01 June 2017

Visiting the churches and
cathedrals of Limerick

Inside Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick … marking its 850th anniversary in 2018 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017; click on image for full-screen vision)

Patrick Comerford

Since moving to the Rectory in Askeaton, Co Limerick, I have enjoyed visiting cathedrals, churches and church buildings in Limerick city and county, writing about them and photographing them.

As the months move on, it has become difficult for some readers to find these postings on this site, and so this posting offers links to these and similar postings.

I intend to update this list as I write about more churches and buildings, indicating the date of the latest update at the end of this posting, and to provide an additional link in the toolbar in the banner at the top of the front page of this site.

Limerick City:

Cathedrals:

1, Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick (Church of Ireland), 23 February 2016; and here, 19 February 2016.

2, Saint John’s Cathedral, Limerick (Roman Catholic), 26 May 2017.

Church of Ireland Churches:

3, Saint Michael’s Church, Pery Square, 3 January 2018.

4, Saint John’s Church, John’s Square, 27 May 2017.

5, Saint Munchin’s Church, Church Street, 27 May 2017.

6, Saint Nicholas Church (site), Nicholas Street, 22 May 2017.

7, Trinity Episcopal Church, Catherine Street, 13 February 2017.

8, Site of former Saint George’s Church, corner of George’s Street and Mallow Street, 10 January 2018.

9, Saint Michael’s Church, Pery Square, 3 January 2018.

10, The windows in Saint Michael’s Church, Pery Square, Limerick, 22 March 2018.

11, Kilmurry Church, Castletroy, 13 February 2018.

Roman Catholic Churches:

12, Church of the Sacred Heart (Jesuit), The Crescent, 28 April 2017.

13, Mount Saint Alphonsus (Redemptorist), Upper Henry Street, 3 June 2017.

14, Saint Michael’s Church, Denmark Street, 24 August 2017.

15, Saint Augustine’s Church, O’Connell Street, 2 June 2017.

16, Saint Mary’s Church, Athlunkard Street, 5 August, 2017.

17, Saint Saviour’s Church (Dominican), Glentworth Street, 31 May 2017.

18, Saint Munchin’s Church, on the corner of Clancy Strand, High Road and Thomondgate, Limerick, 4 November 2017.

19, The Good Shepherd Convent, former chapel and convent, Clare Street, Limerick, 16 September 2017.

20, Mount Vincent, former chapel and convent, the Sisters of Mercy, 18 September 2017.

21, Former private chapel, Ozanam House, Hartstonge House, 10 January 2018.

22, Former Franciscan Church and Friary, Henry Street, 12 January 2018.

23, Saint Joseph’s Church, Quinlan Street and O’Connell Avenue, 13 January 2018.

24, Saint Patrick’s Church, Clare Street, 17 March 2018.

Other Churches:

25, Peter’s Cell, the Canonesses of Saint Augustine, 18 July 2018.

26, The ruins of Saint Patrick’s Church, Kilmurry, 17 March 2018.

27, Baptist Church, Upper O’Connell Street, 18 March 2017.

28, Christ Church, O’Connell Street (Methodist and Presbyterian), 8 June 2017.

29, Presbyterian Church, Glentworth Street, 15 February 2017.

30, Presbyterian Church, Henry Street, 15 February 2017.

31, Christ Church (Methodist and Presbyterian), O’Connell Street, 8 June 2017.

32, Former Quaker Meeting House, Cecil Street, 24 August 2017.

33, Former Congregationalist Chapel, Hartstonge Street, 11 January, 2018.

34, The Brethren Hall, Mallow Street, 11 January 2018.

Other faith communities:

35, The Jewish Community sites in Limerick, including the former synagogues and the cemetery, 2 July 2017.

36, The Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Lower Gerald Griffin Street, 30 December 2017.

Co Limerick:

Church of Ireland:

37, Castletown Church, Kilcornan, 21 May 2017.

38, Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, 2 March 2017.

39, Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, 27 January 2017.

40, Saint Nicholas Church, Adare, 7 February 2011.

41, The windows in Saint Nicholas’s Church, Adare, 24 March 2018.

42, The former Saint Paul’s Church, Glin, 9 September 2017.

43, The site of Saint Thomas’s Church, Newcastle West, 11 September 2017.

44, Former parish church, Ballingarry, 2 November 2017.

45, Former parish church, Croagh, 2 November 2018.

46, Former parish church, Ballycahane, 26 November 2017.

47, Former Saint David’s Church, Newcastle West, 9 October 2018.

Pre-Reformation foundations:

48, Augustinian Abbey, Rathkeale, 17 February 2017.

49, Franciscan Friary, Askeaton, 24 January 2017.

50, Holy Trinity Church, Adare, 11 October 2018.

51, Knights’ Templar Commandery, Askeaton, 23 January 2017.

52, Mungret Abbey, Mungret, 31 March 2017.

53, Former Priory of the Knights Templar, Ballingarry, 31 October 2017.

54, Beagh Church, near Ballysteen, 21 March 2018.

55, Former Augustinian friary, Croagh, 2 November 2018.

Roman Catholic:

56, Church of Saint Columba and Saint Joseph, Glenstal Abbey, 10 July 2018.

57, Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, 30 January 2017.

58, Saint Mary’s Church, Rathkeale, 14 March 2017.

59, Saint Senanus Church, Foynes, 20 March 2017

60, Saint Senan’s Church, Robertsown, 25 March 2017.

61, The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Ballingarry, 2 November 2017.

62, The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Glin, 9 September 2017.

63, Saint Joseph’s Church, Castleconnell, Co Limerick, 20 December 2017.

64, Former Saint Anne’s Convent, Sisters of Mercy, Rathkeale.

Methodist Churches:

65, The Methodist Church, Adare, Co Limerick, 26 May 2018.

66, Embury and Heck Memorial Methodist Church, Ballingrane, 15 May 2017.

Church-related buildings:

Limerick City:

1, Bishop’s Palace, Church Street, 24 May 2017.

2, Bishop’s Palace, Henry Street, 11 February 2017.

3, Protestant Orphan Society Hall, Pery Street.

Co Limerick:

4, Askeaton Rectory, 14 February 2017.

5, Castletown Glebehouse, 21 May 2017.

6, Glebe Castle, Rathkeale, probably the residence of the rectors and clergy of Rathkeale, 27 June 2017.

Inside Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Last updated: 1 January 2019

Saint Saviour’s continues
the 800-year Dominican
connection with Limerick

Saint Saviour’s Church stands on an important corner in the centre of Georgian Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

The Dominicans first came to Limerick almost 800 years ago in 1227. When the Dominican friars announced two years ago that they were leaving the city, a Dominican order of nuns based in Nashville, Tennessee, came to the rescue and agreed to keep the church open.

The Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia arrived in Limerick from Nashville last August [2016], and their presence keeps open an 800-year Dominican association with the city, while priests continue to celebrate Mass in the church every day.

Saint Saviour’s on the corner of Glentworth Street and Baker Place is a Gothic Revival Church that has been altered and added to over the past two centuries. But it brings together in one building the work of many of the most important church architects in Ireland, including James Pain, James Joseph McCarthy, William Wallace, George Goldie, and Ashlin and Coleman.

The church in Glentworth Street dates back to 1815-1816, when the Dominicans moved from their Penal-era chapel on Fish Lane under the leadership of the Dominican Prior, Father Joseph Harrigan.

Edmund Henry Pery (1758-1844), 1st Earl of Limerick, donated the land to the Dominicans. The corner site faces onto Baker Place and Dominick Street, and the east end of the church faces directly onto Griffith’s Row. It faces Saint Michael’s Church of Ireland parish church, and the two churches bookend Pery Street, giving these two Gothic-style churches an visible ecumenical impact and an important architectural role in the Georgian area around Pery Square.

The original church was a plain Gothic church designed by James Pain. The foundation stone was laid on 27 March 1815 in the presence of Dr Charles Tuohy, Bishop of Limerick, and the Provincial of the Dominicans, Father Patrick Gibbons, and the church was consecrated on 6 July 1816.

There is no Saint Saviour, needless to say, and the actual dedication is to the Most Holy Saviour Transfigured, a popular dedication for Dominican churches, with similar foundations in Dublin and Waterford, for example.

Father Joseph Harrigan, the main inspiration for building the church in 1816, died on 23 January 1838, and is buried in Saint Saviour’s.

This is probably the Gothic church William Makepeace Thackeray refers to dismissively during his visit to Limerick in 1842.

Inside Saint Saviour’s … the church brings together the work of many key 19th century church architects (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Some repairs and alterations designed by JJ McCarthy in 1860 were carried out by John Ryan. McCarthy's work in Limerick included Saint Mary’s Church, Rathkeale, Co Limerick, Saint Senanus Church, Foynes, and Cahermoyle House, the home of the family of William Smith O’Brien.

More extensive work was carried out immediately afterwards by the Limerick-born architect William Wallace, who renovated the church in 1861-1864. He added a clerestory, raising the height of the church by 20 ft, and added the rose window.

At the same time, George Goldie (1828-1887) of Goldie and Child designed a new chancel, high altar, reredos, tabernacle and east window in 1863-1666. In 1870 Goldie and Child remodelled the interior and exterior and the work was supervised by Maurice Alphonsus Hennessy of Limerick.

The altar is the work of the Cheltenham sculptor Richard Lockwood Bolton (1832-1905), the only example of his work that I know of in Ireland. The Gothic Revival marble and polished granite reredos, with a centrally-placed pinnacled tabernacle, is the work of the Cork sculptor Patrick Scannell. There is a large mural of the Transfiguration over the altar arch.

The East End stained glass window of the Transfiguration was by William Wailes of Newcastle, and dates from 1866. The communion rails and gates were designed by Ashlin and Coleman in 1927.

To the right of the high altar is the 17th century oak statue of Our Lady of Limerick, brought to Limerick from Flanders by Patrick Sarsfield in 1640 in reparation for the death sentence passed on Sir John Burke of Brittas by his uncle, Judge Dominic Sarsfield. For many years, the statue was buried in a box in the graveyard at Saint Mary’s Cathedral, along with the Sarsfield Chalice.

A three-sided canted choir and organ gallery at the west end of the nave is supported by marbelised cast-iron columns and an elaborate timber pier rising from a limestone base.

The Sacred Heart Chapel off the north aisle is the work of George Coppinger Ashlin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

The Sacred Heart Chapel off the north aisle, also called the Carbery chapel, dates from 1896-1899 and is the work of George Coppinger Ashlin. It is enclosed by a wrought-iron and brass balustrade, with a raised tiled platform, mosaic tiled walls, and a plastered groin vaulted ceiling.

The chapel off the south aisle is dedicated to Saint Martin de Porres and dates from 1960.

The stained-glass windows in the south aisle show different religious figures: two Dominicans saints, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Albert; Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Luke the Evangelist; Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Dominic; Saint William and Saint Margaret; and the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph.

The frescoes on both sides of the centre aisle of Dominicans saints are the work of Father Aengus Buckley, who also painted the fresco of ‘The Triumph of the Cross’ over the chancel arch in 1951.

An oratory in the church remembers Bishop Terence Albert O’Brien of Emly, a Dominican who was hanged in the abbey ruins in 1651 for his resistance to the Cromwellian siege of Limerick. he had received the statue and chalice from Patrick Sarsfield, and was buried with them in the churchyard at Saint Mary's Cathedral. This is yet another reminder of the long connection the Dominicans have had with Limerick over the generations and down through the centuries.

The choir and organ gallery at the west end is supported by columns and a timber pier (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)