Iskaheen
Iskaheen has links to the earliest Christian tradition in Ireland.
In the year 443, Patrick converted the people to Christianity and baptised Eoghan.
Eoghan was the son of Niall of the Nine Hostages . He was buried at Iskaheen in the year 465.
St. Patrick’s in Iskaheen (1782) is one of the oldest churches in the Derry diocese still in use.
Before St. Patrick’s opened, penal laws were in force from the Battle of the Boyne (1690) to the end of the Jacobite era of 1745, in which Catholics held no land, public office, no access to education, and no freedom to practice their religion.
During the penal laws, it was not safe for a Bishop to be consecrated or live in Derry city itself. A Dr McColgan was elevated to the See of Derry around 1760. In 1765 he was driven to live in a limekiln at Muff, which was then in Co. Derry and was only able to visit Derry under the cover of night to avoid arrest and exile.
With the relaxation of penal laws, Dr. McColgan became the first Bishop of Derry to live in the city for 190 years.
The Parish of Iskaheen
The first Parish priest if Iskaheen was the Rev. William McLaughlin. He was Parish Priest from 1811 until 1836 and from 1848 until 1856.
He was born in 1776 at Aught, Ture being ordained a priest in 1806. He is known for blessing the head and eye wells at Iskaheen and died on the 16th of July 1856, being buried at Iskaheen.
Until 1811, Iskaheen was part of the parish of Templemore.
From 1832 Inch, Burt and Iskaheen were one parish. Burt and Inch became independent in 1847 and later joined Fahan leaving Iskaheen on its own.
In 1902 Upper Moville (Drung), which consisted of about 80 families was included in Iskaheen parish.
The boundary was from the first pier in Moville to Springfield Road in Culmore.
In 1992 Culmore joined Steelstown parish, Our Lady of Lourdes and in 1996 Bishop Hegarty made it an independent parish.