When the parishes of Ireland came to be marked out from the twelfth century on, three parishes emerged which would one day be united to form the present day parish of Dungannon – Drumglass, North of the modern town, Tullyniskin to the North East, and Killyman to the South –East. The following town lands were appointed for the support of these three parish churches and their clergy: Rossbeg, Rossmore, Ranaghan, Derraghadoan, Tullygun and Tullycullion and Creenagh for the support of Drumglass and Tullyniskin, and Kinnego, Moyroe and Laghey for the support of Killyman.
At the end of the 15th century a Friary for the Franciscan Order was built at Washingford and endowed with the townlands of Ballysaggart, Killymaddy, Mullaghannagh and Mulboy. That was the beginning of the Franciscan connection with Dungannon and they continued to minister in the Dungannon area until the early 19th century.
St Oliver Plunkett visited Dungannon often and mentions it in his letters to Rome. In 1673 he ordained Roger Phelan for the parish of Killyman –as the three united parishes were then being called –and throughout the worst period of the Penal Laws this heroic figure served for over sixty years as parish priest of this parish. He lived in Creenagh and after his death in 1735 he was buried under a tombstone which is still decipherable in the old graveyard at Mullinakill. His successor, Fr John Rogers, was parish priest for another forty years. The life span of these two parish priests covered more than a century.
The growth of religious tolerance enabled the first Catholic Mass-house to be erected in the town in the late 18th century and this was succeeded in the early 19th century by the first church on the present site in the town. In the 1860’s it was decided that a larger building was required and the present St. Patrick’s Church was built. It was dedicated on Trinity Sunday, 11th June 1876. These are some of the roots of our faith today.
