Information board, Layd Church

Image: © Kenneth Allen Taken: 5 Jul 2014

The following text is included in the description, HISTORY Layd was the parish church of the Cushendall area from the Middle Ages to the late 18th century. Traditionally its patron was St Kieran, and in 1306 the church was valued at 20 shillings for tax purposes, but the claimed association with the Franciscans is not documented. The last two clergy to serve the old church were the Rev John McArthur who died in 1746, and his son the Rev Dennis McArthur (died 1796), both buried here. In its last years the church was thatched, and the red stone church with its thatched roof in this bright green hollow must have been a striking sight. The church was finally abandoned in about 1790. Its ruin stands in a steep-sided valley, beside the fast-flowing stream which reaches the sea at Port Obe The Scottish coast is often visible in the distance THE BURIALS Burials have altered the appearance of the church a great deal. There is the big stone and brick Macaulay vault in the chancel, and the level inside is raised at least a metre by burial, explaining why the windows and cupboards are almost at present ground level. The large upright slabs in the chancel tell the Macaulay family history, and outside the west end are several memorials to the McDonnells of Kilmore, Glenariff, a branch of the family which built so many castles round the Antrim coast. The unusual cross with a hole through the centre near the gate is earlier than the inscription on its shaft. The memorials at Layd tell of death in battle and drowning at sea, but this graveyard, sloping down to the sea, is a particularly beautiful and peaceful place.

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