Northern Ireland: Chronology

July 31, 1840 • Loughbrickland, IrelandThomas Tate became the first person to be baptized in Ireland. He was baptized by John Taylor of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who was visiting Ireland as part of his mission to the British Isles.

September 1840 • Hillsborough, IrelandTheodore Curtis was the first missionary assigned to preach full time in Ireland. Within three weeks of his arrival, he organized the few converts into the first branch in Ireland.

1845–49 • IrelandChurch growth in Ireland slowed during the Great Famine due to extreme poverty and high rates of emigration.

June 20, 1847 • Belfast, IrelandThe Belfast Branch was organized.

1854–56 • IrelandJames B. Ferguson, a Belfast native, served as the presiding elder in the Irish Mission as the total membership grew from around 90 members to over 200.

1867–84 • IrelandAfter many Irish Saints immigrated to the United States, missionary work was discontinued in Ireland in 1867. Preaching resumed in 1884 when Robert Marshall and George Wilson, both converts from Ireland, reopened the mission.

June–August 1886 • BelfastDuring the 1886 Belfast riots, Church meetings were canceled and proselytizing was limited.

August 11, 1889 • BelfastThe first semiannual conference of the Irish Mission was held. Such conferences were held until 1962, except during World Wars I and II, and served as an important occasion for Irish Saints to meet together.

1919 • IrelandThe Ireland District was created, with Benjamin Birchall as president.

1922 • IrelandChurch conferences with members from across Ireland were held in Dublin in April and in Belfast in October, as Ireland had been partitioned into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland that year.

1939–45 • IrelandNorth American missionaries were evacuated from Ireland during World War II. The Saints in Belfast continued to hold weekly meetings despite frequent bombings.

March 8, 1948 • BelfastThe first Church-owned meetinghouse in Northern Ireland was dedicated.

August 9, 1953 • BelfastDavid O. McKay, the first President of the Church to visit the Saints in Northern Ireland, spoke at a conference of the Irish District with members from throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland.

September 7, 1958 • London, EnglandThe London England Temple was dedicated, making temple blessings more accessible to the Irish Saints.

1960s • Northern IrelandLabor missionaries and Church members joined together to construct meetinghouses throughout Great Britain. Buildings were completed in Belfast, Londonderry, and Portadown in Northern Ireland.

July 8, 1962 • Ireland and the Isle of ManThe Irish Mission, which included Northern Ireland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man, was organized.

June 9, 1974 • BelfastThe Belfast Northern Ireland Stake, the first stake in Ireland, was organized, with Andrew Renfrew as president.

October 23, 1985 • Loughbrickland, Northern IrelandElder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve dedicated Ireland for the preaching of the gospel near the spot where the first baptism took place in 1840.

1990 • Northern IrelandChurch membership in Northern Ireland surpassed 5,000.

April 2011 • BelfastYouth from Northern Ireland and Ireland gathered for the first All-Ireland Regional Youth Day.

June 28, 2014 • DublinThe first all-Ireland seminary graduation was held. Twenty-four students completed four years of study. A total of 120 certificates were awarded.

May 22, 2016 • BelfastPresident Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency presided at a special conference in the Belfast Northern Ireland Stake, where he urged members to reach out to others, especially refugees, referencing Northern Ireland’s troubled past.