John Welsh of Irongray

John Welsh
etching of Mr. Welch baptising children
ChurchChurch of Scotland
Personal details
Bornc. 1624
Died9 January 1681
London
BuriedSt. Botolph, Bishopsgate City of London
NationalityScottish
DenominationPresbyterian
Occupationminister
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
Morning light at Irongray
John Welsh ejected from Irongray
Irongray Vista
Covenanters Communion Monument and stones- Skeoch Hill[1][2]
Kirkcudbrightshire, Civil Parish map[3]
Hilltop cairn on Bishop Forest Hill
obelisk at Irongray[1]
The Castle Golf Course Clubhouse built on the site of Kinkell Castle in whose grounds Welsh and Blackader held conventicles.

John Michael Welsh of Irongray (c. 1624–1681) was a leader of the Scottish Covenanter movement. Dunlop, an early 20th century writer, says: "It is a noteworthy fact that there exists no memoir of John Welsh of Irongray, though from the Battle of Rullion Green till Bothwell Bridge he was the most conspicuous Covenanting minister in Scotland. Had he glorified God in the Grassmarket, or fallen in some scuffle with Claverhouse's dragoons, or even like his friend Blackadder of Troqueer languished in prison on the Bass Rock, some pious hand would have been moved to write his story."[4] Dunlop also wrote: "The events of Welsh's life must be sought for in the pages of Wodrow and Kirkton and in the letters and State papers of the reign of Charles II. After spending a fortnight hunting him in the British Museum, I have come to sympathise with Clavers and his dragoons. Mr John Welsh is a most elusive gentleman."[5]

  1. ^ a b Thomson & Hutchison 1903.
  2. ^ Blackadder 1826, p. 98.
  3. ^ Map of Parishes in the Counties of Wigtown & Kircudbright, ScotlandsFamily
  4. ^ Dunlop 1912, p. 190.
  5. ^ Dunlop 1912, p. 191.