Irish Presbyterians

Newcastle Presbyterian Church welcomed our students for a special service in the Irish language. Minister the Rev. Ivan Patterson greeted the students in Irish, and the guest preacher was the Rev. Dr. Bill Boyd. Dr. Boyd's interest in languages led him to learn Irish after retiring from the full-time Presbyterian ministry. He returned to Queen's University to win a first class honours degree in Irish, over fifty years after his original student days. Dr. Boyd urged our students, like St. Patrick, to look for God's plan for their lives. He was very interested to hear that Shimna is Northern Ireland's first Specialist School for languages, and that all students study two languages from the four available: French, German, Irish and Spanish. We look forward to strengthening our links with the Presbyterian Church in Newcastle, and have plans for a Harvest Service in the Autumn term.