St Peter's Church is a large Roman Catholic church located in

Phibsborough Phibsborough (; ), also spelled Phibsboro, is a mixed commercial and residential neighbourhood on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. The Bradogue River crosses the area in a culvert, and the Royal Canal passes through its northern reaches, no ...

, in the north of

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 ...

History

In the early 19th century,

was a crime-ridden suburb home to many families living in poverty. Ultimately, the concern for the children of

resulted in the founding of a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

school in 1826. Two of the priests running this school, Rev. W. Young and Rev. W. Carroll, converted the top floor of the school into a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

. In 1838 the Vincentian order, under Dean Philip Dowley, took over the running of the church. In 1843, new school buildings were built to house the growing number of students. The second floor of the old structure was removed and the chapels length was augmented, leaving it long and high. In 1907, work on the spire apparently commenced after Cardinal Moran of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

commented on the lack of

church

spires The Stanford Physics Information Retrieval System (SPIRES) is a database management system developed by Stanford University. It is used by universities, colleges and research institutions. The first website in North America was created to allow re ...

in the Dublin skyline. St Peter's Church is recognised as an important landmark in North Dublin. In 1984 Bernard Neary wrote:

Decorative

St. Peter's is noted for its beautiful

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows, particularly the west window and

Harry Clarke Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau ...

's early masterpiece entitled ''The Adoration of the

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

''. The window depicts, among scenes of the life of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, the adoration of the

with Ss.

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

and

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on how ...

. St. Peters is richly decorated with Gothic embellishments, such as gargoyles,

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...

s, bosses and

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

made from Newry

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

Organ

The pipe organ, dating from 1910, is originally a Magahy instrument. The instrument was majorly rebuilt and refurbished between 1947 and 1949 by the Conacher organ company. At this time it was a very highly-regarded instrument. In 1952,

Jeanne Demessieux Jeanne Marie-Madeleine Demessieux (14 February 1921 – 11 November 1968) was a French organist, pianist, composer, and teacher. She was the chief organist at Saint-Esprit for 29 years and at La Madeleine in Paris starting in 1962. She performed ...

gave a recital here.

Specification Of The St. Peter's Organ

Gallery

File:DUBLIN(1837) p165 ST. PETER'S R.C. CHAPEL & FREE SCHOOL, CIRCULAR ROAD, PHIBSBOROUGH.jpg, School and Chapel architecture in 1837 File:Navestpeterslandscape.JPG, A view of the

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 ...

taken from one of the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s File:Centreaisle.JPG, The centre aisle, looking towards the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

File:Decorationatcrossing.JPG, The decorative crossing in the

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 ...

File:Petersorganfromsanctuary.JPG, The organ as seen from th
Sanctuary
File:PedalsStpeters.JPG, The pedal board of the St. Peter's Organ File:Harryclarkesacred123.JPG, ''The Adoration of the Sacred Heart'' by

File:Doorway tympanum St Peters 2.jpg, The elaborately carved tympanum above the main entrance File:Bossinnaveplastering.JPG, A capital in the

References

External links

*{{Official, http://www.stpetersphibsboro.ie/ Gothic Revival church buildings in the Republic of Ireland Churches of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin Roman Catholic churches in Dublin (city)