Christ Church Rathgar Presbyterian Church

History

In September 1859 six men petitioned the Presbytery of Dublin to establish a regular Sunday evening service in the old school house in Rathmines. Permission was granted early in November of that year and the congregation was formed. At the first meeting of the church committee £725 was pledged by 20 members and a decision was taken to find a site for a church; steps to acquire the present site were under way by December. A call was issued to the Rev. William Fleming Stevenson, who began his ministry in Rathmines in January 1860.

In 1860 architects were invited to compete for designs for a church to seat 400 people at a cost of £2,000. The foundation stone was laid on 19 July 1860 and the building was completed, consecrated and opened on 2 February 1862. By 1899 the church was too small for the congregation and it was enlarged the following year. A further transept extension drawn up in 1907 was not carried out.

A suite of halls was built in the 1960s on the former site of Rathgar Lodge and a complete refurbishment of them was finished in October 2007. Three of the congregation's ministers were called to serve as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, in 1881, 1932 and 1959. The congregation marked 150 years in 2009, and a history covering the period 1859 to 2009 was published to mark the anniversary.

The building

Both transepts were lengthened in 1900 and a chancel was added to take the choir and the pipe organ, providing an extra 160 seats. The pipe organ was installed as part of the same work. The west gallery, formerly the choir loft, was extended at the same time.

Notable features

A timber cross above the pulpit was dedicated on 28 April 1991. It was made from timber that had formed part of a chock block used to steady ships docked for maintenance and repair at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast.