St Joseph's, Hannahstown

Image: © Rossographer Taken: 7 Jul 2010

RC church high up in Hannahstown on the south-western edges of greater Belfast. See also an almost identical picture taken at Image Worship began in this area around land consecrated by a Fr Hugh O’Donnell in 1797. Land here was donated by a wealthy Catholic landowner called John Hamill - he originally donated one acre of land to be used as a cemetery; his wife Hannah later donated money for a small schoolhouse which was also used as the church (it is likely that the area became known as "Hannah's Town" as a result of this). The Hamill family have an impressive mausoleum in the churchyard - see Image Some thirty years later St Joseph's was erected here on land donated gratuitously by John McCance, a liberal-minded Protestant landowner of the district. The stone nave on the left is part of the original building which was extensively renovated in 1998. There is a bench mark at the bottom of the stone nave - see Image

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