Portadown Meeting closes

Portadown Meeting has closed after more than a century

A Northern Ireland Meeting has closed after more than a century. Friends held their last Meeting in the Portadown Meeting house on 26 October.

The Meeting house, in County Armagh opened in 1905,  and was paid for by a fundraising drive that raised £1,000. Although some fifty people belong to the Meeting, attendance had been declining for several years. Younger people have moved away to study, while mobility problems have prevented older Friends from attending Meeting.

Portadown Friends will be encouraged to join other local Meetings, such as those at Bessbrook, Moyallon and Lurgan, all of which belong to Lurgan Monthly Meeting. 

The Meeting house is owned by Ulster Quarterly Meeting, Portadown Friend Anne Gamble told the Friend.

No immediate decision will be taken on the future of the building, which is located in the centre of Portadown.

‘Friends feel sad but cannot see another option, as we do not have enough people who attend regularly to take responsibility for the various tasks,’ Anne added.

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