Church

The National Monuments Service's description

St. John's medieval parish church was located off John's Lane, East/Fishamble Street. Originally dedicated to St. John the Evangelist it was conferred to the Canons of the Holy Trinity (McNeill 1950, 29). In 1350 it was enlarged with a new chapel dedicated to St. Mary (Bradley & King 1987, 2, 114). It was again re-built in the 16th century and the chancel extended. It was ruinous by 1680. Re-built 1776-9 but finally demolished in 1884 (Wheeler & Craig 1948, 22). Church and parish described in 1948 as; 'This parish dates from the XIIth century, and was originally founded, it seems, by a native Irishman. It stood a very few yards NE of the old Long Choir of Christchurch, now destroyed. It was rebuilt by Arland Ussher early in the XVIth century, again in 1680-1682, and again in 1766-1769. A spire, added in 1639, was not incorporated in the last rebuilding. The architect in 1769 was George Ensor. In 1877 the parish was united to St Werburgh's (q.v.), and the church, closed in the following year, was demolished in 1884.
It was about 70 ft. x 35 ft. internally, with the altar to W and a portico of two columns in antis to E. The order is variously given as doric and corinthian: unfortunately the print of 1786 which we give throws no light on this question. A breviary belonging to the mediaeval church is in the Library of TCD. Three mural tablets, the pulpit and some of the plate are in St Werburgh's, and a stained-glass window went to the E end of St Michan's. The site is now occupied by a Mission Hall. Henry Grattan was baptized in this church, and across the street, where Messrs Kennan's premises now are, the first performance of The Messiah was given in 1743' (Wheeler & Craig 1948, 21-2)
Described in the Urban Survey of Dublin as follows; 'The church was rebuilt in the sixteenth century by Arland Ussher and the chancel was extended in 1589. In 1630 it was described as in good repair and in 1639 a steeple was built and a peal of bells installed. By 1680, however, the church was in "great decay" and was substantially rebuilt in the following two years. It was rebuilt again in 1766—9 to the designs of George Ensor and at the cost of the Irish parliament. In 1877 the parish was united to St Werburgh's and St John's church was demolished in 1884' (Bradley and King 1987, 114). There are no visible remains above ground (Ribion 1913, 295-6; Clarke 2002, 17). St John's Church was shown on Speed's 1610 Map of Dublin where it was labelled as No. 37. St John's Parish church and graveyard are shown on Rocque's 1756 Map of Dublin City.

See attached Speed's 1610 Map of Dublin showing St. John's Church and section of Rocque's 1756 Map of Dublin City.

Compiled by: Geraldine Stout

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 30 June 2023

References

Bradley, J. & King, H. (1988) Urban Archaeological Survey, Dublin, Volume 4. A report commissioned by the Office of Public works (Unpublished).

Speed, J. 1611-12 The theatre of the empire of Great Britaine: presenting an exact geography of the kingdomes of England, Scotland, Ireland. Atlas.2.61.1, Cambridge University Library.

Rocque, J. 1756 An exact survey of the city and suburbs of Dublin. Available at https://libguides.ucd.ie/findingmaps/mapshistDublin Accessed on 5 January .

Clarke, H.B. 1978 Dublin c. 840 - c. 1540: the medieval town in the modern city. Dublin.

Clarke, H.B. (ed.) 2002 Dublin, Part 1, to 1610. Irish Historic Towns Atlas, No. 11. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy.

McNeill, C. (ed.) 1950 Calendar of Archbishop Alen's Register c. 1172-1534. Dublin. Royal Society of Antiquaries.

Wheeler, H.A. and Craig, M.J. 1948 The Dublin City churches of the Church of Ireland. Dublin. A.P.C.K.