It would seem from about 1756 *Apparently, a Methodist society began in Dublin before 1747 by a Methodist preacher who had been converted in England under Charles Wesley in 1738 *As a result John & Charles Wesley visited Ireland - visiting on 21 occasions between 1747 and 1789 *"From Dublin, the Wesleys journeyed into the midlands of Ireland and eventually, in 1756, on his sixth tour, John Wesley broke new ground when he visited the Palatines in County Limerick, penetrated into Connemara and Mayo in the far west and entered Ulster for the first time. From County Limerick, Methodist converts emigrated to America in 1760 where they founded a Methodist Society, and later built the first Methodist chapel in New York, in John Street, believed to be the first Methodist chapel in America. About the same time another Irishman began preaching in Maryland." WCC https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/methodist-church-in-ireland Methodism was at the time more a movement within the Anglican church (and Church of Ireland) - it became a sperate entity in the USA first (following Independence) & but in England and Ireland - it didn't separate until 1816 (some time after Wesley's death b. 1703 d. 1791). https://www.oikoumene.org/member-churches/methodist-church-in-ireland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Church_in_Ireland https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Ireland_Methodist_Church_Records https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Ireland_Methodist_Church_Records
