Tartaraghan Presbyterian Church, Cloncarrish Road Portadown, Co.Armagh, Bt62 1Rn

Tartaraghan Presbyterian Church is a freestanding double-height roughcast Presbyterian church dated 1824, located on the east side of Cloncarrish Road in Portadown. The building has a rectangular plan flanked by lower one-storey wings: a single-storey session room to the north (added 1950) and a single-storey vestibule to the south (added 1978).

The main body of the church features a pitched natural slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles and kneelered stone gable verges rising to stone finials, with twin conical-topped steel ventilators to the ridge and profiled plastic and cast-iron rainwater goods. The south and north wings have kneelered stone gable verges rising to square stone caps. The walling is roughcast render with a plain masonry cornice. The east elevation of the south wing has red brick walling laid in stretcher bond under painted render.

The principal elevation faces east and contains four pointed-arched window openings with stone surrounds, plain reveals, and projecting stone sills containing stained glass. A slate plaque with masonry surround is centrally placed below the stone cornice, reading "TARTARAGHAN PRESBYTERIAN MEETING HOUSE 1824". The east elevation of the south wing has a pointed-arched door opening with plain reveals containing a double-leaf eight-panelled timber door under a stained-glass transom. The east elevation of the north wing features a single pointed-arched window opening containing stained glass to the right of a pointed-arched door opening with painted masonry surround and plinth, containing a six-panelled timber door under a stained-glass transom. A slate plaque reads "MATTHEW GRAY MEMORIAL SESSION ROOM 1950". The south elevation comprises two gables from both the main volume and south wing, with two pointed-arched window openings to the south wing containing stained glass. The west elevation has two pointed-arched window openings to the main volume and four square-headed windows to the north wing containing uPVC casements. The north elevation has a single pointed-arched window opening containing stained glass.

The church is surrounded by a burial ground containing a mixture of gravemarkers and monuments, bounded by a painted and rendered masonry wall and two piers with masonry caps flanking a vehicular entrance containing wrought-iron gates.

The site has a long religious history. It was administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Armagh from at least the 17th century, with a small thatched chapel erected in 1790. Following storm damage that stripped the roof of its thatch and scraws, the site lay derelict for some years and was occasionally used for cockfighting. It eventually passed into the hands of local Presbyterians. A group petitioned the Secession Presbytery of Armagh on 13 May 1823, requesting "supply of sermon", which was granted. In January 1824 the congregation petitioned for their own minister, who was ordained on 4 November 1824. The Meeting House was completed in 1825 at a cost of £375 and appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833.

Reverend GWD Rea, writing in 1903, noted that a stone in the church wall bore the inscription "Tartaraghan Meeting House 1822 A.D.", which may indicate an older building on the site being reconstructed in 1824. Local tradition suggests that one of the walls of the old chapel was incorporated into the Meeting House. Thomas McIlroy's ordnance survey memoirs of 1837 described the Meeting House during the ministry of Reverend James Shaw as "a stone building, white washed and slated, 55 feet long and 32 feet broad", and characterised the interior as "commodious" but noted it was unceiled with no finishes at that time.

In December 1900 the Meeting House suffered damage from a fire that broke out during a magic lantern lecture. Extensive repairs and improvements were undertaken immediately, and the church was reopened in August 1901. During the ministry of Reverend John Forsythe (1920–1943) a further renovation was carried out, including enlargement of the window apertures and erection of six quality stained-glass windows. The four windows on the east elevation were a gift of Miss P McClelland of Derrylard in memory of her relatives John, Sophia, and Annie McClelland. The stained glass was executed by the firm WJ Douglas and Sons. In 1950 and 1978 the session room and vestibule respectively were added. The church interior also contains replacement stained-glass windows and an ornate ceiling reflecting the various periods of alteration and improvement.