Compiling an A-Z guide to the churches and chapels I have visited and photographed in Dublin

The bridge at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin … the formal name of the cathedral is the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Dublin truly could do with a comprehensive ‘A-Z’ guide to its many cathedrals, churches and chapels of all shapes, sizes and denominations, from the many All Hallows and All Saints’ Churches to Zion Church in Rathgar.

I have been blogging about them ever since I began this blog, and have been photographing them for many years before that.

But the list of churches has grown in length month by month, and in my visits to Dublin in recent weeks, as I searched back to see where I had visited and where I had written about, I realised that many of my blog postings about Dublin churches are difficult to find.

Some were not properly labelled or were labelled incorrectly, making it difficult to find them. My photographs and descriptions of other churches are scattered through other blog postings on family history, beach walks, in lecture notes for church history and liturgy or in sermons over the years.

Scattered through those other postings are descriptions of Saint Andrew’s Church, Westland Row, where many members of the Comerford family were baptised or married, or the Greek Orthodox Church on Arbour Hill, which I have visited so often.

Lost in my many sermon notes and the like I expect to find many more images of Christ Church Cathedral and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and there must be photographs of school college and hospital chapels including Saint Columba’s College, the former Mater Dei Institute, the now-closed Church of Ireland College of Education, and the chapel in Saint Vincent’s Hospital.

And, naturally, there are churches I visited and photographed but never got around to writing about, including Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral on Marlborough Street, the Methodist ‘round church’ in Dolphin’s Barn and Christ Church, the Presbyterian church that dominates the centre of Rathgar, or the former Donore Presbyterian Church on South Circular Road that is now a mosque.

I have already put together guides to my blog postings on churches in Limerick, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Oxford and Wexford, and on synagogues I visited.

This list of more than 100 Dublin cathedrals, churches and chapels includes the places where I was baptised, confirmed and ordained, where I have served as a reader, curate and chapter member or canon, where I have attended funerals, where I have lectured, led retreats, been a student or on the staff, where I have often gone to church and many of the churches where I have preached or taken services.

In some way, these might be summarised as the churches of ‘hatch, match and dispatch’, although that may be a little too glib.

Of course, this list is not complete, and I shall update as I come across some more bloggings about my ‘church crawling’ around Dublin. And, in time, I imagine, there shall be more churches to research, write about and photograph as I continue to return to Dublin.

The west front of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Cathedrals:

1, Christ Church Cathedral (20 February 2021) and here (7 June 2023)

2, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (17 March 2021) and here (16 March 2023)

Mediaeval churches and foundations:

3, Malahide Abbey (4 May 2019)

4, Saint Mary’s Abbey (2 October 2019)

5, Templeogue Church (21 September 2010)

Baptist Churches:

6, Grosvenor Road Baptist Church, Rathmines (20 June 2019)

Church of Ireland:

7, All Saints’ Church, Blackrock (3 October 2016) and here (31 October 2022)

8, All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman (29 May 2011) and here (31 October 2022)

9, Balrothery Church (closed), Balbriggan, Co Dublin (1 May 2011)

10, (former) Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle (3 July 2023)

11, Christ Church, Dún Laoghaire (4 January 2021)

12, (former) Harold’s Cross Church (19 April 2021)

13, Holmpatrick Church, Skerries (24 January 2010)

14, Holy Trinity Church, Rathmines (12 July 2023)

15, Kill o’ the Grange (10 March 2022)

16, (former) Lusk Church (28 Decemmber 2009)

17, (former) Mariners’ Church, Dún Laoghaire (5 January 2021)

18, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, former chapel, Charles king and martyr (4 July 2014)

19, Saint Andrew’s Church, Lucan (11 October 2016)

20, Saint Andrew’s Church, Suffolk Street (28 October 2016)

21, Saint Ann’s Church, Dawson Street (29 October 2023)

22, Saint Audeon’s Church, Dublin (11 February 2013)

23, Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Ballsbridge (30 January 2010), and here (14 October 2014), and here (6 July 2015)

24, (former) Saint Bride’s Church, Bride Street (17 May 2021)

25, Saint Brigid’s Church, Stillorgan (3 October 2016)

26, Saint Brigid’s Church, Castleknock (29 January 2019)

27, Saint Columba’s Church, Swords (31 January 2011)

28, Saint Doulagh’s Church, Balgriffin (22 August 2018)

29, Saint George’s Church, Balbriggan (23 April 2021) and here (24 July 2013)

30, (former) Saint George’s Church, Hardwick Place (23 April 2023) and here (23 April 2021)

31, Saint George’s and Thomas’s Church, Cathal Brugha Street (23 April 2023) and here (23 April 2021)

32, Saint John the Baptist Church, Seafield Road, Clonarf (15 October 2018)

33, Saint John the Evangelist Church, Park Avenue, Sandymount (31 July 2016)

34, (former) Saint Kevin’s Church, Camden Row (3 March 2022)

35, (former) Saint Kevin’s Church, South Circular Road (3 June 2011)

36, Saint Maelruain’s Church, Tallaght (25 February 2021)

37, (former) Saint Mary’s Church (old), Donnybrook (26 December 2016)

38, (former) Saint Mary’s Church, Mary Street (14 March 2019) and here (22 December 2014)

39, Saint Matthias Church, Ballybrack, Killiney (22 April 2021)

40, (former) Saint Michael le Pole Church, Ship Street (17 May 2021)

41, (former) Saint Michael’s Church (Synod Hall), High Street (10 October 2023)

42, Saint Michan’s Church, Dublin (13 April 2009)

43, Saint Nahi’s Church, Upper Churchtown Road (23 August 2011)

44, (former) Saint Nicholas Within Church, Nicholas Church (6 December 2022)

45, (former) Saint Nicholas Without Church, Nicholas Church (6 December 2022)

46, Saint Patrick’s Church, Dalkey (21 April 2021) and here (16 March 2023)

47, Saint Patrick’s Church, Donabate (6 October 2009) and here (16 March 2023)

48, (former) Saint Stephen’s Church, St Stephen Street (17 May 2021)

49, Saint Werburgh’s Church, Werburgh Street (3 February 2023)

50, (former) Trinity Church, Lower Gardiner Street (10 January 2022) and here (15 July 2023)

51, Trinity College Dublin Chapel (10 March 2021)

52, Tullow Church, Brighton Road, Carrickmines (12 August 2012)

53, Whitechurch Parish Church, Rathfarnham (26 February 2021)

Lutheran Churches:

54, Saint Finnian’s Church, Adelaide Road (3 June 2011)

Methodist churches:

55, Abbey Street Methodist Church, Dublin Central Mission (2 November 2021)

56, Centenary Methodist Church, St Stephen’s Green (7 October 2024)

57, Rathgar Methodist Church (1 November 2021)

Moravian Church:

58, (former) Moravian Church, Kevin Street (2 March 2014)

Orthodox Church

59, Romanian Orthodox Church (formerly Christ Church), Leeson Park (19 July 2014)

The ruined former Presbyterian Church on Seán McDermott Street, formerly Lower Gloucester Street, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Presbyterian Churches:

60, (former) Gloucester Street Presbyterian Church, Sean McDermott Street (8 January 2022)

61, Malahide Presbyterian Church (7 May 2019)

62, (former) Ormond Quay and Scots Presbyterian Church, Abbey Street (16 December 2018)

63, (former) Saint Mary’s Abbey (2 October 2019)

64, (former) Welsh Chapel, Talbot Street (5 January 2022)

Newman University Church, a landmark on the south side of Saint Stephen’s Green, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Roman Catholic churches:

65, All Hallows’ College (chapel), Drucondra (23 May 2014)

66, Capuchin Church (Church of Saint Mary of the Angels), Church Street (21 October 2021)

67, Church of the Annunciation, Rathfarnham (27 May 2016)

68, Church of the Holy Name, Beechwood Avenue, Ranelagh (12 September 2017)

69, Church of Mary Immaculate, Refuge of Sinners, Rathmines (10 June 2023)

70, Church of Mary Immaculate, Tyrconnell Road, Inchicore (12 August 2021)

71, Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Chapelizod (10 June 2020)

72, Church of Our Lady Queen of Heaven, Dublin Airport (22 October 2019)

73, Church of the Three Patrons, Rathgar (20 June 2019)

74, Franciscan Church (Adam and Eve), Merchants’ Quay (11 October 2021)

75, Gort Muire Chapel (Carmelite), Ballinteer (9 August 2021)

76, Holy Rosary Church, Harold’s Cross (20 April 2021)

77, Kimmage Manor, chapel and church (15 June 2011) and here (11 March 2021)

78, Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham (29 August 2013)

79, Manresa Jesuit Centre of Spirituality, chapel, Dollymount (13 February 2013)

80, Newman University Church (Catholic University Church), St Stephen’s Green (6 October 2024)

81, (former) Orlagh Retreat Centre, Augustinian chapel (9 August 2009) and here (17 March 2015)

82, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Firhouse (14 March 2014)

83, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (Carmelite), Whitefriar Street (15 August 2021) and here (14 February 2023)

84, Rathfarnham Castle, Jesuit Chapel (27 September 2008)

85, Saint Anne’s Church, Bohernabreena (13 April 2021)

86, Saint Catherine of Alexandria Church, Meath Street (19 October 2010)

87, Saint Colmcille’s Church, Knocklyon (18 August 2021)

88, Saint John the Baptist Church, Clontarf (26 January 2013)

89, Saint Joseph’s Church, Terenure (10 June 2024)

90, Saint Kevin’s Church, Harrington Street (16 August 2024)

91, Saint Mary’s Priory (Dominican), Tallaght (5 August 2011)

92, (former) Saint Maur’s Church, Rush (12 July 2014)

93, Saint Nicholas of Myra Church, Francis Street (6 December 2022)

94, Saint Patrick’s Church, Donabate (16 March 2023)

95, Saint Paul’s Church (Passionist), Harold’s Cross (1 July 2014)

96, Saint Peter’s Church, Phibsboro (28 April 2011)

97, Saint Saviour’s Church (Dominican), Dominick Street (15 September 2010)

98, Saint Sylvester’s Church, Malahide (7 May 2019)

99, Saint Teresa’s Church (Carmelite), Clarendon Street (16 August 2021) and here (21 February 2022)

100, Terenure College Chapel (Carmelite), Templeogue Road, Terenure (17 August 2021)

Edward Brady’s award-winning rustic limestone and slender gothic arches at Saint Mary’s Priory, Tallaght, were awarded a European Heritage Award in 1975 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Society of Friends (Quakers) meeting houses:

101, Churchtown Meeting House (7 October 2011)

Unitarian Church:

102, Unitarian Church, St Stephen’s Green (21 June 2019) and here (10 September 2023)

Ecumenical:

103, Dublin Airport, inter-faith prayer room (6 July 2019)

And also:

104, Churches named on Bloomsday by James Joyce in Ulysses (15 June 2023)

The Unitarian Church on Saint Stephen’s Green, Dublin, was designed by Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon and opened in 1863 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Last updated: 10 October 2024

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2024: 152, Thursday 10 October 2024

‘Knock, and the door will be opened for you’ (Luke 11: 9) … a front door in Bore Street, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and the week began with the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XIX).

The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Paulinus (644), Bishop of York, Missionary, and Thomas Traherne (1674), Poet and Spiritual Writer.

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? ’ (Luke 11: 11) … a fish in street art on an underpass near the Great Ouse in St Neots, Cambridgeshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 11: 5-13 (NRSVA):

5 And he said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” 7 And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

9 ‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’

‘If the child asks for an egg, will [you] give a scorpion?’ (Luke 11: 12) … painted eggs at Easter time in Platanias in Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

In this morning’s Gospel reading (Luke 11: 5-13), we continue on from yesterday’s reading (Luke 11: 1-4), with Saint Luke’s account of the Lord’s Prayer. In verses 5 ff, Christ tells two stories: even one who is asleep with his family responds ‘because of ... persistence’ to a neighbour in need; a parent provides for a child. Even these people, separated from God, respond to the needs of others. How much more so will God respond to our prayers for help, through the Holy Spirit.

These following verse develop the themes in the Lord’s Prayer, including the idea of God as a loving Father, meeting our daily needs, and, in a subtle way, the constant need for forgiveness.

Saint Luke’s account of the Lord’s Prayer has made me ask in the past how Jewish is the Lord’s Prayer.

As a rabbi and religious leader, Christ was responsible for teaching his followers how to fulfil Jewish religious commandments, including the obligation to pray at certain times and in certain forms.

The most important Jewish prayer, the , is the basic Jewish affirmation of faith and is based on Deuteronomy 6: 7. Other basic prayers include the Grace after Meals, derived from Deuteronomy 8: 10.

But the central prayer of Jewish public worship is the Amidah (‘the Standing Prayer’) or the Shemoneh Esreh, which means 18, referring to 18 petitions, although the number of petitions is now 19. Observant Jews recite the Amidah at each of the three weekday prayer services: morning, afternoon, and evening. Praying three times a day is a long-established Jewish tradition (see Daniel 6: 11, Psalm 55: 18).

By the time of Christ, daily prayer was an integral part of Jewish religious life, and the basic structure of the Amidah was well established. Its form was regularised soon after, so that the prayer had taken its present form in the early first century CE.

The schools of Hillel and Shammai both accepted as the proper form nine petitions for Rosh Ha-Shanah (New Year) and seven petitions for the Sabbath. By the first century CE, the Amidah was one of the most important series of petitions. By then, there were probably 12 to 14 petitions, and more were added after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 CE to reflect changes in Jewish life.

There are many discussions in the Talmud about the minimum number of petitions, but consensus was not reached until the sixth century CE.

The rabbis recognised that not everyone in every circumstance could find time to pray the entire Amidah. Even as early as the third century CE, shortened versions were being prayed. So, is the Lord’s Prayer an early version of the Amidahthat Christ taught his disciples so they could fulfil their minimum obligations of prayer?

But, just how Jewish is the Lord’s Prayer?

Perhaps when the disciples are asking Jesus to teach them to pray, they are also asking him the minimum number of petitions needed to fulfil the obligation to pray.

1, ‘Father’ or ‘Our Father, who art in heaven’: The Lord’s Prayer opens with the acknowledgment of the fatherhood of God and his place in heaven. While the opening verses of the Amidah talk of God as the God of our fathers in, the fatherhood of God is a common phrase throughout Jewish liturgy.

Avinu, meaning ‘Our Father,’ is a word repeated constantly throughout the prayers that make up the Jewish services (see also Deuteronomy 32: 6; Isaiah 63: 16).

In the Amidah, the title occurs twice: ‘Cause us to return, O our Father, unto thy Torah; draw us near, O our King, unto they service …’ (fifth benediction); ‘Forgive us, O our Father, for we have sinned; pardon us, O our King, for we have transgressed’ (sixth benediction). It is also found in the second benediction before the Shema: ‘O our Father, our King, for our fathers’ sake, who trusted in thee, and whom thou didst teach the statutes of life, be also gracious unto us and teach us. O our Father, ever compassionate, have mercy on us.’

The name ‘Father’ is also widely used in the liturgy of the celebrations of the new year and of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement which, this year, falls tomorrow evening and on Saturday (11-12 October 2024), where the phrases ‘Father of mercy’ and ‘O our Father’ occur frequently.

2, ‘Hallowed be thy name,’ or ‘may your name be sanctified’: The Hebrew word kadosh can be translated as either holy or sanctified. The third petition in the Amidahprays: ‘Thou art holy and thy name is holy and the holy praise thee daily. Blessed art thou O Lord, the holy God.’

3, ‘Your kingdom come’ or ‘Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’: In the Amidah, the words pray: ‘Reign thou over us O Lord, thou alone in loving kindness and tender mercy and clear us in judgment. Blessed art thou O Lord the King who lovest righteousness and judgment.’

The words ‘thy will be done’ also occur in I Maccabees: ‘It is better for us to die in battle than to see the misfortunes of our nation and of the sanctuary. But as his will in heaven may be, so he will do’ (I Maccabees 3: 59-60). The same attitude of abandonment to God’s will finds expression in the prayer Jews utter as they feel death drawing near: ‘May it be thy will to send me a perfect healing. Yet if my death be fully determined by thee, I will in love to accept it at thy hand.’

4, ‘Give us each day our daily bread’ or ‘Give us this day our daily bread’: The ninth Amidah blessing prays: ‘Bless this year unto us O Lord our God together with every kind of the produce thereof for our welfare.’ A short prayer ascribed to the rabbis prays: ‘O God, the needs of thy people are many, their knowledge slender. Give every one of thy creatures his daily bread and grant him his urgent needs.’

There is an interesting thought in the Book of Proverbs: ‘give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need,’ or, ‘Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread’ (Proverbs 30: 8).

5, ‘Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us’ or ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’: The sixth Amidah blessing prays: ‘Forgive us, O our Father, for we have sinned, pardon us, O our King, for we have transgressed, for thou dost pardon and forgive. Blessed art thou O Lord who art gracious and dost abundantly forgive.’

It is an important Jewish concept that one cannot ask for forgiveness from God until first making amends with others I may have wronged or I have been wronged by. Before going to sleep at night, pious Jews pray, ‘Master of the universe, I hereby forgive anyone who angered or antagonised me or who sinned against me.’

The majority of the rabbis taught, ‘if you forgive your neighbour, the One will forgive you; but if you do not forgive your neighbour, no one will have mercy on you’ (Midrash Tanhuma Genesi).

6, ‘And do not bring us to the time of trial’ or ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’: The seventh blessing in the Amidah is a prayer for deliverance from afflictions of all kinds. A modern version says, ‘Look with compassion on all afflicted among us; be thou our guardian and our advocate, and redeem us speedily from all evil, for in thee do we trust as our mighty Redeemer.’

7, ‘For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever’: the doxology is not included in the Lord’s Prayer in Saint Luke’s Gospel, but is added in some manuscript versions of Saint Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 6: 13). It is similar to David’s benediction (see I Chronicles 29: 10-13), which is part of the daily prayer service and an essential component of the section called Pesukei D’zimrah (‘Verses of Praise’) that comes immediately before reciting the Shema. Whether or not the doxology is included in the Lord’s Prayer, it is rooted firmly in Jewish tradition.

‘Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? ’ (Luke 11: 11) … fish in a shopfront in Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 10 October 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is the ‘Humanitarian Corridors project in Leuven, Belgium.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a programme update by Rebecca Breekveldt, Second Secretary, Central Committee of the Anglican Church in Belgium.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 10 October 2024) invites us to pray:

Lord, we ask for moments of reprieve for the families welcomed, and project staff, where they can take a break and take a breath amidst all their hard work and effort.

The Collect:

O God, forasmuch as without you
we are not able to please you;
mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Holy and blessed God,
you have fed us with the body and blood of your Son
and filled us with your Holy Spirit:
may we honour you,
not only with our lips
but in lives dedicated to the service
of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Faithful Lord,
whose steadfast love never ceases
and whose mercies never come to an end:
grant us the grace to trust you
and to receive the gifts of your love,
new every morning,
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

‘If the child asks for an egg, will [you] give a scorpion?’ (Luke 11: 12) … painted eggs at Easter time in a Greek Orthodox church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org