Saint Francis Xavier Church, popularly known as Gardiner Street 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 on Upper Gardiner Street near

Mountjoy Square Mountjoy Square () is a Georgian garden square in Dublin, Ireland, on the Northside of the city just under a kilometre from the River Liffey. One of five Georgian squares in Dublin, it was planned and developed in the late 18th century by Lu ...

in Dublin, Ireland. The church is run by the Jesuits.

History

Designed by Father Bartholomew Esmonde SJ and erected by the architect Joseph B. Keane as a Classical cut granite stone essay, the first stone was laid on 2 July 1829, the year of

Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

. The church was opened on 3 May 1832, though the parish website says "The High Altar ... was designed and assembled in Rome by Fr. B. Esmonde ... who with Mr John B. Keane was the architect of the church". Architectural critic Christine Casey describes it in her book, ''Dublin'', as "the most elegant church of the period in Dublin". The building is known for its collection, sculpted altar piece, and paintings, mostly Italian in origin and dating from the

Victorian period In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...

. The design of St Francis Xavier Church reflects Father B. Esmonde's knowledge of the temples of Italy acquired during his residency there. In 1889 the funeral was held here for the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. The church features in

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's short story "

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

" from ''

Dubliners ''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. The stories were writ ...

'' and in the 1991 film '' The Commitments'' where the church organ is used to play ''

A Whiter Shade of Pale "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is a song by the English rock band Procol Harum that was issued as their debut record on 12 May 1967. The single reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, i ...

''. The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

text on the

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

reads, DEO UNI ET TRINO SUB INVOC S FRANCISCI XAVERII which translates in English as, "to God one and Three under the invocation of St Francis Xavier". The remains of the Blessed John Sullivan are enshrined in the church.

Gallery

Image:St._Francis_Xavier_Church,_Dublin_Left.JPG, Left Transept Image:St._Francis_Xavier_Church,_Dublin_Middle.JPG, Main Church File:St.Francis Xavier Church, Dublin.jpg, View of altar File:St.Francis Xavier Church, Dublin - Sullivan tomb.jpg, Sullivan tomb Image:St._Francis_Xavier_Church,_Dublin_Right.JPG, Right Transept

References

External links

Chapter VI of Dillon Cosgraves' North Dublin, mentioning the building of the churchOfficial website of the church
{{Jesuits in Ireland

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

Dublin, Francis Xavier Georgian architecture in Ireland

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links