St. Thomas's Church (old), Dublin

St Thomas's Church in Marlborough Street, Dublin was a Church of Ireland parish church. It was replaced by a new church, St. Thomas's Church, Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin, in 1930.

St. Thomas's Church
The church about 1890
St. Thomas's Church
LocationMarlborough Street, Dublin
CountryIreland
DenominationChurch of Ireland
History
StatusParish church
Founded1762 (building began 1758)
DedicationSt Thomas
Architecture
Architect(s)John Smith
Architectural typePalladian
Completed1762
Closed1922
Demolished1926
Administration
ParishSt Thomas
DioceseDublin (and Glendalough)

The church

Establishment

St Thomas's Church was built in 1758-62 in Marlborough Street when the parish of St. Mary's was divided to cope with increased population. The architect of this church (and of St. Catherine's in Thomas Street) was Mr. John Smith. The design is modelled on Palladio's Il Redentore in Venice.[1] £2000 was granted by Parliament for the building of the church, and later another thousand pounds to finish it off. At the time it was considered to have the most beautiful facade of any church in the city.[2] It was opened for worship in 1762.[3]

Operation

In 1866 Rev. John Grainger from St. Thomas's, moved to the found the new Church in Sherrif Street, East Wall St. Barnabas' Church, Dublin.

A barricade outside St. Thomas' Church gate just before it was destroyed by fire in 1922

Loss and replacement

The church was gutted by a fire in July 1922. This fire, which destroyed most of Upper Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street), occurred during the Civil War. Although the main structure survived, the opportunity was taken to extend Gloucester Street (now Sean Mac Dermott Street) up to O'Connell Street,[4] and the church had to be removed in 1926 to enable this. The new St Thomas's Church was erected on the site of the former parochial hall, on an "island" site in Cathal Brugha Street, in 1930. The foundation stone of the former church is retained in the new St Thomas's Church.[3]

The parish

There were 17,108 inhabitants in St. Thomas's parish in 1825.[5]

Burials

Notes
  1. Frederick O'Dwyer (1981). Lost Dublin. Gill and Macmillan.
  2. Cosgrave
  3. Saint Thomas's Church (Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin 1). Dublin, Ireland: Saint Thomas's Church (St Thomas's Parish). n.d. p. 1.
  4. Kearns, Dublin Tenement Life
  5. Wright, 1825

Sources
  • Cosgrave, Ephraim McDowel; Strangways, L.R. (1908). A Dictionary of Dublin (2nd Edition). Dublin: Sealy, Bryers and Walkers.
  • Gilbert, John (1854). A History of the City of Dublin. Oxford: Oxford University.
  • George Newenham Wright (2005). "An Historical Guide to the City of Dublin". Online book. Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
  • Craig, Maurice (1969). Dublin: 1660-1860. Dublin: Allen Figgis.
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