallery
of 1913 Crocknacrieve Convention
Photo Gallery of
1995 Crocknacrieve Grounds
Photo Gallery of
2004 Crocknacrieve Grounds
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