Bahá'í Faith in Northern Ireland
Encyclopedia
Bahá'í Faith in Northern Ireland begins after a century of contact between Irishmen and the Bahá'í Faith
beyond the island and on the island. The members of the religion elected its first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly in 1949 in Belfast. The Bahá'ís held an international conference in Dublin in 1982 which was described as “…one of the very few occasions when a world event for a faith community has been held in Ireland”. By 1993 there were a dozen assemblies in Northern Ireland. By 2005 Bahá'í sources claim some 300 Bahá'ís across Northern Ireland.
previous to his execution
. Dr. McCormick - a man with Irish roots - later said the Bab had told him even Europeans would be following his religion some day.
Frederick D'Evelyn
appears to have been the first Irishman to accept the Bahá'í Faith
. He was born in Belfast in or about 1855 and joined the religion in 1901 and was present in California, in the United States, to welcome `Abdu'l-Bahá
on his journeys to the West
. Other Irish men and women also became Bahá'ís early on. On 17 December 1912, Ahmad Sohrab, a secretary during `Abdu'l-Bahá's journeys, recorded a visitor to `Abdu'l-Bahá: "In Belfast, Ireland lives a fine Bahá'í, a splendid believer. She travelled all day and night to see the Master. He welcomed her most cordially and said: 'You must become the cause of the illumination of Ireland… you must ignite four thousand lamps in one year…'" It is likely this Bahá'í was Joan Waring who later moved to Donegal
.
Although there had been a Bahá'í, Stella Cairns, in Ballymena in the 1930s, and Philip Hainsworth, while in the army, had held the first fireside in Helens Bay in 1940, there were no Bahá'ís in Northern Ireland by the late 1940s. After this the first Bahá'í pioneer
to Northern Ireland was Charles Dunning, who came to Belfast in March 1948. Within ten weeks he was arranging the first public meetings, to which George Townshend
and his son Brian came from Dublin to speak. He was followed by Ursula Newman (later Samandarí) in 1949. A review of Townshend’s Promise of All Ages in a local newspaper in 1949 and chance encounters lead to a conversion. Robert Sloan was the first to become a Bahá'í in 1949. The first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Northern Ireland was elected in Belfast in 1949-50, It celebrated its fiftieth anniversary at the Belfast Castle
in 2000. Lisbeth Greeves from Australia officially joined the religion in 1954 in Northern Ireland but she had long association with the Bahá'ís. Later she wrote plays and recorded tapes on the religion. Katherine Chauhan - daughter of an early Bahá'í in Northern Ireland - recalled the first Persian Bahá'ís to pioneer to Northern Ireland were from Zoroastrian background and were determined to fit in and married Irish women.
in 1956. The first Irish Summer School was held in the Mourne Mountains. On 21 April 1959 the first local Spiritual ssembly was elected in Bangor, in what later became part of 'North Down Borough'. Among the original members of that small community was Lady Kathleen Hornell (1890–1977), who had come over from England to live in Northern Ireland a few years earlier and then pioneered to Italy in 1960. Another distinguished member of that first small group was the late Grace Pritchard, who later went on receive an honor of an Order of the British Empire
for her services in the field of education. Adib Taherzadeh
was among those who arrived in Ireland in 1950 from Iran. He married Belfast-born Lesley.
From the 1970s there were further developments. The first local assembly of the Bahá'ís of Coleraine came into existence over a quarter of a century ago and at the University of Ulster there has been a Bahá’ís Society tackling issues such as racism, prejudice, the gap between rich and poor and equality of men and women for just as long. The first assembly of the Bahá'ís of Londonderry was elected in 1971 and it has remained in existence since then.
There have been Bahá'ís in Magherafelt for almost a quarter of a century and issues related to reacting to the challenge of global warming
and supporting a non-sectarian local school have played a role in the community.
In the early 1970s, the first local assembly was formed in Newtownabbey
. The first local assembly of the Bahá'ís of Craigavon
which was formed on 2 April 1973. The first Bahá'ís moved into the Ards district in the 1970s and the first local people to become members of the religion did so in 1978. In 1979 the first assembly for the Ards Peninsula
was elected. World Religion Day has been observed in Omagh every year since 1984.
Katherine Chauhan returned to Northern Ireland after pioneering to several countries and was married in the first Bahá'í wedding in Ballymena
.
The Bahá’í Council for Northern Ireland facilitates publishing a newsletter CommuNIqué, operates under the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom, regularly consults with the National Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the Republic of Ireland and has released a series of statements about concerns in the area since 2003.
dated 20 October 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings
, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. World-wide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482.
The Association of Bahá'í Women (Northern Ireland) is a body working under the auspices of the Bahá’í Council for Northern Ireland and has developed and piloted by a group of Bahá'í women from Lurgan and Coleraine. There is also a Belfast branch of the Association of Bahá’í Women. In 2002 the group offered a seminar at The Rural College and Derrynoid Centre in Draperstown
.
The Bahá'ís were noted as making a small but significant contribution during the conflict
in Northern Ireland
. During the Opsahl Commission before the cease-fires twelve Bahá'í groups or individuals made submissions. Bahá'í women have been involved with women's organizations that were primarily concerned with anything to do with women and children. As Bahá'ís they also talked about peace in the global sense, hoping that "some of this has filtered through".
The Cookstown
Baha'i Community is the home of "The Moving Hour" on Townland Radio 828. R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram was second generation Bahá'í from Belfast and worked for years as an archivist and uncovered some of the earliest history of the Bahá'ís of Ireland as well as composing music and writing other books.
has recorded a number reports of the religion since at least 1999. In 2000 it posted the obituary of Adib Taherzadeh, a former member of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing council of the Baha'i Faith. The Bahá'ís of Assembly of Londonberry was awarded a “Quaypin” by the Mayor of Derry in 2001. In 2004 Lesley Taherzadeh visited in 2004 and gave a talk about life in Israel. The Belfast Telegraph printed the Baha'i Council for Northern Ireland issuing its New Year's message, as well as a Bahá'í point of view on Christmas. The Omagh library has materials on the community and a Belfast Telegram contributor visited and noted the Bahá'í Lotus Temple
in India. There have been public events offered as well. A member of the Voices of Bahá Choir offered an impromptu concert during a stay in Magherafelt at the home of local members Mahine and Les Gournell. The choir, a troupe of some 400, have performed with world class orchestras and given concerts in places as far apart as Moscow, New York, Budapest and Berlin. The first legally recognised Baha'i marriage in Northern Ireland has taken place in Cullybackey between Carmen Zambrana Candel and John Twiname in 2004.
Meanwhile Bahá'ís have continued to hold private vacation/seasonal schools as well as supporting schools in the community. The Baha'i community in Coleraine hosted its Summer School in 2001 while the annual Northern Ireland Baha'i Summer School was held in Portrush. The school brought together people not just from all over Ireland and Britain but from Germany, Norway, Greece, New Zealand, Israel, and the United States. A specially welcomed guest speaker was Leslie Taherazedeh, originally from Belfast, now living in the Israel, who spoke on the subject of pilgrimage. Colin Palin, a 19-year-old information technology student at Magee, gave a detailed presentation at an event in at Craigavad. He spoke about how computer technology can be used as a means of communicating and sharing ideas with others. Concern of school curriculum addressing religion was a raised concern circa 2001 by the Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum. In 2003 the Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland made a presentation to the Churches' Religious Education Core Syllabus Review Working Party onProposals for religious education in Grant-Aided Schools and welcomed the changes in 2006. In 2003 a reporter for the Belfast Telegraph read a feature on a Bahá'í school in Belfast. "Every Sunday morning for the past 15 years, children have been travelling across Northern Ireland to attend a Sunday School in Belfast. They come from towns as far apart as Rostrevor, Magherafelt and Lurgan ... the school has a curriculum that has been refined over the years and is based on Baha'i principles, teaching the unity of religions, and the unity of humanity. The school is named after the famous Irish Protestant clergyman George Townshend, who became a Baha'i." The reporter's comments brought a touch of controversy in response. The 2010 "Northern Ireland Summer School" is set to take place again at Lorne centre.
Bahá'ís have contacted leading political figures. In 2006 Patrick McCarthy
, Lord Mayor of Belfast in 2006, received a Bahá'í delegation. The Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly Eileen Bell
has welcomed members of the Baha'i religious community in Ireland to a special reception in Parliament Buildings for the first time. Some 150 members toured the Assembly Chamber on Saturday evening and held a short religious service in the Senate Chamber.
Most recently the Bahá'i Council for Northern Ireland spoke out in support of the Hidden Crimes Secret Pain report of the Sexual Violence Unit of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and responded to questions the government asked for comment on.
. In 2001 sometime writer and artist George Fleming and quiltmaker Marion Khosravi represented Northern Ireland Bahá'ís at the opening of the Terraces of the Bahá'í Gardens
on the slopes of Mount Carmel out of more than 3,500 pilgrims from around the world for the ceremony. In 2002 Londonberry man, Dr. Keith Munro, was appointed chairman of the Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland. The Council then held its first ever meeting in Londonderry in 2003. In 2003 and 2006 Bahá'í followers from across Northern Ireland went to Belfast to meet with the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom which meets regularly to oversee and administer the affairs of the community. Dr Iain Palin was a delegate from Foyle
and returned from a UK-wide conference at the National Convention of the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom held in Wales. At a report of the events Dr. Palin shared about a showing of a new DVD about the Gardens of the World Centre
of the religion in Israel.
Among the current assemblies are: Belfast
, Coleraine
, Derry
, Magherafelt
, Newtownabbey
, Newtownards
, and Omagh
.
series by the fall of 2005. By 2005 Bahá'í sources claim some 300 Bahá'ís across Northern Ireland.
:Category:Irish Bahá'ís
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
beyond the island and on the island. The members of the religion elected its first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly in 1949 in Belfast. The Bahá'ís held an international conference in Dublin in 1982 which was described as “…one of the very few occasions when a world event for a faith community has been held in Ireland”. By 1993 there were a dozen assemblies in Northern Ireland. By 2005 Bahá'í sources claim some 300 Bahá'ís across Northern Ireland.
Early phase
The first contact between the Bahá'í Faith and Ireland known is with a doctor serving in Persia. He examined the BábBáb
Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází was the founder of Bábism, and one of three central figures of the Bahá'í Faith. He was a merchant from Shíráz, Persia, who at the age of twenty-four claimed to be the promised Qá'im . After his declaration he took the title of Báb meaning "Gate"...
previous to his execution
Execution of the Báb
On the morning of July 9, 1850 in Tabriz, a young Persian merchant known as the Báb was charged with apostasy and shot by order of the Prime Minister of the Persian Empire...
. Dr. McCormick - a man with Irish roots - later said the Bab had told him even Europeans would be following his religion some day.
Frederick D'Evelyn
Frederick D'Evelyn
Frederick W. D'Evelyn appears to have been the first person of Irish birth to accept the Bahá'í Faith. He was born in Belfast in or about 1855.-His early life:Information about his early life is scanty...
appears to have been the first Irishman to accept the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
. He was born in Belfast in or about 1855 and joined the religion in 1901 and was present in California, in the United States, to welcome `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
on his journeys to the West
`Abdu'l-Bahá's journeys to the West
`Abdu'l-Bahá's journeys to the West were a series of trips `Abdu'l-Bahá undertook starting at the age of 67 from Palestine to the West from 1910 to 1913. `Abdu'l-Bahá was imprisoned at the age of 8 and suffered various degrees of privation most of his life...
. Other Irish men and women also became Bahá'ís early on. On 17 December 1912, Ahmad Sohrab, a secretary during `Abdu'l-Bahá's journeys, recorded a visitor to `Abdu'l-Bahá: "In Belfast, Ireland lives a fine Bahá'í, a splendid believer. She travelled all day and night to see the Master. He welcomed her most cordially and said: 'You must become the cause of the illumination of Ireland… you must ignite four thousand lamps in one year…'" It is likely this Bahá'í was Joan Waring who later moved to Donegal
Donegal
Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....
.
Although there had been a Bahá'í, Stella Cairns, in Ballymena in the 1930s, and Philip Hainsworth, while in the army, had held the first fireside in Helens Bay in 1940, there were no Bahá'ís in Northern Ireland by the late 1940s. After this the first Bahá'í pioneer
Pioneering (Bahá'í)
A pioneer is a volunteer Bahá'í who leaves his or her home to journey to another place for the purpose of teaching the Bahá'í Faith. The act of so moving is termed pioneering. Bahá'ís refrain from using the term "missionary"...
to Northern Ireland was Charles Dunning, who came to Belfast in March 1948. Within ten weeks he was arranging the first public meetings, to which George Townshend
George Townshend (Bahá'í)
George Townshend was born in Ireland and was a well-known writer, clergyman before his conversion to the Bahá'í Faith in which he became a Hand of the Cause.-Early accomplishments:...
and his son Brian came from Dublin to speak. He was followed by Ursula Newman (later Samandarí) in 1949. A review of Townshend’s Promise of All Ages in a local newspaper in 1949 and chance encounters lead to a conversion. Robert Sloan was the first to become a Bahá'í in 1949. The first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Northern Ireland was elected in Belfast in 1949-50, It celebrated its fiftieth anniversary at the Belfast Castle
Belfast Castle
Belfast Castle is set on the slopes of Cavehill Country Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland in a prominent position above sea level. Its location provides unobstructed views of the city of Belfast and Belfast Lough.-History:...
in 2000. Lisbeth Greeves from Australia officially joined the religion in 1954 in Northern Ireland but she had long association with the Bahá'ís. Later she wrote plays and recorded tapes on the religion. Katherine Chauhan - daughter of an early Bahá'í in Northern Ireland - recalled the first Persian Bahá'ís to pioneer to Northern Ireland were from Zoroastrian background and were determined to fit in and married Irish women.
Growth
The first weekend schools in the British Isles were held in Belfast CastleBelfast Castle
Belfast Castle is set on the slopes of Cavehill Country Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland in a prominent position above sea level. Its location provides unobstructed views of the city of Belfast and Belfast Lough.-History:...
in 1956. The first Irish Summer School was held in the Mourne Mountains. On 21 April 1959 the first local Spiritual ssembly was elected in Bangor, in what later became part of 'North Down Borough'. Among the original members of that small community was Lady Kathleen Hornell (1890–1977), who had come over from England to live in Northern Ireland a few years earlier and then pioneered to Italy in 1960. Another distinguished member of that first small group was the late Grace Pritchard, who later went on receive an honor of an Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for her services in the field of education. Adib Taherzadeh
Adib Taherzadeh
Adib Taherzadeh served as a member of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Bahá'í Faith, between 1988 and 2000.-Biography:...
was among those who arrived in Ireland in 1950 from Iran. He married Belfast-born Lesley.
From the 1970s there were further developments. The first local assembly of the Bahá'ís of Coleraine came into existence over a quarter of a century ago and at the University of Ulster there has been a Bahá’ís Society tackling issues such as racism, prejudice, the gap between rich and poor and equality of men and women for just as long. The first assembly of the Bahá'ís of Londonderry was elected in 1971 and it has remained in existence since then.
There have been Bahá'ís in Magherafelt for almost a quarter of a century and issues related to reacting to the challenge of global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
and supporting a non-sectarian local school have played a role in the community.
In the early 1970s, the first local assembly was formed in Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey is a large town north of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Sometimes considered to be a suburb of Belfast, it is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course...
. The first local assembly of the Bahá'ís of Craigavon
Craigavon
Craigavon is a settlement in north County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was a planned settlement that was begun in 1965 and named after Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister — James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon. It was intended to be a linear city incorporating Lurgan and Portadown, but this plan...
which was formed on 2 April 1973. The first Bahá'ís moved into the Ards district in the 1970s and the first local people to become members of the religion did so in 1978. In 1979 the first assembly for the Ards Peninsula
Ards Peninsula
The Ards Peninsula is a peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland which separates Strangford Lough from the North Channel of the Irish Sea, on Ireland's northeast coast. A number of towns and villages are located on the peninsula, such as the seaside town of Donaghadee, with the surrounding area...
was elected. World Religion Day has been observed in Omagh every year since 1984.
Katherine Chauhan returned to Northern Ireland after pioneering to several countries and was married in the first Bahá'í wedding in Ballymena
Ballymena
Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....
.
The Bahá’í Council for Northern Ireland facilitates publishing a newsletter CommuNIqué, operates under the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom, regularly consults with the National Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the Republic of Ireland and has released a series of statements about concerns in the area since 2003.
Involvements
Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of JusticeUniversal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
dated 20 October 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings
Bahá'í teachings
The Bahá'í teachings represent a considerable number of theological, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by successive leaders including `Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son, and Shoghi Effendi, `Abdu'l-Bahá's...
, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. World-wide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482.
The Association of Bahá'í Women (Northern Ireland) is a body working under the auspices of the Bahá’í Council for Northern Ireland and has developed and piloted by a group of Bahá'í women from Lurgan and Coleraine. There is also a Belfast branch of the Association of Bahá’í Women. In 2002 the group offered a seminar at The Rural College and Derrynoid Centre in Draperstown
Draperstown
Draperstown is a village in the Sperrin Mountains of County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,638 people in the 2001 Census.-Name:...
.
The Bahá'ís were noted as making a small but significant contribution during the conflict
Timeline of the Northern Ireland Troubles and peace process
This article lists the major violent and political incidents during the Troubles and peace process in Northern Ireland. The Troubles was a period of conflict in Northern Ireland involving republican and loyalist paramilitaries, the British security forces, and civil rights groups. The duration of...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. During the Opsahl Commission before the cease-fires twelve Bahá'í groups or individuals made submissions. Bahá'í women have been involved with women's organizations that were primarily concerned with anything to do with women and children. As Bahá'ís they also talked about peace in the global sense, hoping that "some of this has filtered through".
The Cookstown
Cookstown
Cookstown may refer to either of the following:*Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland*Cookstown, Ontario, Canada*Cookstown, New Jersey, United States...
Baha'i Community is the home of "The Moving Hour" on Townland Radio 828. R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram was second generation Bahá'í from Belfast and worked for years as an archivist and uncovered some of the earliest history of the Bahá'ís of Ireland as well as composing music and writing other books.
Contacts with society at large
The Northern Ireland community has taken some note of the Bahá'ís. The Bahá'ís held an international conference in Dublin in 1982 which was described as “…one of the very few occasions when a world event for a faith community has been held in Ireland”. The Bahá'ís of Northern Ireland have organized a community choir in 1992 which came in second in the a capella section of choir contests in the Belfast Music Festival in 1997. The Belfast TelegraphThe Belfast Telegraph
The Belfast Telegraph is a daily evening newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland by Independent News & Media.It was first published as the Belfast Evening Telegraph on 1 September 1870 by brothers William and George Baird...
has recorded a number reports of the religion since at least 1999. In 2000 it posted the obituary of Adib Taherzadeh, a former member of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing council of the Baha'i Faith. The Bahá'ís of Assembly of Londonberry was awarded a “Quaypin” by the Mayor of Derry in 2001. In 2004 Lesley Taherzadeh visited in 2004 and gave a talk about life in Israel. The Belfast Telegraph printed the Baha'i Council for Northern Ireland issuing its New Year's message, as well as a Bahá'í point of view on Christmas. The Omagh library has materials on the community and a Belfast Telegram contributor visited and noted the Bahá'í Lotus Temple
Lotus Temple
The Bahá'í House of Worship in Delhi, India, popularly known as the Lotus Temple due to its flowerlike shape, is a Bahá'í House of Worship and also a prominent attraction in Delhi. It was completed in 1986 and serves as the Mother Temple of the Indian subcontinent...
in India. There have been public events offered as well. A member of the Voices of Bahá Choir offered an impromptu concert during a stay in Magherafelt at the home of local members Mahine and Les Gournell. The choir, a troupe of some 400, have performed with world class orchestras and given concerts in places as far apart as Moscow, New York, Budapest and Berlin. The first legally recognised Baha'i marriage in Northern Ireland has taken place in Cullybackey between Carmen Zambrana Candel and John Twiname in 2004.
Meanwhile Bahá'ís have continued to hold private vacation/seasonal schools as well as supporting schools in the community. The Baha'i community in Coleraine hosted its Summer School in 2001 while the annual Northern Ireland Baha'i Summer School was held in Portrush. The school brought together people not just from all over Ireland and Britain but from Germany, Norway, Greece, New Zealand, Israel, and the United States. A specially welcomed guest speaker was Leslie Taherazedeh, originally from Belfast, now living in the Israel, who spoke on the subject of pilgrimage. Colin Palin, a 19-year-old information technology student at Magee, gave a detailed presentation at an event in at Craigavad. He spoke about how computer technology can be used as a means of communicating and sharing ideas with others. Concern of school curriculum addressing religion was a raised concern circa 2001 by the Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum. In 2003 the Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland made a presentation to the Churches' Religious Education Core Syllabus Review Working Party onProposals for religious education in Grant-Aided Schools and welcomed the changes in 2006. In 2003 a reporter for the Belfast Telegraph read a feature on a Bahá'í school in Belfast. "Every Sunday morning for the past 15 years, children have been travelling across Northern Ireland to attend a Sunday School in Belfast. They come from towns as far apart as Rostrevor, Magherafelt and Lurgan ... the school has a curriculum that has been refined over the years and is based on Baha'i principles, teaching the unity of religions, and the unity of humanity. The school is named after the famous Irish Protestant clergyman George Townshend, who became a Baha'i." The reporter's comments brought a touch of controversy in response. The 2010 "Northern Ireland Summer School" is set to take place again at Lorne centre.
Bahá'ís have contacted leading political figures. In 2006 Patrick McCarthy
Patrick McCarthy (politician)
Patrick McCarthy is a Northern Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party politician and member of Belfast City Council.First elected to the council in 2001 for Laganbank he was chosen as Lord Mayor of Belfast in 2006. McCarthy, the city's fourth nationalist mayor, was endorsed by all parties except...
, Lord Mayor of Belfast in 2006, received a Bahá'í delegation. The Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly Eileen Bell
Eileen Bell
Eileen Bell CBE is a Northern Ireland politician, member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for North Down and former deputy leader of the Alliance Party.-Early life:...
has welcomed members of the Baha'i religious community in Ireland to a special reception in Parliament Buildings for the first time. Some 150 members toured the Assembly Chamber on Saturday evening and held a short religious service in the Senate Chamber.
Most recently the Bahá'i Council for Northern Ireland spoke out in support of the Hidden Crimes Secret Pain report of the Sexual Violence Unit of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and responded to questions the government asked for comment on.
Bahá'í functions
Bahá'ís have continued to interact with the Bahá'í administrationBahá'í administration
The Bahá'í administration or Bahá'í administrative order refers to the administrative system of the Bahá'í Faith.It is split into two parts, the elected and the appointed...
. In 2001 sometime writer and artist George Fleming and quiltmaker Marion Khosravi represented Northern Ireland Bahá'ís at the opening of the Terraces of the Bahá'í Gardens
Terraces (Bahá'í)
The Terraces of the Bahá'í Faith, also known as the Hanging Gardens of Haifa, are garden terraces around the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. They are one of the most visited tourist attractions in Israel. The architect is Fariborz Sahba from Iran...
on the slopes of Mount Carmel out of more than 3,500 pilgrims from around the world for the ceremony. In 2002 Londonberry man, Dr. Keith Munro, was appointed chairman of the Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland. The Council then held its first ever meeting in Londonderry in 2003. In 2003 and 2006 Bahá'í followers from across Northern Ireland went to Belfast to meet with the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom which meets regularly to oversee and administer the affairs of the community. Dr Iain Palin was a delegate from Foyle
Foyle (Assembly constituency)
Foyle is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996. Since 1998, it has elected members to the current Assembly....
and returned from a UK-wide conference at the National Convention of the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom held in Wales. At a report of the events Dr. Palin shared about a showing of a new DVD about the Gardens of the World Centre
Terraces (Bahá'í)
The Terraces of the Bahá'í Faith, also known as the Hanging Gardens of Haifa, are garden terraces around the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. They are one of the most visited tourist attractions in Israel. The architect is Fariborz Sahba from Iran...
of the religion in Israel.
Among the current assemblies are: Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Coleraine
Coleraine
Coleraine is a large town near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast and east of Derry, both of which are linked by major roads and railway connections...
, Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
, Magherafelt
Magherafelt
Magherafelt is a small town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,372 people recorded in the 2001 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of County Londonderry and is the social, economic and political hub of the area...
, Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey is a large town north of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Sometimes considered to be a suburb of Belfast, it is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course...
, Newtownards
Newtownards
Newtownards is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. Newtownards is the largest town in the Borough of Ards. According to the 2001 Census, it has a population of 27,821 people in...
, and Omagh
Omagh
Omagh is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. The town, which is the largest in the county, had a population of 19,910 at the 2001 Census. Omagh also contains the headquarters of Omagh District Council and...
.
Demographics
In 1993 there were twelve local spiritual assemblies in Northern Ireland. Bahá'í assemblies and communities are organized in four clusters - multi-community groupings - in Northern Ireland. There are just over a hundred Bahá'ís in the Charles Dunning Cluster, (centered on Belfast,) - all of whom had finished Book 1 of the Ruhi InstituteRuhi Institute
The Ruhi Institute is an educational institution, operating under the guidance of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í Faith in Colombia. The general idea of an institute in Bahá'í terms originates with the beginning of the Nine Year Plan designated by the Universal House of Justice...
series by the fall of 2005. By 2005 Bahá'í sources claim some 300 Bahá'ís across Northern Ireland.
See also
- History of Northern IrelandHistory of Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is today one of the four countries of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, having been created as a separate legal entity on 3 May 1921, under the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
- Religion in Northern IrelandReligion in Northern IrelandChristianity is the largest religion in Northern Ireland. According to a 2007 Tearfund survey, Northern Ireland is the most religious part of the UK, with 45% regularly attending church....
:Category:Irish Bahá'ís
- Bahá'í Faith in the United KingdomBahá'í Faith in the United KingdomThe Bahá'í Faith in the United Kingdom started in 1898 when Mrs. Mary Thornburgh-Cropper , an American by birth, become the first Bahá'í in England. Through the 1930s, the number of Bahá'ís in the United Kingdom grew, leading to a pioneer movement beginning after the Second World War with sixty...
- Bahá'í Faith in EnglandBahá'í Faith in EnglandThe Bahá'í Faith in England started with the earliest mentions of the predecessor of the Bahá'í Faith, the Báb, in The Times on 1 November 1845, only a little over a year after the Báb first stated his mission. Today there are Bahá'í communities across the country from Carlisle to...
- Bahá'í Faith in WalesBahá'í Faith in WalesThe Bahá'í Faith in Wales started shortly after the Second World War when a great pioneer movement began with sixty percent of the British Bahá'í community eventually relocating. This movement included taking the Bahá'í Faith to Wales....
- Bahá'í Faith in ScotlandBahá'í Faith in ScotlandThe Bahá'í Faith is a minority religion in Scotland. In the 2001 Census in Scotland, roughly four hundred people living there declared themselves to be Bahá'ís, compared to a 2004 figure of approximately 5,000 Bahá'ís in the United Kingdom....
External links
- Official Website of the Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland
- A Baha'i Perspective: Robert Reid Bob grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland… (also available through iTunes)