The Church of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, also known as Newman University Church or Catholic University Church, is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland.

History

Groundbreaking took place on the site of the gardens of 87 St Stephen's Green in May 1855. It was founded by

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

for the newly-founded

Catholic University of Ireland The Catholic University of Ireland (CUI; ga, Ollscoil Chaitliceach na hÉireann) was a private Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University o ...

, and designed by

John Hungerford Pollen (senior) John Hungerford Pollen (1820–1902) was an English writer on crafts and furniture. Life He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. He was ordained as an Anglicanism, Anglican priest in 1845, with a parish in Leeds from 1847, writ ...

in a

Byzantine Revival Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Ortho ...

style, due to Newman's dislike of

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...

. It was consecrated on Ascension Day (1 May) 1856. On 4 May (

Saint Monica Monica ( – 387) was an early North African Christian saint and the mother of Augustine of Hippo. She is remembered and honored in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, albeit on different feast days, for her outstanding Christian virtues, partic ...

's Day), Newman preached in his sermon the essential place of the church in his plans for the university: ''"I wish in the same spots and the same individuals to be at once oracles of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and shrines of

devotion Devotion or Devotions may refer to: Religion * Faith, confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept * Anglican devotions, private prayers and practices used by Anglican Christians * Buddhist devotion, commitment to religious observance * Cat ...

. '' ..' Devotion is not a sort of finish given to the sciences; nor is science a sort of feather in the cap."'' The Lady Chapel was added to the church in 1875. In 1907 it was the site of the funeral of the Fenian

James Bermingham James Bermingham was Bishop of Killala from 1344 Year 1344 ( MCCCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * March 26 – ''Reconquista'': ...

. During the 1916 Easter Rising British soldiers established a machine-gun post on the roof of the church. Future

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

John A. Costello married

Ida Mary O'Malley Ida Mary Costello (; 14 November 1891 – 20 April 1956) was the wife of John A. Costello, who served as Taoiseach on two occasions between 1948 and 1957. Biography Ida Mary O'Malley was born in Dublin, the eldest of 13 children, seven boys an ...

in the church in 1919. Since 2016, the church has been stewarded by the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

, which uses the church as a base for the Notre Dame–Newman Center for Faith and Reason; regular masses are still held there.

Church

The church is accessed by a Romanesque porch in polychromatic brick, with a belfry suspended over it. There is then an

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

leading into the ante-church,

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

. The interior is richly decorated with a baldacchino over the altar. The

semi-dome In architecture, a semi-dome (or half-dome) is a half dome that covers a semi-circular area in a building. Architecture Semi-domes are a common feature of apses in Ancient Roman and traditional church architecture, and in mosques and iwans in Isla ...

above the

was inspired by the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

of the Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. There is also an arcaded gallery with screens and an elaborate pulpit. The walls are decorated with

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

and serpentine from many parts of Ireland. The empty

undercroft An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area which is relatively open ...

represents the

empty tomb The empty tomb is the Christian tradition that the tomb of Jesus was found empty on the third day after his crucifixion. All four gospels relay the story, but beyond a basic outline, they agree on little. In the original ending of the Gospel of ...

, just as at

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...

References

External links

Official site
{{Subject bar , portal1= Catholicism , portal2= Ireland Churches of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin Roman Catholic churches in Dublin (city) Roman Catholic churches completed in 1856 Byzantine Revival architecture in the Republic of Ireland 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Ireland St Stephen's Green