By 1825 the Catholics of Ballycastle thought that their town and surrounding area was large enough to become a parish in its own right, separate from the Parish of Armoy, of which it had been part for many years.  They decided to approach Dr Crolly, Bishop of the Diocese of Down and Connor, when next he came to Ballycastle, presumably for Confirmation. 

The McGildowneys were a very famous family in Ballycastle, although Edmund McGildowney was the only who was a Catholic.  He invited the Bishop and some of the important Catholics of Ballycastle to his house for lunch.  His house is now part of the Marine Hotel at the foot of the Quay Road.  The rest of the McGildowney’s resided at Clare Park House, to the North of the town. 

By 1870 the chapel at the Fairhill was too small for the congregation. The parish priest. Father Patrick McAlister, who had succeeded Father McGlennon in 1862, began looking for a decent-sized site for a new church at what is now called Moyle Road. 

He obtained from Mrs Boyd, the widow of Hugh Boyd, the deceased landlord of Ballycastle, five acres of ground on a very fine site on what was then known as Clare Road.  Father McAlister sent a letter of thanks to the editor of “The Northern Whig”:

Excerpts from "The Parish Of Ramoan" by Cahal Dallat, J.P., B.A., D.A.S.E., M.Phil. which was originally published in a booklet for the Re-dedication of the Church in 1993 will be republished here week by week for the next few weeks.