Wright, History of Ireland

**Part X.

Parishes of St. Paul, Arran Quay, and Holy Family, Aughrim Street.**

Parish of St. Paul.

An interesting work from the pen of the late Recorder of Dublin - Sir Frederick Falkiner, K.C. - entitled Foundation of the Hospital and Free School of King Charles II., Oxmantown, Dublin, commonly called the Blue Coat School - Scaly, Bryers and Walkers, 1906,” gives, in our opinion, the clearest and most readable topographical delineation of that particular area on the North Side of the City, which in 1707 was erected into the Catholic Parish of St. Paul by the Archbishop of the period - Archbishop Edmund Byrne. We make no apologies therefore for a rather long extract from this work. Beginning at foot of p.21 we read:-

In the far west of the Ostman bounds was a triangular meadow in the valley of the Liffey, its apex near the Island Bridge of Kilmainham, with the river for its south side, the other trending north-east along the slopes of the plateau, where now rises the Wellington Column. Passing at the meadow corner the Fountain of La Belle Isoult, our shadowy heroine of Arthurian romance, fossilised in Chapelizod, the boundary mounted the highland, and crossed an angle of the present Phoenix Park into the ravine by the Military Hospital, called of old the Gybbett’s Slade, from an ancient gallows on Arbour Hill. Leaving this on the right, it passed on through the orchards and barns of Grangegorman, belonging to Christ Church, and thence north, and then east to the Tolka and the sea, whence it turned back along strand and river to the Church of Our Lady of Ostmaneby and the street of Ostmantown, thus completely encircling the Abbey. These borders were a little fluctuous, for there were no maps; they were preserved by the city magnates in triennial jollification, for centuries known as ‘Ryding the Franchises.’ The Mayor and Recorder took horse with the Aldermen and Sheriffs and the Swordbearer, and the Clerk armed with the Plantagenet Charter, by which, with a bush here and a stone there, they felt their way, halting now to take counsel and then for a banquet, but at times for a dispute with the powers of Kilmainham, or the Priors of Christ Church or the Abbot of Saint Mary’s. The western triangle was Ellen Hoare’s meadow, so named in the Rydings of 1448 and 1603. Afterwards it was owned by Sir William Parsons, who succeeded Strafford when sent to his doom, and who held many City acres through Alderman Lang, the father of his wife. In his hands it is said to be adjoining Ostmantown, and when, after the Restoration, the Park was in formation, the Lord Lieutenant Essex writes to the King, who was much interested in the scheme, that a part of the new lands proposed to be enclosed belongs to Sir Richard Parsons, the Lord Deputy’s grandson, and cannot be purchased during his minority. This minor became the first Baron Oxmantown and Viscount Rosse, and when on failure of the line of the old Deputy, the honours were renewed in that of his brother Lawrence, both titles were conferred, and the present Earl of Rosse, in his second title of Lord Oxmantown, alone represents today the ancient *Villa Ostmannorum’. *The highest ground east of the Gybbett Slade over Arbour Hill is called in John’s Charter Knocknaganhoc, the site of a tale by Richard Stanihurst in his Irish contribution to Holinshed’s Chronicle in 1577, and told with a humour too quaint to abbreviate:- ‘In the further end of the Ostmantowne Greene is there a hole, commonly called Scaldbrother’s Hole, a labyrinth reaching two large miles under the earth. This was in old tyme frequented by a notorious thief named Scaldbrother, wherein he would hide all the bag and baggage he could pilfer. The varlet was so swift on root as he has oftsoon outrun the swiftest and lustiest young men of Ostmantown maugre their heads, bearing a pot or pan of theirs on his shoulders to his den. And now and then in derision of such as pursued him he would take his course under the gallows which standeth very nigh his cave, a fit sign for such an inne and so being shrouded within his lodge he reckoned himself cocksure, none being found at that tyme so hardie as would venture to entangle himself in so intricate a maze. But as the pitcher that goeth often to the water cometh at length at home broken, so this lustie youth would not surcease from open catching, forcible snatching, and privie prolling, till time he was by certain gaping groomes that lay in wait for him intercepted fleeing towards his couch, having on his apprehension no more wrong doone him than that he was not sooner hanged on the gallows, through which in his youth and jollitie he was wont to run.’ In a little book published anonymously in 1845, [Oxmantown and its Environs, Dublin, 1843. It was by the Rev. Nicholas Burton, who subsequently becoming a Catholic, retired to Mount Argus as a parlour boarder, where he died.] it is said that even then when digging the foundations for houses in Oxmantown they often came upon Scaldbrother’s Hole, that in Smithfield it is sometimes made use of as vats by the brewers and in Queen Street some vaults of the houses are formed from it, and boys playing on the hill have been known to fall up to their necks in it where the ground is thin. The tradition still lives with the usual variations, and the Blue Coat boys still have a legend that caverns underlie their schoolroom

“From Arbour Hill the Ostman bounds crossed Stonybatter. This, centuries before the Ostman came, had been part of one of the five main roads – Slighs - of Erin, that which reached from Royal Tara to saintly Glendalough; it crossed the old ford of Atha Cliath, passing into Fercullen and the Dublin and Wicklow hills. It entered Dublin by Cabragh, and thus Boher-na-cloghan - the stony road - Stonybatter, is one of the oldest streets of Europe. From Stonybatter the boundary went on to the granaries of Gormo, called in Prince John’s Charter, “the Barnes of the Holy Trinity.” They were large and long-lived, and seem to have trespassed over the line; for riding the bounds in Henry VII.’s time, the Mayor and his brothers met the Prior of Christ Church, who was fain to admit the Macebearer by a ladder and window into the barn, where was found on the floor a stone which was the landmark between town and Prior, whence they went on east through the orchard, and so into Ostmantown Green. Sir Henry Harrington in Elizabeth’s time was owner of the barns and the manor house close by. The manor came after to the family of John Stanley, Sheriff in 1632; they held it for 200 years. The name is preserved in the little Stanley Street not far from the broadway of Manor Street, but an heiress of the Stanleys in 1663, became the wife of Henry Monck, whose family ever since have been Stanley Moncks, and the present amiable Viscount is lord of one-half of the ancient Grangegorman.

“The manor house, however, came in time to the Sisters of Charity. The site is now a Girls’ Training School, managed by the nuns, surrounded by high walls. Old things have passed away, but a beautiful new Chapel, designed by Mr. Ashlin, has recently been built, a truly architectural gem, like a pearl in the shell, secluded from the world, where the barns of Christ Church so long stood.

Behind the manor stretched the sylvan land of Gormo, known in middle ages as Grangegorman *in sylvis, *and the wood of Salcuit, reaching from Ostmantown Green to the hamlet of Phibsborough, called from the Anglo-Norman Faipoes or Phipoes, vast grabbers of Ostman lands. There is a fine tradition of these woods, which we fain were proveable, that from these came the oak of the glorious roof of Westminster Ha1l, invincible by time or worm, or as Hanmer says: -‘No english spider webbeth or breedeth to this day.” Another legend, less traceable, connects us with Sherwood Forest, telling how when Robin Hood’s merry archers were broken up, Little John, his first Lieutenant, drifted to Dublin. Prayed by the natives to show his prowess, to their joy he shot a shaft from the Bridge of Dublin to Arbour Hill. In Elizabeth’s time was still shown where stood in Ostmantown Green, ‘an hillock named Little John his shot.’ Very old records speak of the orchards of Grangegorman. Between the Royal Barracks and the, North Circular Road was an open space known to very few, for it was built all round, yet, four years ago, it contained more than 20 acres, which in the spring were rosy and radiant with apple blossoms, a Paradise in this obscure corner of the City. It had belonged to the Palmerston Temples, and has now been sold to the Artisans’ Dwelling Co., and already the golden groves have been sawn down to the earth level, but the circles of dark wood wreathed with shoots of apple leaves could still be measured, and many were two feet in diameter, denoting, for fruit trees, a growth of many centuries. The folklore of the neighbourhood holds them to have been planted by the Danes. The workmen’s homes will prove a blessing, but it is a pity the red brick or grey monotony should not be relieved by a few of these old Ostmen, who renewed their youth each recurrent spring, and kept venerable memories green.

“The old Ostmantown Street (now Church Street) ran to the hamlet of Glasmenogue and the Broadstone.

North of St. Michan’s and west of the street was an immemorial swamp Loughboy, the Yellow Lake (hence Bow Street). It was caused by the riverlet Bradogue, which, entering the suburbs, as now, where Grangegorman Lane joins the North Circular Road, it coursed by the lane and under the site of the future prison, thence to the Broadstone, where it probably accounts for the *glas, *or watery ground, of Glasmenogue. Thence it spread deviously down the slopes towards the river, forming a marsh, which drained into the Pill, a narrow estuary, long marked by Pill Lane, now Chancery Street, filled in when the Ormod Quay and Market were formed by the Duke. In 1681 the Bradogue was forced into regular channels running to the river, the main stream by Bolton, Halston and Arran Street; another by North Brunswick Street, then and thence called Channel Row.”

From this long and interesting extract we gather that the area of the future Parish of St. Paul comprised three subsidiary areas, namely:-

1. Ellen Hoare’s Meadow.

on the extreme west, which, having the river for its southern boundary, stretched from a point at Island Bridge through the Phoenix Park, round the Wellington Monument, across the Gybbett’s Slade or ravine in the People’s Park to the Gate on North Circular Road, then down Infirmary Road to the river This entire area was, on the suppression of the Dominican Priory, to which it then belonged, acquired by the Crown, and in 1662 added to the Kilmainham property on the north side of the river helped to make the Phoenix Park. Later the Chapelizod Road was made the boundary, and the present enclosing wall built by Sir John Temple, who received therefor a consideration of £200, and a grant of the land lying between the wall and the river. Thus this strip of laud from Kingsbridge to Chapelizod was added to the possessions of the Temples of Palmerston.

2. Oxmantown Green.

In ancient records Ellen Hoare’s Meadow is said to adjoin Oxmantown, consequently the western limit of Oxmantown is to be found in Park Gate Street. The designation of this second area is variously written Ostmantown, Oxmantown, Ostmanbury, etc. The all-conquering Danes were named Ostmen principally by the Normans, but not because their old home was east of Ireland. Ware attributes the name to tribes in Livonia, whom the Greeks called *Ostiones *and the Latins *Aestii, *perhaps because they lived by the eastern Baltic. At any rate the Norse were called Easterlings in England from a very old date. The Danes, as has been already observed, were not driven from the City, but the walled fortress on the Castle Hill was held and colonised by the victorious Normans. As a community, the Ostmen were confined to the north bank of the Liffey, where they had been since founded a suburb round the Church built by or to Michan, their Saint, in 1095. The name Oxmantown, in its larger sense, covers all the north bank of the river from the Park Gate to the Tolka - the eastern boundary of St. Mary’s Abbey to which the City records apply the name of St. Mary of Osmanbury; but for our present purpose we shall restrict the name to the great level waste extending front the Park Gate to Church Street, having the river for its southern, and the line of Montpelier full, Arbour Hill, and North Brunswick Street for its northern boundaries. This in fact constituted Oxmantown Green, “the great lung of the old City within the walls,” in the words of Sir F. Falkiner, “All to it that the Phoenix bark is to Dublin of to-day; its Champ de Mars, the musterground of the civic and royal regiments for parade, for pageant, or for war; in it Charles’ Coronation was proclaimed in 1660, and here was the great cattle fair, its common of pasture, the rendezvous of civic festivities public and private.” It had but one street and that on its eastern boundary - Oxmantown Street (Church Street) - running from the old and only bridge to the hamlet of Glasmenogue at the Broadstone, dotted with homesteads and some villas of notables. East, west, and north of this urban wedge spread fields and meadows, pastures and orchards, all included in the single Parish of St. Michan. A lane passed across the Green from St. Michan’s to the gallows erected on Arbour hill for the execution of criminals. It was known in the Middle Ages as Honkeman’s, Hongman’s, or Hangman’s Lane, and is still cryptogrammed in Hammond Lane. Speed’s Map of 1610 shows a few houses in Hammond Lane, one of them at the corner being the residence of Alderman Shelton, a veritable Confessor of the Faith who, being elected in 1604 Mayor of Dublin was quickly deposed, because he refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, and was thrown into prison. It was in his house, in 1618, that Mass was celebrated for the people of the neighbourhood, as testified by the Government Return of Mass Houses:- “At Shelton’s House beyond the bridge, at the corner of the so-called Hangman’s Lane.” But Hangman’s Lane was destined in the commencement of the 17th century to witness a sad but glorious procession, as an Irish Bishop and an Irish Priest were borne through it, amidst an immense throng of the faithful, to receive the crown of martyrdom on the gibbet at Arbour Hill.

Cornelius O’Devany, Bishop of Down and Connor since 1582, and in religion a Franciscan was arrested in the North of Ireland in May, 1611, brought up to Dublin, and imprisoned in the Castle. A month later a Priest named Patrick Loughran, who had only just arrived in Cork from the Continent, was siezed, brought up to Dublin, and immured in the same Castle prison. From June until the following January the Government authorities did their best to induce the Bishop and the Priest to abandon the faith, but all in vain. Praises and promises were lavished upon them, then threats were tried, and again promises were reverted to Bishoprics and Benefices being dangled before their eyes. but nothing of all these things moved them. Wherefore they were accused of treason to the Crown and or assisting the Catholics at war, by saying Masses and administering the Sacraments to them. Sentence of death was finally pronounced upon them, and on Februarv 1st, 1612, they were brought to the scaffold at the extreme western end of Arbour Hill overhanging the Gibbett’s Slade.”

An immense concourse of people accompanied them the entire way, and numbers despising danger cast themselves upon their knees to ask the Bishop’s blessing. Arrived at the place of punishment, they made the Bishop mount the scaffold first, who thence began to address the multitude, but was quickly silenced by the officers. A Protestant clergyman, Dr. Michael Challoner, kept urging him to say that he suffered death on account of high treason, and not for his religion, but he answered that he could not lie, and that he died because he would not abandon the Catholic faith.

In proof of this, he adduced, that they had offered him his life and property if he would declare himself a Protestant. When the rope was adjusted and he was thrown off the scaffold, the whole multitude gave one great shout of anguish and then ensued an unbroken silence. They cut down the body very soon, cut off the head, opened the body, burned the entrails, and then divided the body into four quarters, The head quickly disappeared, and has never been traced since. A contemporary account describes the scene thus:-

“Such a crowd seized his clothes in defiance of the ministers of justice that they did not leave a scrap for the hangman, nor toe nor finger on the feet and hands of the dead. The women soaked linen handkerchiefs in the blood,” and one of these is still preserved amongst the relies of the Church of the Gesu in Rome. The Priest O’Loughran was then executed in similar manner, an thus two new names were added to the white-robed army of Irish martyrs. The remains were ordered to be interred at the place of execution, but on the following night 12 Catholic youths disrinterred them, and brought them to a decent place where they are buried with other martyrs. This would seemingly point to St. James’s Churchyard, which certainly received the remains of many martyrs and which for full two centuries was the most favoured spot for the interment of Catholics, especially Priests. The process of their beatification is now very forward in Rome and soon we may hope to see their names and relics held up on our altars for the veneration of the faithful.

The third area destined to make up the future Parish of St. Paul was

3. Grangegorman.

This was a prolonged strip of territory stretching from Constitution Hill and Phibsborough Road on the east to a section of the Viceregal grounds in the Park on the west, with the line of Brunswick Street and Arbour Hill for its southern boundary, and the Parishes of Finglas and Blanchardstown (Castleknock) lying to north and west.

The name is indisputably Danish, for in A.D. 930 Gormo died King of Denmark; and to come nearer home, the Annals of Clonmacnoise A.D. 922-927, tell us that the sons of Gormo, that is to say, “the Mac Elgi, aided by the sons of Sitric, took Dublin on Godfrey.”

The land, thus named Gorme’s land was made over by some Danish proprietor before the conquest to Christ Church Cathedral, and appears amongst the earlier Deeds, Nos. 6. 8. And 44, under the name of * Celldulig, Kylduli*, ete., thus pointing to an early Celtic dedication of which no record remains. The Prior and Community made it their Home Farm, and erected fine Barns, quoted in old documents as “the Barnes of the Holy Trinity,” but more generally as Gormo’s Grange or Grangegorman.

In the interesting work referred to in previous numbers, “Account Role of the Holy Trinity, Dublin 1337 46, by Jas Mills, M.R.I A.,” we have much light thrown upon Grangegorman, its people, and their customs in the 14th century as well as upon the other possessions of the Priory. From the Rental we gather that the farm buildings comprised a hall, off which were some private rooms, frequently occupied by the Prior when holding Visitation. Round the yard stood a barn (kept dry by having its earthen floor raised above the general level of the ground), a malthouse, workshop, haggard; the latter separated by a mud wall from the cowhouse and cattleyard. The great gate was strengthened with 200 great nails called spikings. The barn and workshop were also secured by strong doors. Near the malthouse was a well from which the water was raised by a bucket being attached to an iron chain. The village of Grangegorman consisted almost entirely of farm servants who lived in cottages around the farm, and had no surnames apart from the name of their occupation. Thus of the 16 cottagers here, there were “holders” or ploughmen, one a “plough-driver,” two carters, one lime burner, and one a “thresher.” The rent of the cottages varied from 1s. to 2s. per annum.

This property, after the conversion of the Priory into a Dean and Chapter by Henry VIII., was erected into a Manor, possessed successively by Agard, Sir II. Harrington, Sir John Stanley, and eventually the Stanley Moncks. The Manor House, with the grounds immediately adjacent, are now in the administration of the religious daughters of Mary Aikenhead, who successfully conduct a large National School and an Industrial or Girls’ Training School.

With the exception of this village, and the adjacent village of Glasmenogue (Broadstone), this whole territory of Grangegorman was laid out in pastures and fields, and as with Oxmantown Green, and Ellen Hoare’s meadow was practically uninhabited, until after the restoration of Charles II. in 1660. Parochially it formed part of the Parish of St. Michan, the only - Catholic or Protestant - Parish on the north side of the river.

The Beginning of St. Paul’s

At length, on the fourth Friday after the 25th of December, 1664, the City Assembly, or Corporation, who were in possession of Oxmantown Green, adopted the following resolution (see Calendar of Ancient Records, Dublin, Vol. IV., p. 323:- ” That the said (Oxmantown) Green be, and is hereby, divided into 96 proportions leaving a convenient highway (Queen Street) and a large market place (Smithfield), as in the survey and map now presented to the Mayor and table of Aldermen is set forth, … that the Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and Commons, and the Surveyor be the persons to draw the said lotts now prepared, and that the persons to whom such lotts shall be granted have a conveyance made of the same unto them and their heirs respectively for ever,… that two lotts, 87 and 88, in the said map, be excepted for a schoolhouse (the Blue Coat School), etc., etc.” These lotts comprised the whole of the north side of North King Street, and the whole of the south side of North Brunswick Street, the east and west sides of Queen Street down to Benburb Street and Bridewell Lane respectively, the west side of Smithfield and some few other outlying lotts. The portion of Queen Street from Bridewell Lane to the river still formed part of the bank of the river, which here strayed westward in a wide reach, mudbanks on either side, with a double channel, embracing a great island, lizard-shaped, six acres in extent, which ran from the Old Bridge at Church Street to nearly opposite the Royal Barracks, and called from its proprietor, Usher’s Island, afterwards merged in the southern quays. The two principal thoroughfares thus created through the Green were called respectively King Street and Queen Street in compliment to Charles II. and his consort, and the future Parish of St. Paul may now be said to be in the making.

The lotts were eagerly sought for and quickly appropriated, and their ground rents, together with similar rents from Stephen’s Green, constituted the principal endowment of the Blue Coat School or King’s Hospital, soon after erected on the two excepted lotts, Nos. 87 and 88, facing into Queen Street. The Bridge at foot of Queen Street was built in 1683. It was called Arran Bridge in 1728; Ellis’s Bridge in 1766; and being rebuilt in 1768, was then named Queen’s Bridge, from Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. The river bank commenced to be quayed in towards the close of the 17th century, Lord Arran giving his name to the portion extending from Church Street to Queen Street. The second portion from Queen’s Bridge to Victoria and Albert Bridge, for a time more popularly known as Bloody Bridge, was called Ellis’s Quay, from Sir John and Sir W. Ellis, through whom the Agar-Ellises, Viscounts Clifden, derived a valuable leasehold interest from the Corporation along Arran Quay and westward to the Phoenix Park. The Quay extending from Victoria and Albert Bridge to the Kingsbridge was erected within the memory of the present writer.

The first whisper we have of any Church, Chapel, or Convent within this area we have been just surveying, reaches us during the few halcyon years (1685-1690) whilst James II. was King. The Augustinians, who had been wanderers ever since their suppression under Henry VIII., took courage during this reign to establish a residence and build a Chapel somewhere near Hammond Lane. After the Boyne, however, they had again to fly, and not until the following century do we meet with them in their Convent and Church in Thomas Street. Their Chapel was demolished and the materials sold.

In 1688 the King resolved to found a Royal Abbey of Benedictine Nuns in Dublin, and selected a site on the northern side of Channel Row (North Brunswick Street), within the bounds of Grangegorman. Whilst the residence and Chapel were being prepared for them, the first arrivals from Ypres were temporarily housed in Ship Street - the old St. Michael le Pol’s - an incident which has led some writers to imagine that two Benedictine communities were established in Dublin at this period. By the time the King had come to Dublin all was ready in Channel Row, and the Chapel was solemnly consecrated by Archbishop Russell, the King devoutly assisting at the ceremony. This Chapel still survives as the “Chapel Ward” in Richmond Surgical Hospital.

Of course, the victory at the Boyne, the flight of King James, and the advent of King William, put an abrupt end to the Stuart dream. The nuns fled back to the Continent, but the Chapel after a brief interval was stealthily re-opened as a Chapel of ease to St. Michan’s. In the Government List of 1697, we have registered the name of “James Gibbons, Priest, assistant to William Dalton, att the Chapel in Channel Row, lodgeing at Mr. Ellistons, at Channel Row.”

About the same period an old warehouse at the rere of “Arran’s Key” was utilised as a Chapel. It can’t have been a very solid structure, as the *Dublin Gazette *of December 7th, 1708, records, “That on Sunday in the evening, att the time of service, a Beam, in the Mass House, on Arran’s Key, gave way, which occasioned three persons killed, and several others wounded.”

In the year 1697 an Act of Parliament dismembered the old and - on the north side - only Parish of St. Michan. Its eastern flank was erected into the Parish of St. Mary, and its western into the Parish of St. Paul. There was good reason for selecting St. Mary as Patron of the eastern section, for it covered the ground which, in pre-Reformation days, appertained to St. Mary’s Abbey; but the selection of the great Apostle as Patron of the western section was purely arbitrary, for the pre-Reformation Church of St. Paul stood at the southern end of South Great George’s Street, in the immediate vicinity of St. Peter’s. The enforced absence of an Archbishop at this juncture (he was in exile at Strasburg), postponed a similar dismemberment in the Catholic arrangement of Parishes, though in the list of 1697, William Dalton figures as a pro-Parish Priest, privileged to have assistants. We may lawfully, therefore, inscribe him as first Parish Priest of St. Paul’s.

V. Rev. William (Canon) Dalton, P.P., 1695-1724.

We have dated the commencement of Father Dalton’s pastorate from 1695, although the Parish of St. Paul was not canonically erected until 1707. Our reasons for this seeming anomaly are as fellow: Dr. John Dempsey was Parish Priest of St. Michan’s from 1670, or perhaps earlier. In 1694 he was nominated by the dethroned and exiled James II. for the See of Kildare, and the nomination was confirmed by the Pope. With William III. on the throne, the Treaty of Limerick violated, and the Penal Laws just commencing their ferocious career, it was of the utmost importance that this appointment should be kept secret. The date, place, and circumstances of Dr. Dempsey’s consecration are unknown. Had they been revealed, he would have had to share the path of exile with Archbishop Creagh of Dublin, who was also a nominee of King James. Hence he was allowed to retain, or appear to retain, the Parish of St. Michan, continued to reside with his noble relative, the Viscountess Clammalura, in Church Street, and at intervals, and by stealth, managed to visit his Kildare flock, and provide as best he could for their spiritual requirements. We, therefore, can readily understand how the newly-created and rapidly-rising district of Oxmantown Green should come to receive separate treatment and quasi-parochial recognition, although not for some years after did it become a canonically constituted Parish. The befogged officials who compiled the Registry of 1697, had some suspicions of Dr. Dempsey’s episcopal character, but they were unable to prove it, hence the confusing and contradictory entries which follow:-

“St. Michan’s Parish.

William Dalton, Parish Priest, lodging at Figham Branhams, Barber in Smithfield. St. Paul’s Parish - Father Dempsey, Parish Priest of St. Michan’s; is said to be a titular Bishop, and lodges at my Lady Clanmalier’s in the said Parish. James. Gibbons, Priest, at the Chapel in Channel Row, said to be a Jesuit, but calls himself assistant to Father Dalton, who is but an assistant himself to Father Dempsey.

Our forefathers in those days had become by stress of circumstances adepts in the science of obfuscating over inquisitive officials, hence this confused entry however, we may safely gather that Father Dalton had responsible charge of this district which had already by State authority been erected into at separate Parish.

For his assistant he had Father Gibbons, said to be a Jesuit, and for a second assistant we may put down “Richard Murphy, Priest lodging at Edmond Reynolds in Smithfield.” The surmise as to Father Gibbons being a Jesuit was correct, for in Oliver’s Collections (p.248) we read of him:- “Gibbons James. This Father was actually arrested in December, 1694, on landing, and conveyed to Dublin, a distance of 100 miles, and examined by the Privy Council on his reason for returning to Ireland. He was discharged from custody the following February, and was still living, 15th November, 1712.” In the List of 1704, his name appears as living in Grangegorman, therefore still assisting at Channel Row.

After a widowhood of the See lasting for 15 years - for Archbishop Creagh was never allowed to set foot in the Diocese - Dr Edmund Byrne, Parish Priest of St. Nicholas, was consecrated Archbishop of Dublin, vacated by the death of his predecessor at Strasburg. He lost no time in repairing the breaches, and strengthening the outworks of the faith in his Diocese, and in this same year – 1707 - finally dismembered the large Parish of St. Michan, erecting the eastern end into the Parish of St. Mary, and the western into that of St. Paul, following in this the civil dedications already decreed by Parliament 10 years earlier. The boundaries of the new Parish differed somewhat from those of the civil Parish decreed in the Act of 1697. In the latter the eastern boundary commenced at Lincoln Lane (then called Pudding Lane), turned westward down the lane at rere of existing Church to West Arran Street, then turning sharply to the right went up through Smithfield, and crossed Channel Row on the eastern flank of the Benedictine Abbey and Chapel. In the Catholic arrangement this boundary was much simplified, as it took the straight line of Church Street and Constitution Hill, and thus embraced the three areas already described, of Oxmantown Green, Grangegorman

• which extended for some distance into the Phoenix Park - and Ellen Hoare’s Meadow. Father Dalton was at once instituted canonically as Parish Priest, and at the same time admitted into the Charter as Prebendary of Stagonil. He had been ordained in 1679; took part in Archbishop Russell’s Synod of 1685, and in the List of 1704 is registered as living in Charles Street. No further record of Father Dalton’s administration is extant until we meet the news of his death in 1724. It was a period of seclusion and silence, the blackest in our history, and closely resembled life in the Catacombs. Yet the march was ever onwards.

In 1717, Father Stephen MacEgan, O.P., afterwards Bishop of Meath, arranged with the Archbishop for the Dominican Nuns of Galway to move up to Dublin. After a six months’ temporary residence in Fisher’s Lane (now St. Michan’s Avenue), they succeeded in getting possession of the disused Benedictine Abbey and Chapel in Channel Row, and for the best part of a century carried on their glorious work there, surviving to the present day in the flourishing institution of St. Mary’s, Cabra. They had to endure, however, a slight encounter with the Penal Laws; either they or their Franciscan Sisters who settled in Dublin about the same time. They were denounced to the authorities and brought before the magistrates, who, however, discovered to their great chagrin that the Penal Laws did not affect females. They were accordingly dismissed without prejudice, and thenceforward resolved to take advantage of their immunity. They carried out the religious services in their Chapel on a grand and most attractive scale. They had grand music and singing, which the gift of an Organ from Mrs. Bellew - probably the only Organ in any Dublin Chapel at that period - enabled them to do with singular success, drawing crowds, even of Protestants to hear them on each successive Sunday. According to the British Museum MS. of 1749, their Chapel “was large and decent, the altar grand, wainscotted and adorned with pillars. The altarpiece is a painting of the Crucifixion. On one side is the picture of St. Dominic and on the other that of St Catherine of Siena. The Tabernacle is double gilt, about which stand six silver candlesticks on the altar. Before the altar stands a silver lamp, and near it a silver branch for wax lights.” The silver candlesticks lamp, and silver branch still fulfil their self same offices on and before the high altar of the beautiful Convent Chapel of St. Mary’s, Cabra

About the same year (1717) the Franciscan Ntns or Poor Glares of Galway came to Dublin and after a brief sojourn in the same Fisher’s Lane thanks to the munificence of Frances Jennings the widowed Duchess of Tyrconnell, and sister of the celebrated Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, they were established in a Convent on the north side of Channel Row, nearly opposite to the Dominican Sisters; but as it had its principal approach from King Street, it was always quoted as King Street Convent. In 1728, Mrs. Kelly, Superioress, obtained benefactions to build the Chapel, which had a handsome altar. In the gallery over the choir was set up an Organ, the gift of the Countess of Fingal. About 1782 a separation took place in this community, the stalwarts remaining in King Street under the jurisdiction of the Franciscan Provincial, the seceders placing themselves under the protection of the Archbishop. The latter body established their residence on the south side of Dorset Street, the rere going back to what subsequently became Hardwicke Street. Here they remained until 1804, when the lease expiring and not being renewable, they moved to Harold’s Cross, where they are still active and flourishing in St. Clare’s Orphanage. In the beginning of the last century the King Street community moved out to Glasthule, where about 1835 they died out.

Yet another religious community settled in the Parish about the year 1720 - namely, the Capuchin Fathers. From the time of their first coming into Ireland in 1623 they had been tossed about in various localities, as Bridge Street, Swords, Audoen’s Arch, etc., and now finally settled themselves in Church Street, where they remain unto the present day. Their Chapel, at first a rude one, was entirely repaired in 1736 with contributions collected by the Superior, Father Alexis Dowdall. In 1796 this was taken down, and a new Chapel set up. In our own days this has been again replaced, on the same site, by the splendid new Church of St Mary of the Angels.

In 1724, Father Dalton died, and the Parish was conferred on

V. Rev. Sir Daniel (Canon) Dowdall, Baronet of Athlumney, P.P., 1724-29.

He was at the same time admitted into the Chapter as Prebendary of Rathmichael. He belonged to a good family in the Co. Meath, his brother being created Baron of Athlumney by James II., and the Baronetcy reverting to Daniel, who had taken Holy Orders previously. Of his brief administration we have absolutely no particulars. Dying in 1729, he was followed by

V. Rev. Patrick (Canon) Fitzsimons, D.D., PP., 1729-1744.

In January, 1730, he was to be found in Brussels. A letter of the Internunzio of that date says “he had assisted for some years in London on the King of Spain’s Ambassador, and advised him in many matters, for he had introductions to many in that country, and was in the confidence of the King.” He is represented as seeking permission to remain in London, confiding care of Parish to a trusty person approved of by the Ordinary. But a subsequent letter dated February 3rd of same year, says:- “Fitzsimons, when asked, did not desire to remain in London; however, he might have done so before being collated to Parish.”

His great work was the building of the first Chapel which may be dated from 1730. Hitherto the old warehouse at the rere of “Arran’s Key,” which had already killed three people and wounded several others, had been doing duty as Parish Chapel. Dr. Fitzsimons thought that it was high time that this dangerous structure should come to an end. He acquired a lease of the site, and, organising a subscription, he erected thereon a seemly Chapel described in the manuscript of 1749 as having a good gallery, convenient Sacristy, near to which an additional building is made, where the Priests lodge. In a document published in the *Spicilegium Ossoriense, * dated 1729, we rescue from oblivion the name of two Curates – viz., Charles Kelly and James Rowe From this on for fifty years we cannot hope to record the name of any Curate, though there was a permanent staff of six. They did not take care to transmit their names, much less their good deeds. In the Return made to the House of Lords in 1731, amongst the Schools enumerated as within St. Michan’s Parish are four, which may be claimed as within St. Paul’s (Catholic) Parish, “one kept by Murphy in Bow Lane; one kept by Gorman in Bow Lane; two in Hammon Lane kept by Neal and McLaughlin,” and possibly one of the three that were to be found in Church Street.

St. Paul’s seems to have had an irresistible attraction for religious communities, especially of Nuns. Not content with sheltering within its borders, the Dominicans and Poor Clares, the Carmelites must now come along, and after a short sojourn in what seems to have been a general Novitiate, Fisher’s Lane, they established themselves about 1730 at the corner of Arran Quay and Pudding Lane (now Lincoln Lane). They came from Loughrea, aud conducted a young Ladies’ Boarding School. Michael Kelly, the dramatist, in the first volume of his “Reminiscences,” recounts how that his father, who was Master of Ceremonies at the Castle, having occasion to visit a connection of his here at school, met also a Miss McCabe, whom he subsequently married, and won with her a fortune of £5,000. At the end of the century, the Nuns migrated to Ranelagh, where they still flourish.

In 1733 Dr. Fitzsimons was admitted into the Chapter as Prebendary of Rathmichael, and in this same year, Dr. Linegar becoming Archbishop, he at once appointed our Parish Priest one of his Vicars General. In 1740 he was promoted Archdeacon of Dublin, and four years later, on the death of Dean Byrne, he was named Dean of the Chapter.

The same year, 1744, witnessed the closing of the Dublin Chapels for the last time. The Government, greatly frightened by the landing of Charles Edward in Scotland, and by the numbers that flocked to his standard, feared that the contagion might spread to Ireland and call forth another Stuart campaign. Wherefore the No-Popery laws were again rigorously enforced and all the Chapels closed. The first victim to these dramatic measures was a young Priest celebrating the 10 o’clock Mass in St. Paul’s. An ultra loyal Alderman, as soon as he had heard of the move of the Government, proceeded with a posse comitatus to St. Paul’s, and mounting the altar steps arrested the Priest in the act of saying Mass. No remonstrance would be listened to, and still in sacred vestments he was hustled into a vehicle and carried before the Magistrates. By the mere accident of having exchanged Masses with this Priest a short time previously, Dr. Burke, or, De Burgo, of “Hibernia Dominicana” fame, just escaped being the victim instead of the young Clergyman referred to. This despotic and wholly unnecessary precaution continued until a terrible accident occurred in a house in Cook Street, where a number of people hearing Mass stealthily in an upper room, the floor suddenly yielded, and nine were killed and several wounded. After this lamentable event Lord Chesterfield, who was then Viceroy, ordered the Chapels to be re-opened never to be closed again. In 1744 Dr. Fitzsimons was transferred to the neighbouring Parish of St. Michan’s, vacated by the death of Dean Byrne. Before his induction, and while both Parishes were still vacant, Dr. Luinegar had applied to rome for permission to vary slightly the eastern boundary of St. Paul’s. In the petition (See Sicil Ossori., Vol. III., pp. 153-4) he represent that the old Church of St. Michan’s was actually within the boundaries of St. Paul’s Parish, which he deemed incongruous, and he asks that he be allowed to withdraw from St. Paul’s and incorporate in St. Michan’s the block of houses between Hammond Lane and May Lane, which comprised St. Michael’s Church and Churchyard. He adds that the block contains about 20 houses inhabited mostly by Protestants. The permission was granted by Benedict XIV., and this arrangement continued in force until Dr. Yore’s Pastorage in the last century, who had the block restored to St. Paul’s. To Dr. Fitzsimons succeeded

V. Rev. Henry (Canon) O’Neile, P.P., 1744-1777.

He was admitted into the Chapter as Prebendary of one portion of Dnooughmore in 1742, to be promoted to the Prebend of Swords in 1764. Beyond these two items, which have no parochial interest, we have nothing to record of Canon O’Neile, or of his bug Pastorate of 33 years.

During all this time still further encroachments on the remaining waste ground of Oxmantown Green were gradually being made. Already, from 1706, the Royal Barracks had been erected on a site granted by the Corporation to the Duke of Ormond after the Restoration, and by him transferred to the State for the purpose of erecting thereon a Barracks. But all the space between the Barracks and Queen Street still remained waste ground, if we except the site of the Protestant Church and Churchyard. It was partly devoted to a Bowling Green, and partly to an old artillery yard. The Blue Coat Hospital, which had been erected and opened in 1675, occupied 170 feet in length fronting the west side of Queen Street, covering the space from the present 69, and thence running north over most of the broad roadway of the present Blackhall Street, stretching back with its gardens 300 feet in depth. It occupied the original lots 87 and 88 reserved for it, together with lot 90, now part of the thoroughfare of Blackhall Street. It was in this, the original structure, that the first Irish Parliament held its Session from 23rd September 1729, to 15th April, 1730, whilst the new Parliament House, on the site of Chichester House on College Green, was in course of erection. This building, towards the middle of the century, began to show signs of decay, and the Governors agitated for a new Hospital on a new site. In 1753 the Corporation granted them the old artillery yard, and in 1769, the then Lord Mayor, Sir Thomas Blackhall, took upon himself the burden of carrying this business through. He had, from the City Assembly, conveyed to the Governors, the whole remaining space of the Bowling Green right to the Royal Barracks, and ordered that all the residue of Oxmantown Green should be laid out in building lots. The surveys were entrusted to Ivory, the Architect for the new Hospital. The Assembly undertook the buildings on the lots as surveyed by Ivory, showing the broad thoroughfare through the Green from Queen Street, which shortly after was deservedly named Blackhall Street, and the road from Stoney Batter to the Liffey, Blackhall Place. The opening of the North Circular Road in 1768 squared the whole region, gave new names - Aughrim Street and Prussia Street - to the initial stretch of Blackhorse and Cabra Lanes, as they started from Stoney Batter, and thus completed the transformation of Oxmantown from an “unserviceable waste” into a populous, and at that period, fashionable residential quarter.

Canon O’Neile, the Parish Priest, who, if we are to judge from surviving specimens of his handwriting, must have been a man of very infirm health, died in 1777, on the 8th of October, and was succeeded by -

V. Rev. Bartholomew (Canon) Sherlock, P.P. 1777-1783.

He had been Pastor of St. Audoen’s since 1771, and became Dean of the Chapter in succession to Dean Dowdall in 1774. He remained but six years in the Parish, being transferred in 1783 to St. Catherine’s.

Then came

V. Rev. Dr. Richard (Canon) Talbot, P.P., 1783-1797.

He had been already Pastor in two Parishes, viz., Swords, and Blanchardstown, and now came to St. Paul’s.

It was his task to restore; enlarge, and practically rebuild, the original Chapel erected by Dr. Fitzsimons in 1730. It is of this edifice which still survives on Arran Quay, being converted first into a Seed Stores and now a Wine Stores, a view, while still serving as a Chapel, taken in 1817, is here given. This restoration or reconstruction, was accomplished in 1785-6. In 1778 he was admitted into the Chapter as Prebendary of Castleknock, and in 1788 promoted to the Archdeaconry of Glendalough. He was one of the Vicars-General to Dr. Troy.

We now begin to renew acquaintance with some of the Curates so long lost to us. From Dr. Talbot’s commencements we meet Fathers Wm. Russell, Brown, Connolly, and Edw. Purcell. Then in 1793 we find Rev. Daniel Murray, afterwards Archbishop, registering his Oath of Allegiance and giving his address as Arran Quay. Fathers Dunne and Dixon carry us up to 1800. On the 10th February, 1797, Dr. Talbot passed to his heavenly reward, and on the following day was appointed to succeed him his senior Curate-

V. Rev. William (Canon) Russell, P.P. 1797-1825.

Dr. Russell was ordained by Dr. Carpenter in 1772. He then proceeded to the Irish College, Paris, in order to prosecute his theological studies, and returned thence in 1778, to commence his Missionary career, which, as far as we can discover, was exclusively confined to St. Paul’s. In 1775 he was named Prebendary of a part of Tipperkevin, to be promoted, in 1797, to the Archdeaconry of Glendalough.

His Pastorate commenced in troubled times. His first summer witnessed the outbreak of the rebellion of 1798, and the cruel repression which inevitably followed. His Curates until 1810 were Revs. Messrs. Dunne, Dixon, Clinch, Bourke, Blake, Merritt, Farran, Lube, and Connolly, O.S.A. In 1811 Father Richard Henry came on the scene, and was followed by Father Ryan, S.J. (1813), then Fathers Davock, Lalor, McDonagh, Gormly (1819), Donovan and Monks (1823).

In 1814, a Refuge, founded some time previously in Ashe Street by Mrs. John O’Brien for unprotected young girls of good character, was transferred to the old Manor House of Grangegorman in Stanhope Street, and the Sisters of Charity, just founded by Mary Aikenhead, were pressed to take charge of the institution. Dr. Murray earnestly urged them to do so, and on January 29th, 1819, Rev. Mother (Mary Aikenhead) and Sister Mary Joseph O’Reilly were conveyed thither by Mrs. O’Brien. The house was small for the purpose to which it was to be now devoted, but Dr. Murray undertook to raise funds for Chapel and Cells, and on the 2nd February, 1819, Feast of the Purification, the first offshoot of the Sisters of Charity from their original foundation in North William Street, had its first Mass celebrated in its new Chapel by Dr. Murray.

On December 18th, 1825, Dr. Russell passed to a better life, and was succeeded by

V. Rev. Dr. Patrick Coleman, P.P., V.G., and Dean, 1825-1828.

His student experiences were varied as he passed through Paris, Louvain, Carlow, and Maynooth, and was ordained Priest in Liffey Street Chapel in 1797. For many years he served as Curate in Townsend Street and became a member of the Chapter in 1812, to be Precentor in 1827, Dean in 1833 and Vicar General at the same time. His stay in St. Paul’s was brief, not quite three years, for on May 17th, 1828, he resigned it to take over St. Michan’s, and was followed in St. Paul’s by

V. Rev. William (Canon) Yore, P.P., V.G., 1828-1864.

Dr. Yore, as he was familiarly known, was born in St. Paul’s Parish, on May 22nd, 1781. At an early age he was sent to Father Betagh’s School, and then to Carlow College, where he studied for two years. He then conceived a desire to enter the Society of Jesus. The Society at the time was under suppression, but lively hopes were being entertained of its speedy rehabilitation, and a house in Hodder, near Stonyhurst, in England, was given by Mr. Weld to serve for the novices. To Hodder went young Yore and three others. But somehow this arrangement fell through, and his Jesuit dream never came off. He returned to Carlow, where he was ordained in 1809. He was appointed Curate in St. James’s Parish and Chaplain to Kilmainham Jail, where he is said to have attended 140 executions. He then applied for leave to go on the Foreign Mission, but was refused. About 1825, when Dr. Blake, of Michael and John’s, had gone to Rome to re-establish the Irish College, Father Yore was transferred to Exchange Street in the capacity of Administrator, where he remained until appointed to the Parish in 1828. The first public work we find him engaged in was in the opening of the Catholic Cemetery at Prospect, Glasnevin, which fell within his Parish, as it extended up to Finglas Bridge. The Archbishop delegated Dr. Yore to bless the Cemetery, in February, 1832, and the latter ever afterwards took a lively interest in its management. The first Superintendent was a convert, named John Graham, who thenceforward, until his death, in 1851, became the staunch friend and henchman of Dr. Yore in ah his public undertakings. Graham’s second son, William Joseph, became organist of the first little Chapel at Phibsborough, and subsequently of St. Paul’s, which he served faithfully for many years, until, after a blameless life, he died the death of the just in 1888.

The old Chapel, re-edified by Dr. Talbot, in 1786, had by this time utterly failed to fulfil its requirements. There was no longer room for the congregations, which overcrowded it at every Mass, so at new Church became a paramount necessity. In March, 1834, Dr. Yore convened a meeting to consider the propriety of building a new Church, which was unanimously responded to by the parishioners. A site was secured at the corner of Lincoln Lane, which had been occupied by the Police Court, then removed to Capel Street. On St.’ Patrick’s Day, 1835, the first stone was laid by the Archbishop, Dr. Murray. A design of a classic Church was submitted by Mr. Patrick Byrne, architect, and accepted, and the works went rapidly forward. Within the inconceivably short space of two years, the Church was ready for opening. On the 30th June, 1837, Feast of the Commemoration of St. Paul, the Church was solemnly blessed by Dr. Murray, assisted by Bishops Denver and Murphy, whilst the Primate (Dr. Crolly) preached the Dedication Sermon. A sum of £600 was taken on the opening day. Thus St. Paul’s was provided with its handsome parochial Church. A general meeting was held in the following March, and a statement of accounts furnished, from which it appears that the total expended up to date was £9,308 11s. 10d., and the total received £8,145 19s. 10d. Dr. Yore announced that he made himself responsible for the deficit, and declared the Church free of all debt. He then took steps to finish the portico, tower and cupola, and furnish it with a peal of bells - the first in any Catholic Church since the Reformation. For these purposes £90 was subscribed at the meeting. It was also mentioned that the ladies of the Parish collected among themselves a sum of £160, which they devoted to procuring vestments, linen, and other altar requisites. On November 6th, 1838, the parishioners, in recognition of his great services, entertained Dr. Yore to a public banquet, which was held in the old Chapel, now abandoned, when 300 sat down, with Mr. Patrick Dunn in the chair.

When last referring to the Curates, we found amongst them Fathers Henry, Gormley, Monks, and Ryan, S.J. Father Henry had become Curate of the S. District of the Metropolitan Parish (Now St. Agatha’s), and Chaplain to N. William Street Convent. Fathers Gormley and Monks had become in succession pastors of St. Audoen’s in 1832 and 1833 respectively, and Father Ryan alone remained. In 1835 the staff numbered Father Ryan, S.J.; Father Wynne, Father Scott, Father Fox (at Phibsborough), Father J. Kelly (Chaplain to Cemetery), and Father Parsley (Chaplain to Garrison). In 1836 Father Fox died, and was replaced by Father Moriarty, and in 1838 the latter died, and Phibsborough was handed over to the Vincentians. Rev. D. B. Delany was Workhouse Chaplain, and Rev. Bernard Kirby Chaplain to Richmond Penitentiary, Grangegorman. Father Wynne passed to St. Michan’s in 1839, and was replaced by Rev. M. Dempsey. Father R. Collier came as an additional Curate. Father Kirby devoting himself to the prisoners and penitents could do little in the Parish Church, so Father William Murray was put upon the staff. In 1841 Father Scott died and his place was taken by Rev James Cavanagh but he remaining but for little over a year being transferred to Kingstown, and Father Collier leaving, the staff in 1845 comprised Revs. Ryan, Dempsey, O’Keefe, Keating, Murray, Parsley and J. Kelly. The veteran Jesuit, J. J. Ryan, who passed 38 years in the service, and who was the last of the Regulars to serve in a Parish Church, passed eventually to his rich reward in 1847, and his place was taken by Pr. Laurence Forde, just returned from Rome. In 1849 the latter was moved to Blackrock, and about the same time Father Parsley ceased to give service in the Parish, so Fathers Bernard MacDonald and James Cassin came to fill their places. Hence the Curates in 1850 were Revs. Dempsey, O’Keefe, Keating, Murray, M’Donald, Cassin and J. Kelly, still at Glasnevin.

The collections for the completion of the Church went gaily on, and by 1842 portico (without the statues), bell turret, and cupola were finished and paid for. The bells were cast by James Sheridan, of Church Street, blessed, and swung into position, and on the Feast of All Saints, 1843, rang out their first merry peal, to be silent the following year, from May to September, joining in the national mourning for O’Connell’s imprisonment. Eight years sufficed to erect and complete the Church, and leave it absolutely free of debt.

St. Peter’s, Phibsborough.

The origin of this outlying parochial Mission is not devoid of interest. About the year 1820 the cross-roads created by the inter-section of Glasnevin Road with the North Circular Road, had a small population of very poor people, occupying an irregular cluster of mud cabins. They found themselves at the junction of four parishes, and equally remote from all four parish churches. Hence they were more or less a neglected corner of the vineyard, and, in consequence, a promising field in which the Proselytiser might sow cockle. He made the attempt, with some success, which alarmed the neighbours so effectually that a movement was promptly started to provide some kind of schools in which to protect and save the children. A few charitable women rented a room, and four of them volunteered to teach. For the boys another room was rented, but teachers were not so easily found. At length the Rev. William Meagher, ordained in Maynooth in 1820 (the same who died in 1881 P.P. Rathmines and Vicar General), thought he could not better inaugurate his apostolic career than by offering to become the school master for these pool boys. For or two or three years he continued at this humble class of work, until, with the sanction of the Archbishop, about 1824, he opened a classical commercial school in Jervis Street which proved a great blessing to the Catholic families of the period. To him succeeded in charge of the district Father Anthony Fox. Efforts were made in 1823 to provide the district with a regular Chapel A most desirable site was secured at the junction of the Cabra and Circular Roads, and the building, commenced in 1823, was completed in a short time. It was small but – but 84 feet long and 37 wide - and forming the upper storey of a building of which the ground floor was to be used as schools. It was approached by a flight of granite steps, which, with a somewhat ornamental front, gave it architectural pretensions. Up to 1835 £4 000 had been expended on it, half of this sum being made up by penny weekly collections from the poor. It thus became a Chapel of ease to St Paul’s, having for its first Administrator Dr Meagher, succeeded by Father Anthony Fox. He continued until his death in 1836 and was followed by Rev T G Moriarty Meanwhile a movement, initiated by some Dublin students in Maynooth College, was gradually taking shape. Messrs. James Lynch, Peter Kendrick Michael Burke and a few others conceived the notion of forming a community of secular priests to live under rule. They were favourably advised by Dean Dowley who consented to become their leader as soon as matters could be arranged. They were soon 1oined by John McCann who had just returned priest from Rome and Thomas MacNamara, of Meath Diocese. They came to hear something of the priests of the Congregation of the Mission founded by St Vincent de Paul and after further prayer, consideration, and advice, came to the conclusion that this congregation would answer their purpose. Wherefore, all now being ordained priests, they notified Dean Dowley of their arrangements, and having the earnest good wishes of the Archbishop, they became the first members of the Irish province of the Congregation of the Mission, or Vincentians. They first determined to open a school, and, leasing the house 34 Usher’s Quay, commenced with a goodly number of pupils, amongst whom were the late Father Healy (of Bray) and his life-long friend, Dr. Nedley, as also Thomas O’Donnel, late City Accountant, who still happily survives amongst us. In 1835 came the opportunity of purchasing Castleknock, which the generous offer of Father McCann, from his private means, enabled them to effectuate; and in 1838, on the death of Father Moriarty, both the Archbishop and Dr. Yore expressed their wish that the Vincentian Fathers should take over Phibsborough - Dr. Yore surrendering all proprietary rights, but reserving those that were parochial. The first members of the young congregation to administer this work were Father MacNamara and Father Edmund Scully. To them was associated another young Meath priest, named James Hand. He was undecided about giving his name to the community, but he gave valuable help both in the school on Usher’s Quay, and in Phibsborough, and here conceived the idea to devote himself entirely to the work of founding a college for the Foreign Missions. He slaved day in day out indefatigably, going from door to door begging alms to found burses for deserving students. He wrested from the Archbishop, at first reluctant from motives of prudence, his heartiest consent. He journeyed to Rome to get the blessing of St. Peter on his work, and there, meeting two newly ordained priests (James Ryan and Bartholomew Woodlock) he enlisted them under his banner, and on November 1st, 1842, All Hallows College was opened, with one student. Now, in the 70th year of its existence, calculate, if you can, the amount of good it has accomplished amongst our exiled fellow-countrymen all the world over, and all the result of the piety and zeal of saintly Father Hand.

Father MacNamara, when entering into possession of the little Chapel at Phibsborough, was not slow to see that it was altogether too small, so he set himself to its enlargement. He removed the schools from the under storey, cut out the floor intervening between it and the Chapel above, removed the flight of granite steps, and adding forty feet in front, converted the original structure into a good sized and well proportioned Church. Even this proved insufficient, for the neighbourhood continued to improve, and the congregations to grow, and finally, in the ‘sixties, he had planned a really grandiose gothic edifice, that bid fair to outdo all previous efforts in Church building. The chancel and transepts were erected, together with a great central tower. But the tower proved too much, and had to be taken down, an incident which involved the good Fathers in a prolonged and costly law-suit, which precluded all further extension work for a period of over 30 years. At length the present Superior, Father Joseph Geoghegan, took heart of grace in 1902, and set about the work of completing the Church. He added nave, aisles, tower and spire, and finishing and furnishing the interior, from organ to high altar, at considerable cost, which the unfailing generosity of the faithful enabled him to defray, he inaugurated it in April, 1911, and presented this northern suburb of Dublin with the finest and best finished Church we have to show, and left it, as the preacher of the day - the Bishop of Elphin - was able to announce, absolutely free of debt.

We may now return to St. Paul’s.

Of the Curates we found in St. Paul’s in 1850, two died that same year - Fathers Keating and Murray. To them succeeded Rev. Thomas Grimley, who became Prebendary of St. Iago in the Chapter in 1855, and was consecrated Bishop of Cape Town in 1860, and Rev. Bernard Delany. Father Cassin left for California in 1864, and was replaced by Father T. Nolan, and in 1859 Father Dempsey retired invalided. To fill these gaps came Rev. W. Keon, and in 1861 Rev. M. Gibney and Rev. John Brady. Then Father MacDonald died, and Father Delany passed to Glasnevin as Chaplain, to replace Father Kelly, who had also departed this life, so that in the beginning of 1864 the staff numbered Fathers O’Keefe, Keon, Gibney, Brady, T. J. O’Reilly, and J. O’Hanlon.

At length, on February 13th, 1864, the good and amiable Dr. Yore passed to his heavenly reward, in the 83rd year of his age. During his whole time in St. Paul’s (36 years) he lived in 65, Queen Street, as there was no parochial house, if we except the small structure clinging to the rere wall of the Church, which afforded some kind of shelter to three assistants. The loss of Dr. Yore was universally felt, as his benevolence was not confined to his parish. The Catholic Institution for Deaf and Dumb and the Asylum for Catholic Blind look up to him as their founder. For the benefit of the latter he sold his library. His parishioners, some yeasr before his death, presented him with a substantial money testimonial, which he devoted to procuring the fine marble altar which adorns St. Paul’s. Moreover the distinguished positions which he filled – Precentor in the Chapel, Papal Chamberlain, with the title of Monsignor, from 1855, and Vicar-General from 1828 – made him conspicuous amongst his compeers. He filled a great portion of the first half of the last century, and died, sincerely regretted by all. To him succeeded

Rev. Thomas Butler, P.P., 1864-1865.

Father Butler, who for many years discharged the duties of Chaplain to Loretto Abbey, Rathfarnham, was asked to take up the burthen of St. Paul’s; but he remained less than a year, having decided to enter the Trappist Monastery of Mount Melleray, where he stayed to the end of his life, dead to be world. On his departure, the Parish received as postor.

V. Rev. William (Canon) Brock, P.P., 1865-1892.

A long and strenuous pastorate was now inaugurated. Father Brook had been for many years Curate in Rathmines. In May, 1806, Father O’Reilly was transferred to Marlborough Street and Father A. Plunket subsequently installed. The Parish was by this time enriched with the possession of a Christian Brothers’ School, opened in North Brunswick Street. Hitherto the only schools had been those in Queen Street-but Canon Brook went farther still. He built very fine schools in West Liffey Street, which serve a very populous neighbourhood, otherwise unprovided, and in 1869 the school for girls in North King Street. In 1867 Father Keon was transferred to St. Andrew’s, and replaced here by Father Joseph Flanagan. Father O’Hanlon’s place was taken by Father Carpenter. In 1868 Father Delany resigned the chaplaincy of Glasnevin Cemetery, and left for foreign parts. Canon Brock took advantage of his vacancy to consolidate all the chaplaincies in the Parish, having himself appointed Chaplain to each, discharging the duties of his assistants, so that in 1869 the staff numbered Fathers O’Keefe, Gibney, J. Brady, J. Flanagan, J. Carpenter, T. Gorman, T. Jones, T. McEvoy, and Francis Coffey. In 1871 Father Carpenter joined the Vincentians, and was replaced by J. F. Maguire. For the greater convenience of those whose duties lay in the northern district, a house was rented at Dalymount, Phibsborough, and was occupied by three of the assistants. In 1872 Fathers Clarke and Edward Quinn joined, and in 1875 Rev. T. Byrne replaced Father Jones.

The North Circular Road which, during the century up to this period lay mostly built upon, by 1876 was covered on both sides up to the Park gate by handsome residences, which were quickly occupied. This increase of population stirred Canon Brock to the desirability of planting a Chapel of Ease in the district. He secured a site in Aughrim Street, and convening a meeting of the parishioners, a general and generous response was made to his appeal. The third published list of subscriptions totalled £1,500. In a short time the new Church of the Holy Family became visible. It was simple, but solid, designed by Mr. Butler, and on December 8th, 1876, the first Mass was celebrated with in its walls. To serve this Church two were detached train St. Paul’s, and housed in 82 Aughrim Street. Among the first told off for this duty were Father Carroll, T. Byrne, and P. Ryan But towards the end of 1877 Father John Brady was moved up here, and remained until 1880, when he carried into effect a resolution of long standing, and joined the Vincentian Fathers. Happily, he is not far off, and remains a much esteemed member of the Phibsborough Community. A meeting, summoned in 1879, furnished an account of receipts and expenditure, thus - Builder’s claim, £729 7s. 10d.; already paid, £6,550; still due, £740 7s.10d.; cost of railing, £189 12s. 6d.; architect’s fees, interest on loan, and furniture of Church, £1,250.

On April 9th, 1880, died Father Dan O’Keefe, a genial and well-beloved priest, who for 36 years did faithful service in St. Paul’s. In 1881 Father Gibney was appointed P.P. Lusk, and the staff now numbered Fathers Clarke, Maguire, J. Nolan, W. C. Magill, and G. P. Lawless, in Arran Quay; Fathers E. Quinn, F. Coffey, and W. Hurley, in Dalymount; and Robert Fegan and J. Flood, in Aughrim Street. 1882 saw Fathers Flood and Magill replaced by P. Gavin, John Hoey, and W. Byrnes. In 1884 Father Quinn became P.P. St. Audoen’s, and was followed by E. Dunne, who only remained a short year, and Father Byrnes being transferred, Rev. M. Ivers and E. O’Byrne came in their stead. In 1889 Father Galvin was replaced by D. Ryan. In 1892 Canon Brock’s state of health suggested the need of a helper, and Father Joseph Burke was transferred from Little Bray to Aughrim Street as Administrator, having to assist him Robert Fegan and John Hoey. In less than a year Canon Brock received the final summons, and after a zealous priestly life went to receive his heavenly reward. Immediately the Parish was divided. To St. Paul’s was appointed

V. Rev. Henry (Canon) Murphy, P.P., 1893-1910.

A distinguished scholar, theologian, and scientist, he had commenced in Castleknock, thence to enter the Catholic University, under Newman, and subsequently proceeded to the Irish College, Rome, where he was ordained in 1864. He served in three Curacies - St. Nicholas’s, St. Kevin’s, and Kingstown. In 1889 he was promoted P.P. Celbridge, and now, in 1893, transferred to St. Paul’s. The new boundaries were easily determined. St. Paul’s retained all Oxmantown Green, having Montpelier Hill, Arbour Hill and Brunswick Street as far as Grangegorman Lane, as northern boundary, plus as much of Grangegorman as was contained by a line drawn through Grangegorman Lane and Charleville Road on to Glasnevin and Finglas Bridge. His Curates were, in 1884, Fathers Nolan, Lawless, D. Ryan, and James O’Driscoll, in Arran Quay; and F. Coffey and M. Ivers, in Dalymount. His administration was uneventful, except towards its close, when he effected much needed repairs on the roof and cupola. He died in 1910, after a short illness, and was succeeded by

V. Rev. Robert (Canon) Burke, P.P., 1893.

An old habitué, after serving as P. P. in Roundwood and SS. Michael and John’s he returned to North Dublin, and is preparing to fill the void so long felt by providing a suitable parochial house or presbytery. His Curates, commencing 191 2, were, Arran Quay - Fathers D. Ryan, R. Sladen, E 0 Callaghan and W. Field; at Dalymount, F. Coffey and M. Martin. His schools in Queen Street, King Street, North Brunswick Street, West Liffey Street and Phibsborough returned 1,805 children for religious examination. We omitted to mention in the proper place that during Canon Murphy’s time the extreme northern boundary was modified to the extent of withdrawing it from Finglas Bridge to Cross Guns Bridge and the Royal Canal, leaving, however Glasnevin Cemetery still in St. Paul’s Parish, and the relinquished territory being added to the new Parish of St Columba

Parish of the Holy Family, Aughrim Street.

V. Rev. Joseph (Canon) Burke, P.P., 1893.

This new Parish, erected on the death of Canon Brock, embraced all Grangegorman (except the portion left in St. Paul’s, and on to the hall-door of the Vice-regal Lodge, as well as the portion of Ellen Hoare’s meadow, enclosed within the Park. As usual with growing neighbourhoods, the Church, though so recently built, proved too small, so there was work to be done, and Canon Burke vigorously set himself to do it. The Church has been enlarged to fully twice its size by the additon of two spacious aisles and transepts, and finished out in excellent style. It cost more than the original building, £12,000, but with the energy of the Parish Priest coupled with the generosity of the parishioners, notably of one anonymous benefactor, soon completed the task, and left it standing today free of all debt. Schools also had to be provided, and St. Gabriel’s Schools rose as if by magic. Last year the united schools of this new Parish presented 1,496 children for religious examination. The Curates are (1912) – Father John Hoey, C. O’Carroll, F. Farrington, and John Larkin.

St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street.

We have already made reference to this Church, but a few supplementary notes may be here added.

In 1861 an attempt was made to build a Church in North King Street. A Convent House was actually built, which is now a tenement. But the Capuchin Fathers finally resolved to remain on the old site. The foundation stone of the present Church was laid by Cardinal Cullen in June, 1868. It was not completed until 1881, and then the present Convent House was built. Subsequently the Father Mathew Hall came into existence, and was, and is, of great use in the cause of temperance, which the Capuchin Fathers have adopted as their special work, and carried through with signal success.

Stanhope Street Convent.

When we last wrote of this institution it was only of its beginnings, far away in the ‘twenties of the last century, but there has been great progress since. The shelter for young girls has grown into an industrial and training school, and school upon school has been added, until 1911 revealed a band of nearly 800 children for religious examination. The new Convent Chapel is *sans pareil. *

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