An Outstanding Cleric
Alexander Porter Goudy, formerly minister of Glastry, was installed at 1st Strabane Presbyterian Church on March 20 1833. Dr AP Goudy is one of the outstanding figures in the history of Irish Presbyterianism.
He was the grandson of the ill-fated Rev. James Porter who was hanged in 1798 on an almost certainly trumped-up charge of robbing a mail train. Rev. Porter, who was born at Ballindrait, Lifford, Co Donegal in 1753, had strong sympathies with the United Ireland movement, though never took the oath.
Rev. Porter was convicted on the unsupported evidence of a paid police informer and was hanged between his church and manse at Newtownards.
Dr Goudy was born in the Ards Peninsular, part of a family which traced its ancestry to Scotland, and from there to Norway.
He was licensed to preach in December 1830 by the Bangor Presbytery, and in September 1831 was called to be minister of Glastry.
He was a fellow student of Dr James McKnight, of Londonderry, who was later to become editor of the “Derry Standard” newspaper.
He came to prominence in the public life of Ulster as well as in his own church assemblies, and many of his sermons and pamphlets on various subjects were widely read. He was a noted poet and writer of political satires.
Dr Goudy played a leading part in the battle for justice to overthrow a law which made invalid marriages between members of the Established Church and the Presbyterian Church when conducted by a Presbyterian Minister. Fierce passions were aroused by the subject, and it was not until 1844 that freedom from the stigma came about.
Writing in “The Presbyterian Churchman” in 1886, Dr Thomas Croskery described Dr Goudy as a very striking figure who was possessed of a rare vitality and vivacity and who was known for his powers of oratory. He said some of Dr Goudy’s best speeches were structures of solid argument, flashing from pinnacle to foundation with points of wit.
“As a man with a hand in many controversies, he could not but excite many
resentments, but there was a perceptible mellowing of spirit in the last years
of his life, for his character was really as gentle as it was strong, and won
hearts to a loyalty that no lapse of time and no change of circumstances could
shake,” Dr Croskery wrote.
He paid tribute to Dr Goudy’s stand against “Unitarianism” and the established Church’s efforts to destroy the validity of Presbyterian marriages.
Dr Goudy was an ardent supporter of tenant-rights, and helped to prepare and solidify the public opinion which led to changes in the law.
In the 19th century, the Kirk Session had enormous powers over the lives of Presbyterian congregations, and often considered the secular, as well as the spiritual, well-being of the congregation………………………..
In 1843 the Session set up a special fund in preparation for the celebration of the bi-centenary of Presbyterianism in Ulster. A total of £167 was raised, with the single largest contribution being £25 from Mr George Herdman. The Minister contributed £10.
Dr Goudy became the first president of the YMCA when it was set up in Strabane in 1853.
In his book “Friendly Strabane”, Rev McClelland noted that although Dr Goudy was a quiet man, he was drawn into the controversies of his time, and his contributions to those was “scholarly and cogent”.
In 1856 it was noted that the number of communicants on the roll of 1st Strabane was 206.
Dr Goudy died on December 14 1858, and more than 100 Ministers were present at his funeral. His body was brought by train from Dublin and was met by a huge crowd at Strabane station. He was buried in the old cemetery at Patrick Street.
His son Alexander became a Judge in the Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana, and was a state senator. He helped frame the constitution of Louisiana. His grandson James later became attorney-general of Louisiana.
Dr Goudy’s daughter Anna married George Herdman of Sion House and had one son Henry and 3 daughters. George Herdman died of bronchitis in 1856 at Sion House. In the Mill Diary there are notes written in1862 by his nephew Emerson Tennent Herdman, which state that the Goudys insisted on taking George’s share of the business as a cash payment after his death.
The portrait of young Henry with his grandmother, Sarah Herdman, nee Griffiths is in the possession of Elisabeth Hendey (nee Herdman), daughter of Henry’s only son Hal Herdman, the well-known Oceanographer. The portrait is painted by Richard Hooke, who worked in the office in the Herdman’s flax-spinning Mill in Sion Mills until the Manager, Andrew Ferguson, recognised his talent and persuaded him to go to art school.