The Feeny Presybyterian who almost became Taoiseach
Rev James Irwin was also a fervent supporter of Home Rule.
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An early 20th century ecclesiastical split on the issue of Home Rule sparked a chain of events which led to a County Derry Presbyterian minister eventually turning down a run at the Irish presidency.
Rev. James Alexander Hamilton Irwin, born in Feeny and educated at Magee College in Derry, became a Presbyterian minister when he was ordained at Killead, County Antrim, in 1903.
He served the ministry for 23 years, but the love, but it was his actions in the years that followed that saw him forgo the love, fellowship and comfortable retirement such a stint usually provided.