St Mark's Church is a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located at 42A

Pearse Street Pearse Street () is a major street in Dublin. It runs from College Street in the west to MacMahon Bridge in the east, and is one of the city's longest streets. It has several different types of residential and commercial property along its le ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland. The church is affiliated with

Christian Churches Ireland Christian Churches Ireland is a Pentecostal Christian denomination located in Ireland and a part of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship. History Christian Churches Ireland was formed on October 22, 2005, when the Irish Region of the Assembli ...

, the Irish branch of the

Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

. The church has two Sunday services; 10am and 11:45am. Built in 1729 as a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

parish church, closed by the

Anglicans Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

in 1971, the building was acquired by

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, before becoming a Pentecostal church in 1987.

Church of Ireland ownership

The church building

The former Church of Ireland church building is a large building surrounded by a grassy churchyard, and was erected in 1729 off what was then Great Brunswick Street, now Pearse Street. It was consecrated by the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Charles Cobbe, on St Mark's Day, 25 April 1757. Works were carried out on the church in 1853 by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The Church of Ireland closed the St Mark's Church in 1971. Its contents were distributed throughout the Church of Ireland, and the parish records were transferred to the Representative Church Body. After its closure the building was purchased by

which used it occasionally for exams and lectures. In 1987 the building was purchased by the Family Worship Centre, a Pentecostal assembly, renovated, and re-opened as a place of worship.

The parish

The former Church of Ireland

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

was formed from that of St Andrew's Church, Dublin by a 1707 Act of Parliament, and corresponded to the civil parish of the same name.

The churchyard

The church was surrounded on three sides by a churchyard which contained a large number of graves. In the 18th and early 19th centuries it was a favourite target of

body snatchers Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues, and other burial sites. Body snatching is distinct from the act of grave robbery as grave robbing does not explicitly involve the removal of the corpse, but rather theft from t ...

, owing to its proximity to Trinity College, which taught medicine. A wall was built around the churchyard to try to prevent access. In 1892-3 the wall was removed and a railing substituted.

Notable parishioners

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

was baptised in the former Church of Ireland church *

Katie Taylor Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She was the undisputed and undefeated lineal world lightweight champion from 2019 to 2024, and has held the undisputed and lineal world super lightweight ...

, an Olympic gold medalist, is a member of the Pentecostal congregation

References

External links

St. Mark's Church Website

Photos of the interior from 1975 in the UCD library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mark's Church, Dublin Protestant churches in Dublin (city) Assemblies of God churches Former Anglican church buildings in Ireland Churches completed in 1729 1720s establishments in Ireland