The Church of the Immaculate Conception, also known as Adam and Eve's, is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church run by the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

and it is located on

Merchants Quay The Dublin quays () refers to the two roadways and quays that run along the north and south banks of the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland. The stretches of the two continuous streets have several different names. However, all but two of the nam ...

, Dublin.

History

During the Dissolution reign of King Henry VIII around 1540 the Friary at Francis Street, the site of the current church of St. Nicholas of Myra (Without), Francis Street, was confiscated and the community was dispersed. In 1615 a new friary was built on Cook Street. A chapel on the site was destroyed in 1619 and later rebuilt. The Franciscans secretly said Mass in the Adam and Eve Tavern, where the popular name of the present church comes from. In 1759 a newer church was built, which was later replaced by the current church. After the Catholic Emancipation in 1829, they set about building a church and laid the foundation stone of the current church in 1834. The original design was by the architect Patrick Byrne who planned a tower on the Merchant's Quay entrance. However, due to financial problems, the church was built without a nave or tower.Conlan, Patrick, (2004). "Guide to the Church of the Immaculate Conception and Friary of Adam and Eve, Dublin", Church leaflet The church was originally dedicated to

Saint Francis St. Francis or Saint Francis may refer to: Roman Catholic saints *Francis of Assisi (1181–1226), Italian founder of the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) *Francis of Paola (1416–1507), Italian (Calabrian) founder of the Order of the Minims * ...

but in 1889 it was rededicated to the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. After 1900, the church was reorganised with the moving of the altar to the left wall and the original sanctuary was changed into a transept and entrance from Cook Street. A small nave was added to the right and a dome was built over the sanctuary. In 1912 a shrine to Saint Anthony was built in 1912 to designs by the architects Doolin, Butler and Donnelly. In 1926 to celebrate the seventh centenary of Saint Francis, the friars built a circular apse, remodelled the transepts and extended the nave with an entrance to Skippers Alley. The consecration of the high altar took place on 21 September 1928 by Dr. Paschal Robinson, titular Archbishop of Tyana (1870–1948). Since 1930, the church has had an association with the 61st Dublin

Scouting Ireland Scouting Ireland () is one of the largest youth movements on the island of Ireland, a voluntary educational movement for young people with over 45,000 members, including over 11,000 adult volunteers . Of the 750,000 people between the ages of 6 ...

Group.

Organ

The organ of Adam and Eve's was built by T.W. Magahy in 1936 using pipework from the old Telford organ there. It was rebuilt in 1996 by Trevor Crowe Ltd. There are around 3,000 pipes in the organ, seventy of which are gilded and incorporated into the casework. It is claimed to be the largest pipe organ in a Catholic church in Dublin and is very highly regarded. Eoin Tierney M.A., B.A. (Mus) was the first organ scholar of Adam and Eve’s Church Dublin.

Literary references

Adam and Eve's is mentioned several times in

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta 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 influentia ...

's novel ''

Ulysses Ulysses is the Latin name for Odysseus, a legendary Greek hero recognized for his intelligence and cunning. He is famous for his long, adventurous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, as narrated in Homer's Odyssey. Ulysses may also refer ...

'': It is also briefly mentioned in "

The Dead The Dead may refer to: * The dead, those who have experienced death Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * The Dead (Higson novel), ''The Dead'' (Higson novel), 2010 novel by Charlie Higson * The Dead (Kracht novel), ''The Dead'' (Kracht nov ...

" 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 ...

'': "Miss Julia, though she was quite gray, was still the leading soprano in Adam and Eve's..." And the church's site by the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish language, Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major Tributary, tributaries include t ...

gave the famous opening lines of ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It was published in instalments starting in 1924, under the title "fragments from ''Work in Progress''". The final title was only revealed when the book was publishe ...

'' (1939): ''riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.''

References

External links

Irish Franciscans Dublin
* Church of the Immaculate Conception on th
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Church of the Immaculate Conception Dublin Churches of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin Roman Catholic churches in Dublin (city) Neoclassical church buildings in Ireland