On This Day (16 April 2012), Ray Davey passed away at the age of 97. Prisoner of War and one of the foremost Peacebuilders of the 20th Century. He founded the Corrymeela Community, Northern Ireland, in 1965.
Remembering Ray Davey: A Life Shaped by War, Dedicated to Peace
Born in Dunmurry, Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1915, Ray Davey’s early years gave little indication of the extraordinary path he would walk. After studying at Queen’s University, Belfast, Ray trained for the Presbyterian ministry. His first sermon as an ordained minister was scheduled for the First Bangor Presbyterian Church at 11.30am on 3rd September 1939. At 11.15 am on that same Sunday, UK Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, announced that Britain was at war with Germany,
Like many of his generation, Ray’s life was profoundly disrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. Volunteering as a field secretary with the YMCA, he was captured during the fall of Tobruk in 1942 and spent over three years as a prisoner of war in Italy and Germany. Yet it was in captivity that the seeds of his later work were sown. As a Christian, he felt that his prisoner-of-war experience was an opportunity to practice what he preached. He and other Christians in his prison camp looked out for the prisoners who faced mental challenges and had lost hope. Some didn’t want to get out of bed, so Ray and others came alongside and found ways to encourage them. At night, Ray began a programme called ‘a book at bedtime’ when he would simply read aloud, stories from a book. The extraordinary thing about Ray was that, because he was a ‘civilian’ and not a member of the armed forces, he qualified for repatriation. He could have applied for a ticket home. Yet he considered that he was fulfilling his calling where he was. He voluntarily remained a prisoner for three years, until the war ended.
On return to Northern Ireland after the war, he became the Presbyterian chaplain at Queen’s University, Belfast. However, the divisions he encountered at home troubled him deeply. Although it was before the Troubles broke out, he could see that these divisions could easily harden into conflict. In response, along with a group of students from Queen’s University, he founded the Corrymeela Community in 1965, on the north Antrim coast, near Ballycastle. What began as a simple vision—to create a space where people from divided communities could meet, listen, and understand one another—grew into one of the most significant peace and reconciliation initiatives on the island of Ireland. Its work continues to this day in a renovated and expanded centre at Ballycastle in County Antrim.
Ray Davey passed away in 2015, but his legacy endures—not only in the ongoing work of Corrymeela, but in the countless lives touched by his vision. In a world still marked by division, his life offers a compelling reminder that reconciliation begins with simple, courageous acts: listening, welcoming, and choosing to see one another as human.
On this anniversary, remembering Ray Davey is more than an act of tribute. It is an invitation to continue the work he began, and to believe, as he did, that even in the most divided of places, peace is possible.
On this anniversary, remembering Ray Davey is more than an act of tribute. It is an invitation to continue the work he began, and to believe, as he did, that even in the most divided of places, peace is possible.
Early Corrymeela site with Ballycastle in the background
The old Corrymeela House from the 80s and 90s
Davey Village at Corrymeela, named after its founder, Ray Davey