Mass & Service Times
We do not have service times for Irishtown St Matthew yet. The contact details on this page are the quickest way to check. Send them to us and we will list them.
About Irishtown St Matthew
Irishtown St Matthew is a Church of Ireland church in Irishtown, County Dublin. It is one of the churches in the parish of Irishtown & Donnybrook, in the Diocese of Dublin & Glendalough.
History
The church stood on the coastline when it was built; land reclamation has since moved it further inland. The parish records that the original church was built to a design by Sir Christopher Wren, one used for several other churches of the period.
For its first 15 years the church was served by ministers from Donnybrook. Rev John Bohereau, whose name is also given as Burrough, was appointed as the first minister in 1723. He died three years later and is buried in the churchyard.
The building
The original church was smaller than the present one, a plain rectangle without transepts, its back wall standing a little beyond the point where the transepts begin. A gallery ran all round the interior, with the organ and choir in the balcony above the entrance porch, facing the altar.
The tower, which housed the bell, originally stood lower. In 1713, at the request of Dublin Corporation, it was raised to its present height and a small pyramidal steeple and weathervane were added, to act as a navigation aid for ships coming along the coast. The steeple was removed after it was damaged in a storm in 1839.
Clergy
- Incumbent Rev Canon Leonard Ruddock
