1000’s without a church, powerless to build one
The Early History of the Ringsend Roman Catholic Church, St Patrick’s
Prior
to 1859, the Catholic congregation of Ringsend travelled to the small chapel in
Irishtown for the sacraments. In 1454, an edict, the Statutes of Kilkenny, was
issue by the authorities at Dublin Castle to the effect that ‘all men and women
of Irish blood, whether nuns, clerics, journeymen, apprentices, servants,
beggars etc., to quit the city within four weeks and anyone found within the
city gates after that date shall forfeit goods, chattels etc and be cast into
prison and suffer other penalties.’ This edict was the original of Irishtown,
where Irish citizens congregated after their banishment from the city centre.
Ringsend was a later creation in the early seventeenth century as shipping
entering Dublin port berthed at Ringsend, closer the city, than the then ports
of Dalkey and Howth.
Up
to 1857 Ringsend was part of the Donnybrook, Sandymount, Irishtown and Ringsend
parish. Ringsend was for a century or more seen as a protestant parish with
several Protestant churches before the first sod was turned on a Catholic
church. There was a Methodist, Anglican, Wesleyan and Church of Ireland
churches within a ten-minute walk of Ringsend. Catholics were reduced to using
a boat tied up at a pontoon on the River Dodder beside the Ringsend Bridge.
Mass was celebrated on board with a priest travelling from Haddington Road or
Donnybrook to celebrate. But as the
demographics changed, so too did the need for a dedicated Catholic place of
worship.
1857 An 80-year lease
signed by the Archbishop of Dublin with James Patrick Curran, who signed on
behalf of Lord Fitwilliam (the present-day Pembroke Estate) to use unused land on
the corner of Bridge Street and Thorncastle Street. An old grocery store was
converted into crude living accommodations for a priest. The yearly rent was set
at £28 per annum.
1857 In August, Cork born Reverend
Anthony Jagoe, a Protestant emissary to the Catholic Church, delivers a lecture
in the schoolhouse attached to St. Matthews church, Irishtown, on how Pope
Adrian IV called the Irish ‘ignorant and uncivilised tribes’ and that the early
Irish catholic church was independent of Rome. He said that the Irish church
was schismatic of Rome in the 6th century and therefore how could St
Patrick be subject to the papal doctrine and therefore he must be Protestant. Adrian
IV was the only English born priest elected as Pope.
This lecture may have been the
catalyst for the naming of the new church in Ringsend ‘St. Patrick’s’ as it
would be the only Catholic St. Partick’s in the Dublin diocese as the Cathedral
of the same name had been lost to the Protestants during the reformation. By October, Fr. Thomas Leahy is listed as
living at the St. Patrick’s Ringsend Presbytery. It was classified as a chapel
of ease, as was the one in Irishtown, attached to the Donnybrook/Sandymount
parish.
1858 First dedicated
church to the patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick, since the reformation,
opened in April on the corner of Bridge Street and Thorncastle Street has the
first stone laid
A school catering for 80 boys is
opened in the grounds of the church.
A Female Sunday School is opened,
and pupils are taught by Sisters of Charity, who travel from Lakelands,
Sandymount.
Donnybrook & Irishtown Parish
priest Very Rev Andrew O’Connell PP, who had become the areas parish priest in
1849, formed a collection to build a new church in Ringsend. £200 donated immediately
by The Archbishop of Dublin Dr, Cullen as a bequest from Miss Farrell. O’Connell was instrumental in getting new
churches built in Donnybrook, Sandymount and Ringsend. The first parish priest
is Fr. Thomas Leahy who is seconded from the Star of the Sea. O’Leary would
later return to the Star of the Sea as Parish priest in 1876.
1858 In December as
Christmas approached, a bazaar held at St Mary’s Haddington Road to raise funds.
1859 On Friday March 25th,
the new bell of St. Patrick’s church was blessed.
1859 The official opening
in July by Most Reverend Dr. Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin was originally set
for Sunday July 3rd, but it was deferred to Thursday 14th.
Admission prices for the High Mass were set primarily to raise more funds to
pay for the building costs. It cost worshippers 5s for access to the chancellery
or 10s for 3 tickets. For all other areas of the new church admission was 2s 6d
(the old half-crown).
On a beautiful summers’ day,
thousands gathered in Ringsend to both greet and pray with The Archbishop of
Dublin, who was assisted in the dedication of the new Church by Very Reverend
Meagher, the Lord Bishop of Bombay. From every vantage point and window, the
locals craned their necks to get a glimpse of the assembled hierarchy. The
altar and tabernacle were sponsored by Mrs. Scully of Haddington Road. A choir
of priests greeted the celebrants as they entered the church from the sacristy.
A Mrs. Elfie accompanied the choir on a harmonium. Two hours after the first
blessing the archbishop blessed one and all as the High Mass ended.
1863 In October St.
Patrick’s is designated as the parish church for Catholic born soldiers based
at Beggars Bush Barracks and the Pigeon House Fort.
1866 Reverend Phillip McCarthy was appointed
parish priest in October.
1872 Joseph Grant Mooney
appointed CC to Ringsend as part of the unified parish of Sandymount, Irishtown
and Ringsend. Canon O’Hanlon from Star of the Sea acts as parish priest.
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1884 On St. Patrick’s Day
saw the opening of the Parochial Hall at 2 Cambridge Road. The plot of land had
been donated by John Edward Vernon on behalf of the Earl of Pembroke and cost
£300 to build. It was used as an early library, known as the St. Patrick’s
Literary Institute, for the local citizens and a venue for lectures and
concerts in the main hall. It later became the presbytery when the new church
was built.
1890 A presbytery was
built beside the Parochial Hall for Canon Mooney to live in. Up to that Mooney
was listed in Thoms Directory as living at Leahy Terrace opposite the Star of
the Sea Church. Archbishop Walsh was there for the laying of the foundation
stone. He was then presented with a trowel bearing the following inscription,
‘Presented to his Grace, the Most
Rev W J Walsh DD, Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland, on the occasion of
the laying of the foundation stone of the new Presbytery at Ringsend in the
parish of St. Mary’s, Star of the Sea, Sandymount, County Dublin, 30th
November 1890, from Rev. John canon O’Hanlon PP, Rev Joseph Grant Mooney CC
W.H. Beardwood, architect.’
The building and fitting out cost
£1,377, over £700 of which was raised by the subscriptions with the remaining
£600 identified as a loan from Commissioners of Public Works. £300 was raised
through various concerts and bazaars, leaving an outstanding bill of £300. One
of the contributors to erasing that debt was Thurles born the Most Reverend Dr.
John Ryan Archbishop of Philadelphia.
As the century reached an end and
numerous meetings held to discuss the finances of the parish, Reverend Mooney
complained that St. Patrick’s needed upgrading, renovation and the simplest act
of being painted and he informed meetings that the church building was no
longer fit for purpose as the congregation increased.
1903 The great storm of February
27th, 1903, severely impacts Ringsend leading to heavy damage to the
Glass Works in the village on Thorncastle Street and on the roof of St.
Patrick’s.
1905 In May, Joseph Grant
Mooney is appointed the first Parish priest having been a curate for the
previous decade as Ringsend became an individual parish separating from
Donnybrook and Sandymount following the death of Canon O’Hanlon in Sandymount. Reverend
Mooney was born in Dublin in 1842 to father William and his wife Teresa. He was
baptised St Michael’s and Johns on Essex Quay.
1907 A Grand Concert is held
in the Round Room of Rotunda as a fundraiser,
‘Fund for the Restoration and Enlargement of St Patrick’s’
‘Thousands without a church,
powerless to build one’, declared Canon Joseph Mooney
There is the formation
of a Bizarre Committee with £2 prize on offer
Regular letters appear Irish
newspapers pleading for more donations and annual dancing and music festivals
were held in the new Ringsend Stadium on South Lotts Road.
May 4th at Dalymount
Park, home club Bohemians took on local rival Shelbourne in a charity match to
raise funds for the renovation of St. Patrick’s. The band of the Dublin Royal Fusiliers
entertained the crowd before and at half time. The match generated £114.00 for
the parish.
Sunday June 2nd a public
meeting is held organised by Canon Mooney and attended by the Archbishop of
Dublin and the Lord Mayor to discuss the possible renovation of St Patricks or
its complete rebuild. Canon Mooney told the gathering that on the directions of
the Archbishop he had purchased the immediate landlord’s lease at a cost of
£400 and that the Earl of Pembroke had generously given a lease forever for the
church ground at a merely nominal rent.
1908 Canon Mooney inaugurates
a new branch of the Gaelic League in Ringsend. Eoin McNeill is in attendance.
1909 Rev P. H. O’Donnell,
the state chaplain of Massachusetts, appeals for American funds as the poor
Irish had built churches across America.
1910 A meeting of the
fundraising committee, chaired by Canon Mooney agrees on an advertising poster,
the renting of roller rink for the bazaar from the Rotunda Rink and the
acceptance of electric advertising from Mr. Nolan on Burgh Quay.
1911 On October 29th
the cornerstone is laid for the new church by Dr. Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin.
The newspaper reports state that the new church,
‘Has been designed in the Gothic
style and will be built of Irish granite. The work of the building is being
carried out by Milliam Connolly and Sons of Upper Dominic Street from the
designs of William Byrne and Sons, architects.’
Canon Mooney told the large
gathering that the old church had space for 300, yet the parish had over 5,000
and that their new church would have a capacity for 800 parishioners.
1912 January 1st
newspaper headlines declared ‘Sacrilege in Ringsend’ when the old church was
broken into and ‘robbed of alms and chalices’.
1913 In August the first
section of the new church is opened with a dedication by the archbishop. The Archbishop
said Father Mooney was ‘one of the most successful church builders of his time’.
In the Irish Standard newspaper published in Minnesota, the informed readers
that the reason the church was so named was that St. Patrick landed in Ireland
at Ringsend.
1914 When Charles Lawler,
the former owner of the Imperial Hotel on O’Connell Street died in his will he
left a bequest of £100 to help with the completion of the new church.
1916 By the momentous and rebellious
year of 1916, Canon Mooney was not alone in tending to his flock in Ringsend,
he had a curate by the name of Father Flanagan. Patrick Flanagan was born
on April 7th 1883 in Dublin. A good student at school, he went onto study
at Clonliffe College to begin the process to join the priesthood. He completed
his studies at Maynooth University and in 1909 he was ordained. His first
appointment as a curate was to the south city suburb of Ringsend. As a
passionate believer in the Gaelic League and a supporter of the nationalist
cause, he set up Fianna Phadraig in Ringsend in 1911, just two years after his
arrival in the parish. According to Sean O’Shea’s Witness Statement at the
Bureau of Military History, he said that he was a member of Fianna Phadraig and
that their uniform was a grey shirt with an orange kerchief, blue breeches,
grey puttees and a green wide-brimmed hat. He added,
‘Fianna
Phadraig was a scout unit organized on similar lines to Fianna Eireann. The
unit was founded by Father Pat Flanagan, C.C., Ringsend. We were if anything
better trained from the military point of view than Fianna Eireann. We met the
latter iii a scouting exercise on Ticknock in the summer of 1915 and proved to
be the better unit on that occasion.’
The 1913
St. Patrick’s Day parade organised by the Gaelic League and conducted in
‘flashes of sunshine alternating with periods of snow’ included the
participation of the Fianna Phadraig along with the Fontenoy Hurling club also
from Ringsend. In July, the newspapers reported that at the ‘Aeridheacht Mor’
(Large Open Air Gathering) held in Shelbourne Park,
‘An
interesting display of camp life given by Fianna Phadraig claimed much
attention, while the choice selections rendered by the Artane Band, Mr. H. Lowe
conducting, were thoroughly appreciated’
According to O’Shea,
‘Fr.
Flanagan had some liaison with "D" Coy., 3rd Battalion, the local
Volunteer unit and the members of the Fianna were understood to be at the
Company's service for despatch work and the like.’
But the
Reverend’s involvement was more active. It was reported in the newspapers that
on March 29th, 1914, before the split, Father Flanagan presided at a meeting of
the National Volunteers. He would become a close confidant of many of those who
would later become involved in planning the 1916 Rising.
O’Shea added in his witness statement,
‘without
ever raising his voice from the pulpit he succeeded in stamping out drunkenness
and loutishness from Ringsend. His chief weapon was the Fianna, a well-trained
body with its own pipe band. He had a definite military outlook. He took the
Fianna on winter's evenings through the history of the Boer War and showed us
that that war had been imposed on a peaceful people by a bullying Empire. He
told us how the Boers fought and how they could have won. He understood
guerrilla warfare and passed his knowledge on to us. We imbibed all this for
four or five years before the Rising. We were the first Fianna unit to carry
arms openly. This was the year before the Rising. He borrowed .22 rifles from
all quarters so that we could march to the Tattoo we held in Shelbourne Park.
At that Tattoo we gave military display of attack and defence firing blank from
our rifles. We performed a display of tent-erecting and camp-fire singing.’
After
the rebel surrender in 1916, some fighting was still proceeding in the Ringsend
district on a small scale. Fr. Paddy Flanagan was asked by the military to try
and stop it. But the Reverend would get more than he bargained for according to
Monsignor Curran.
"Father
Paddy Flanagan, Curate of Ringsend, was arrested yesterday and sent to Richmond
Barracks. Poor Father Mooney, P.P., was detained a prisoner, under armed guard
in his own house, from twelve noon until 6.30, and then only freed on the
promise not to leave the place for three days."
Father
Flanagan became the only Priest to be arrested and imprisoned in the aftermath
of the Rising but was released on Tuesday, 9th May, 1916. He provided a
dreadful account of the treatment of the prisoners in the Barracks under the
British military
Patrick’s
brother, John, had also become a priest and was attached to the Pro-Cathedral
when the Rising began. According to Monsignor Curran,
‘Fr.
John Flanagan of Marlborough Street who went with Fr. Byrne (Later Archbishop
of Dublin) to Parnell Square, and there found that Eoin McNeill's
countermanding orders were being carried out.’
Father
John would later find himself at the heart of the action inside the GPO hearing
confessions of the rebels. According to the Monsignor
In 1918
Patrick Flanagan was transferred to Aughrim Street Church and later made parish
priest of Booterstown in 1939. He was then involved in the building of a new
church on the Merrion Road, Church of our Lady Queen of Peace, opposite St
Vincent’s Hospital today.
In the
building of the church, he built a round tower, similar to the Glendalough
tower of St. Kevin’s. It was described at the time by future Taoiseach Liam
Cosgrave as ‘Flanagan’s Folly’. He died in 1956, his brother, by
then Parish priest in Fairview ad Mariano, predeceased him in 1935. Archbishop
McQuade was the chief celebrate of the funeral mass.
1917 In March, Canon Mooney
celebrates his golden jubilee of joining the priesthood.
However, on August 22nd Canon J.
G. Mooney passed away. The concelebrated
funeral mass was overseen by The Bishop of Canea,
Nicholas Donnelly. Through the marriage of his sister Donnelly became a
relative of the Boland Mills family. Bishop Donnelly was no stranger to
Ringsend also having served as a curate in St. Andrews, Westland Row. When his
sister Mary died, he became guardian to her seven children, five girls and two
boys. One of the boys was John Pius Boland, who not only served as an MP to the
House of Commons for Kerry but also won two gold medals at the 1896 Olympics in
Athens.
Of such reverence and appreciation
Canon Mooney was held in throughout Ringsend, his was the first coffin carried
across Ringsend Bridge from South Lotts Road to the Church. A traditional that
continues today when loved ones and friends carry the deceased coffin across
‘the brudge’.
In his will he left behind £25,000 which he donated to Maynooth College.
The Irish Newspaper Archives
The Pembroke Estate Archives
The Irish National Archives
The National Library of Ireland
The British Newspaper Archives
The Welsh Newspaper Archives
Ancestry.com
The Catholic Archives of New York
The US Library of Congress
The US Newspaper Archives
Thoms Directory
The Ringsend & Districts Historical Society
The Late Brian Siggins
The Archdiosese of Dublin
RTE Archives
