Church in Unknown Townland

The Royal Chapel of St Matthew at Irishtown was built by the Corporation in 1704-6; the tower by Richard Mills in 1713 (Craig 1969, 112). St Matthew's Church was rebuilt in 1878-9, but the original tower survives. According to Craig (1969, 112); 'In St. Matthew's one can see perhaps the last authentic persistence of the Irish Gothic tradition of stepped battlements'. De Courcy (1996, 345) stated that; 'Late in the 17th century the Protestant community of Ringsend, which had just been augmented by a new revenue and customs presence in the village, complained that access it its parish church at Donnybrook was uncertain and difficult because of uncontrollable flooding in the Dodder, and asked for a new church nearby. An act to enable this to be built was passed in 1703, a site was chosen near the seashore in Irishtown, and the building of the 'Royal Chapel of Saint Matthew at Ringsend' was begun in 1704'. See attached photographs taken from https://livetofivehundred.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/st-matthews-church-on-irishtown-road/ Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised update: 11 November 2022