Gracehill: Unesco World Heritage status for NI Moravian village

The Moravian Church, one of the earliest Protestant denominations, arrived in the UK and Ireland from Eastern Europe in the early 18th century.

Gracehill continues to have an active Moravian community with its own bishop.

The village’s Unesco status is part of a transnational designation, which also includes Moravian sites in the United States, Germany, and Denmark.

It becomes the first site in Northern Ireland to be granted cultural World Heritage status.

The chairman of Gracehill Trust, David Johnston, was in the Indian capital New Delhi for the announcement by Unesco’s World Heritage Committee, along with representatives from the US, Danish, German and UK governments.

“The prize of a cultural World Heritage listing is a huge good news story for Northern Ireland as a whole, something that everyone can share in and be proud of,” he said.

Achieving this cultural status has been a process that has taken more than two decades for residents of Gracehill.

“The community have been quietly focused on working with partners, local national and international, to highlight the important heritage that exists in Gracehill,” Dr Johnston added.

“It has been a real journey both physically and metaphorically but clearly hugely worthwhile. We really consider this listing as a gift to everyone in Northern Ireland.”