Sir William Stewart, a Scottish planter who arrived during the Plantation of Ulster, commissioned this church around 1620, with construction nearly complete by 1622. The building served as the focal point for Protestant worship in this newly established community for over two centuries, a testament to the dramatic religious and social changes that swept through Donegal during this period.

The church remained in active use until the early 19th century, when changing times and a growing congregation necessitated a new building. Between 1822 and 1826, parishioners constructed a replacement church elsewhere in the parish, leaving the old structure to gradually fall into disrepair. Today, visitors can still trace the outline of the original building amongst the weathered stones, whilst the surrounding graveyard continues to serve the local community, its headstones marking generations of families who worshipped within these walls.

This site represents more than just old stones; it embodies the complex history of plantation era Donegal, when English and Scottish settlers established new communities alongside the existing Irish population. The church’s two-century lifespan witnessed enormous changes in Irish society, from the tumultuous 17th century through the Penal Laws, the gradual Catholic emancipation, and into the era of Catholic political organisation that would reshape Ireland in the 19th century.