The few large centers of population, like Dublin, capital of the Republic, and Belfast, capital city of Northern Ireland, contrast starkly with the quiet, peaceful towns and villages of rural areas. It was in this setting that the spark of truth was ignited in the late 19th century.

C. T. RUSSELL SPARKS TRUTH

In 1891 Charles T. Russell, the first president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, visited Ireland. It was his first port of call when traveling from the United States to expand the preaching of Christian truth in Europe. Russell, himself of Scots-Irish descent, disembarked at Queenstown (now Cobh) in the south of Ireland.

As a result of his work, ecclesias, or congregations, were started in Dublin and Belfast, and from these the message of truth began to trickle forth. During this early period, the brothers distributed tracts at the doors of Protestant churches and engaged in informal rather than organized witnessing. The Watchtower, in 1904, reported: “In Ireland, too, the Truth spreads: the dear brethren in Dublin continue to scatter the message of love, with much joy to themselves.”

In 1908 about 300 attended Russell’s lecture in Belfast on the subject “The Overthrow of Satan’s Empire.” By then Belfast had an ecclesia of about 24 Bible Students. In Dublin, after meeting with approximately 40 brothers and other interested persons, he talked to a public audience of more than a thousand people.

By 1919 the elective elders in the Dublin congregation were actively resisting the counsel and direction coming from Jehovah’s organization. They resented anything that interfered with their control of the congregation. Their personal views and ideas became paramount. (Rom. 12:3) Although these elders read to the congregation the letters sent from the Society, they ignored any counsel or direction these offered. A few faithful ones in the congregation kept doing what they could in the way of distributing tracts as well as books like The Divine Plan of the Ages, but the majority had no desire to get involved in such work.

Charles Wilson, one of the brothers in that early congregation in Dublin, recalled how things came to a head one evening in 1920. By then most of those in the congregation had lost appreciation for Jehovah’s organization. He tells us what happened:

“We went to the meeting that night and were told by one of the elders that the congregation was going to vote us out of their company. When they told us that they were breaking with the International Bible Students and setting up their own organization, I said, ‘Well, you have no need to vote us out of your company. We’re leaving!’ I turned and walked out the door. Brother and Sister Brown and Sister Rutland followed me out.”

One dividing issue focused on the preaching work with The Golden Age and other publications. Another was whether to accept a more theocratic method of organization as was then being discussed in The Watchtower. It was a very difficult period. A real purging resulted. Out of about a hundred members of the congregation, only four stuck with Jehovah’s organization. Those who broke away eventually fragmented into smaller, discordant factions, with their own individual leaders.

The preaching work in Dublin almost came to a stop. As time went on, however, others took up the challenge of declaring the good news not just in Dublin but all over Ireland as colporteurs, or full-time preachers.

Sometimes colporteurs were driven out of their accommodations as a result of clergy-inspired opposition. They were always made welcome, though, by Sister Rutland, a former policewoman and one of the few loyal ones left in Dublin. Many brothers and sisters affectionately remember her as “Ma” Rutland and are grateful that she made her home a haven for those who needed it when things got tough. You could always find a “bite and the kettle sitting on the hob” at “Ma” Rutland’s.