Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

maintained by the Carmelite order. The church is noted for having the relics of

Saint Valentine Saint Valentine ( it, San Valentino; la, Valentinus) was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his Saints' Day has been associated with a ...

, which were donated to the church in the 19th century by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He ...

from their previous location in the cemetery of St. Hippolytus in

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 ...

. The church is on the site of a pre-

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

Carmelite

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

built in 1539. The current structure dates from 1825 and was designed by George Papworth, who also designed

St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral St Mary's Church ( ga, Leas-Ardeaglais Naomh Muire), known also as St Mary's Pro-Cathedral or simply the Pro-Cathedral, the Chapel in Marlborough Street or the Pro, is a pro-cathedral and is the episcopal seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop ...

in Dublin. It was extended and enlarged in 1856 and 1868. The church also contains relics of St. Albert, a Sicilian who died in 1306. On his feast day (7 August), a relic of the saint is dipped into the water of St. Albert's Well, and the Carmelites say that those who piously use the water receive healing of both body and mind through the intercession of St. Albert. The church also contains a life-size

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

figure of

Our Lady of Dublin Our Lady of Dublin is a statue of the Madonna and Child in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland, that represents the Black Madonna of Ireland. History Local legend with tenuous documentary support suggests that the statue origina ...

. The 1825 building features in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833 as , an engraving of a painting by George Petrie of the interior being accompanied by a poetical illustration by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

. St-valentine 110921-01.jpg, Shrine of St. Valentine DV405 no.202 The Church of the Carmelite Friary, York Row, Dublin.png, The Church of the Carmelite Friary

References

External links

Whitefriar Street Church website
{{commonscatinline Churches of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin Carmelite churches Roman Catholic churches in Dublin (city)