14th June, 2026 - Choral Evensong in St Nicholas’ Parish Church, Carrickfergus

Beth Aiken was Director of Music in St Bride’s church, Kilbride for 5 years before leaving in late 2018 to take up a musical position in St Mark’s church, Dundela. More recently she became Director of Music in St Nicholas’ church in Carrickfergus. In all three churches she has been very influential in promoting a high standard of choral music in worship. Some months ago a suggestion was made that the choirs of St Bride’s and St Nicholas’ in Carrickfergus should combine for choral evensong and the suggestion was met by great enthusiasm from both choirs. So after some practice sessions in their respective churches the two choirs came together this afternoon for a combined practice ahead of the service this evening.

The service began at 6:30pm and was led by the rector of St Nicholas’, Rev. Dr Chris St John, who was also cantor for the plainsong versicles, with responses being sung by the 36-strong combined choir. The choir also sang Psalm 150 arranged by Sir C.V. Stanford, Magnificat and Nunc Demittis arranged by George Dyson and the anthem, Fairest Lord Jesus, arranged by Martin How. The collects were sung by Tim Wilson, Director of Music in St Bride’s. Conductors for the evening were Beth Aiken and David Monahan.

The service was preceded by organ music played by organ scholars from the Down & Dromore and Connor organ scholarship scheme.

The service was enjoyed by all and it is hoped that it can be repeated at some stage in the near future, but in a different venue.

Photographs courtesy of David and George Rea

9th June, 2026 - St Bride’s Rambling Group: Ballyboley Forest

The rain finally cleared and the sun made an appearance this evening in time for the start of a walk in Ballyboley forest. It was good to be able to get out again as the weather hasn’t been very pleasant on two occasions already this season, resulting in their cancellation, but this evening everyone enjoyed a pleasant walk through the trees covering just over five miles. George Rea brought his drone along and as can be seen he captured some great photographs of the scenery and the walkers, including Jack the Collie.

8th June, 2026 - Parish Visit to St Macartin’s Cathedral, Enniskillen

A group of 26 parishioners and friends made the long journey to St Macartin’s Cathedral in Enniskillen this morning for a tour of this very historic building. It was a lovely morning for the drive and many stopped for some refreshments on the way, meeting at the cathedral in time for the tour at 11:30am. The group was greeted by the Dean of the cathedral, the Very Rev. Kenneth RJ Hall who has been Rector and Dean of the Diocese of Clogher since 2010. The Dean very kindly took the tour himself and gave a very interesting talk on the history of worship in Enniskillen and of the army regiments associated with it over the centuries. He also included a very entertaining and often amusing account of his time as Dean, the people he has met in the years he has been there, including HM Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as numerous political figures from both sides of the border. He described the work he has done since his appointment and how he has based his ministry on St Barnabas (he was first ordained on Saint Barnabas’ Day, 11 June) whose name translated to ‘son of encouragement’ and he has sought to actively encourage all communities in the area to work together for the common good of everyone, regardless of their background, religion and the many other things that divide people. He has a very close relationship with the Roman Catholic church, St Michael’s, just across the street, working with the clergy there to encourage good relationships across the religious divide.

Sadly the Dean had to leave the party to attend to cathedral business but Kilbride’s organist Tim Wilson then took the opportunity to play the organ, at the earlier invitation of the Dean, and everyone sang the hymn ‘Be Thou My Vision’ before taking a closer look at the inside of this beautiful building.

On leaving the cathedral some of the party took the opportunity to walk into the town and find somewhere for lunch. Others drove out to the former Portora Royal School for a short tour of this famous building which dates back over 400 years. The main school building, which can be seen from many vantage points in the town, has been listed but many of the buildings behind are due to be demolished in a £50 million rebuilding project which will be starting soon. In 2016 Portora Royal School and Enniskillen Collegiate Grammar School were amalgamated to form Enniskillen Royal Grammar School using the site of both schools. Pupils based at the former Portora Royal School site have now been accommodated at the Collegiate school ahead of redevelopment. All pupils will relocate to the new school when it is completed in 2030.

All too soon the visitors had to leave Enniskillen for a stop at Corick House, just outside Augher, where everyone enjoyed a delicious evening meal before continuing their journey home. A very enjoyable day was had by all.

7th June, 2026 - Service of Confirmation with Holy Communion

This morning the Bishop of Connor, Rt Rev. George Davison, accompanied by his wife Nadine, visited St Bride’s to officiate at a confirmation service. There were three candidates prepared for their confirmation and family and friends of each were welcomed to the church for this very special day in each candidate’s life. The bishop put each of them at their ease as he guided them through this very important service, explaining the significance of confirmation as they themselves confirm the promises made on their behalf when they were baptised. Following the confirmation he presented a Bible to each of the candidates, on behalf of the Parish, as an appropriate gift to mark the occasion. As a small token of the church’s appreciation for the bishop taking the service a beautiful bouquet of flowers was presented to his wife by Ruby, one of the candidates. Following the service the bishop very kindly joined each family for a photograph before joining the rest of the congregation for refreshments in the Parish Hall where he was able to mingle with parishioners.

The candidates, Ruby, James and Carla, are pictured above with the Rt. Rev. George Davison, Bishop of Connor, and Rev. John McClure.

30th May, 2026 - Una Voce Spring Concert

This evening the Parish Hall was the setting for two well known choirs - Una Voce Ladies Choir and The Lagan Seahorses Male Voice Choir - who treated everyone to a wonderful evening of music. The choirs sang a wide variety of well known pieces such as The Rhythm of Life, Streets of London, Alexander's Ragtime band, Close to you, Top of the World and Paperback Writer. The concert finished with the combined choirs singing an arrangement of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. To date over £1000 has been raised which will be shared equally between two very worthy charities - Riding for the Disabled Association and Parkinson's UK. A big Thank You to everyone who attended - both choirs and audience - for making the evening the great success it was. 

26th May, 2026 - St Bride’s Parish Church Rambling Group

There has been a wonderful spell of weather in recent days with warm temperatures and clear blue skies and sunshine from dawn to dusk and the walkers took full advantage of the good weather this evening as they climbed to the top of Cavehill from the Hightown Road car park. The views in all directions were wonderful with Slemish visible to the north, the Ailsa Craig to the east, Scrabo Tower and the Ards peninsula across Belfast Lough and the Mourne Mountains to the south. The paths were busy as many enjoyed a beautiful evening for a walk up to a particularly spectacular Belfast landmark.

13th May, 2026 - Kilbride Parish Church Ladies’ Group AGM

This evening the ladies met to have their annual general meeting with the outgoing committee presenting its report prior to electing new oofice bearers.

Before the business of the evening began there were three speakers from local charities in attendance who all gave a summary of the work that their respective charities do and how the money donated by the Ladies’ Group in the past year is used. A cheque was presented by Fiona Charlton to Elaine Brownlee from the MS Society and to Moira Mills and Emma Leckey (Ward Sister) from Laurel House at Antrim Area Hospital.

5th May, 2026 - St Bride’s Rambling Group: Broughshane

The walking season got off to a very good start this evening as a total of twenty three enthusiasic ramblers assembled at Houston’s Mill in Broughshane for the first event of the new season. The weather was ideal for a walk along the River Braid admiring the wildlife on the river and enjoying good conversation on the way. It was a very flat route of approximately three miles in total and gave everyone a chance to catch up with with some people they hadn’t seen since last August.

25th April, 2026 - Bangor Choral Festival

This evening three Kilbride parishioners (and choir members) unknowingly found themselves together at Bangor Choral Festival in St Comgall’s Parish Centre. Audrey Stewart, David Holmes and David Monahan were all involved in the festival, Audrey as an administrator, David Holmes as a member of The Clare Chorale choir, based in Ballyclare, and David Monahan as both a singer in and the conductor of the choir, Queen’s Consort, based in Queen’s University, Belfast. The Clare Chorale sang two pieces, “One Day More’ from Les Miserables and ‘The Road Home’ written by Stephen Paulus, and David Monahan’s choir, numbering only eight, sang an Andrew Pryce Jackman arrangement of Paul Simon’s ‘Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover’ and ‘Sicut Cervus’ by Palestrina. The standard of choirs from all five choirs in the class was extremely high and following extremely inciteful comments by the two adjudicators the Queen’s Consort was announced as the overall competition winner. Congratulations to David Monahan and his extremely gifted choir on winning what is one of the most important music festivals in Northern Ireland and indeed the United Kingdom.

8th April, 2026 - Kilbride Parish Church Ladies’ Group: Walker Ewart

Walker Ewart O.B.E. - Drama Festival Adjudicator

Walker Ewart is a native of Castledawson, Co. Londonderry, who currently lives in Bangor, Co. Down. As an adjudicator, he works mainly throughout Ireland and Scotland, and occasionally in England and has adjudicated at many major drama festivals. A graduate of the University of Southampton, followed by a Masters from the University of Ulster, he was a teacher of Modern Languages for 25 years. He then became a member of the Education and Training Inspectorate for 15 years. He was awarded an O.B.E. for ‘services to education’ in 2012 on his retirement.

His lasting interest in amateur drama began at the age of 14, when he was cast as Sir Oliver Surface in Sheridan’s ‘School for Scandal’ and felt the magic of making an audience laugh. He has been involved with the amateur drama circuit since teacher-training college in 1975 as an actor, director and administrator.

He had the privilege of being Secretary and Chairman of both Bangor Drama Club and Bangor Drama Festival. A particular honour was becoming the Chairman of the Association of Ulster Drama Festivals (AUDF). He has appeared as an actor in the All-Ireland Finals in Athlone in ‘Amadeus’ with Holywood Players, and in ‘A Doll’s House’ with Bangor Drama Club. He has appeared as both an actor and director in the Ulster Drama Festival on several occasions. Having been a Bangor Drama Festival tea-maker, secretary and chairman, he is fully aware of the efforts made by the huge team of volunteers in any production, in any festival. He has basked in, and suffered, adjudications as an actor and director and understands the sensitivities of groups who have been preparing their work for many months. He deems it an honour to adjudicate his peers in any festival.

Walker came to Kilbride this evening to give a talk from his life experiences and using poetry he described many amusing life scenarios, beginning at birth through childhood, love, marriage, middle age and growing old to the inevitable end. The audience could relate completely to many of the extremely well written and hilarious poems, wonderfully delivered by Walker in what was a thoroughly entertaining evening.

Walker is pictured above with Fiona Charlton, Chairperson of Kilbride Parish Ladies’ Group.

A donation from funds raised at this event will be given to the MS Society.

29th March, 2026 - Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week and in normal circumstances the Procession of Palms would be led by Annie the donkey, symbolic of the colt that Jesus rode into Jerusalem before his crucifixion. Unfortunately this morning the weather turned very nasty with rain and a strong wind so the decision was made not to process from the Parish Hall up to the church. However Annie was able to follow the choir into the church led by the Rector’s church warden, James Christie. James has been riding horses for many years and Annie was quite at ease with him walking up the aisle as everyone sang the traditional Palm Sunday hymn, All Glory, Laud and Honour.

Annie left the church for the duration of the Palm Sunday service to graze in the gardens, but returned to lead everyone out at the end. She is pictured below with James and her owner Alan.

24th March, 2026 - Watchmen: The Skill of Cutting Peat

The Watchmen had a very interesting presentation this evening, again given by George and David Rea .  George and David once cut peat on a hill near Slemish called Carriff Moss, Carnalbanagh, and in the presentation George talked about the whole process of preparing the bog, from removing the top layer of vegetation to access the peat below, cutting the peat with a variety of different spades and techniques, laying it out to dry and, dependent on the weather, taking it home a few weeks later to store, ready to burn during the long winter months ahead. George introduced some unique terminology in his talk, words and terms such as the scraw - the top sod of vegetation on the bank of peat that needs to be removed first, flaughter - a tool used to cut into the scraw, peat coom - the debris left behind on the floor of a peat shed and slean - the traditional name for a peat spade. Many of the words are derived from old Irish words. The presentation had many interesting photographs of very happy times spent working up at the ‘moss’ with their father James and a number of other local and colourful characters from the Glens of Antrim.  It was very much a family activity as frequently the boys were joined by their respective wives, Hilary and Barbara. There was also a small display of some of the tools used for cutting and moving the peat. A thoroughly enjoyable talk which was enjoyed by everyone.

11th March, 2026 - Kilbride Parish Church Ladies’ Group: Hymns with Tim

The Church of Ireland church hymnal is full of many much-loved hymns that have been enjoyed by hymn singers the world over for centuries. This evening, at the Ladies’ Group meeting, Tim Wilson (church organist and choir director) gave a talk on the numerous hymns that have been written by a number of famous composers such as the Wesleys and Henry Francis Lyte before concentrating on a number of well-known ladies that included Cecil Frances Alexander and Fanny Crosby, both well known hymn writers. Tim explained some of the musical technicalities in how, for example, the psalms were given a metrical structure to allow them to be easily sung in church. Tim is the font of all knowledge when it comes to hymns and he gave the history of the composers themselves and what probably motivated them to write such inspirational words set to such beautiful music. It was a fascinating evening and the large crowd in the church thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the hymn writers and singing the hymns too.

20th February, 2026 - Watchmen: It’s all done by remote control!

Parishioners David and George Rea have for many years been collecting all manner of remote controlled models that include cars, helicopters, aircraft and in more recent years drones, and this evening they brought a selection of models down to the Parish Hall to show to the men’s group. After a short presentation of photographs going back some years David and George explained how they have kept abreast of new technology as it became available and this was evident when comparing many of the models they had on display. From very basic and tiny engines on some of the early aircraft to one with a small jet engine and then on to the modern drone. George was even able to fly a tiny model aircraft in the confines of the hall before taking a group photograph using the high-resolution camera on his drone. An extremely interesting evening for everyone.

11th February, 2026 - Kilbride Parish Church Ladies’ Group: Visit of Brenda Campbell from the RSPB

This evening the guest speaker at the Ladies’ Group meeting was Brenda Campbell from the RSPB. Brenda has been a member for many years and she explained how she came to join and entertained everyone with stories and videos of her work with the charity.
A few years ago Brenda was involved with the project to bring corncrakes back to Rathlin Island, transporting nettles of all things to create shelter for them. Closer to home the RSPB has been working with local volunteers and communities for a number of years to encourage swifts to return to Ballyclare. Brenda had put up swift boxes on her own house and seven years later was finally rewarded with the birds finally nesting in them.
Brenda carries her little pocket camera with her everywhere and she was able to show the ladies brilliant footage of dolphins swimming alongside the Rathlin ferry, a stoat toying with a large rabbit at the Belfast's Window on Wildlife (WOW) centre in Belfast and best of all, an owl landing on a fence post and then turning its head 180 degrees to look straight at the camera!
A very enjoyable evening was finished off with light refreshments.

11th January, 2026 - Holy Baptism

It was a wonderful service in St Bride’s this morning as two children were baptised, witnessed by family, friends and the church family. Rev. John McClure welcomed the Dubois family and their friends to the church for this very important day in the lives of their children. The boy was baptised Bobbie Hunter and the little girl was baptised Millie Jeanette following which Rev. John took both them up the aisle as he welcomed them into the church. The children are pictured above with their parents, big brother Freddie, godparents, grandfather and Rev. John McClure.

4th January, 2026 - Winter has Arrived!

St Bride’s was generously coated in a blanket of snow this morning as church wardens arrived to open up ahead of the first communion service of 2026. It was certainly bitterly cold outside but warm and cosy inside the church. Many local churches decided to cancel services this morning given the weather conditions but the service went ahead in Kilbride and a reasonable number of parishioners was able to make the journey on roads that were largely clear where gritters had been.