Church in Unknown Townland

St. Andrews medieval Parish Church and graveyard which stood on the S side of Dame Street, c. 80m NE of Dublin Castle (DU018-020488-) was founded in the 12th century (Gilbert 1854-9, II, 258). It was assigned to St. Patrick's Cathedral (DU018-020269-) in 1219 (Bradley & King 1988, Vol. 2, 95; (Clarke 2002, 17). On Speed's 1610 Map of Dublin City, St. Andrew's Church (labelled No. 16) and graveyard (DU018-296----) is shown standing on the S side of Dame Street (labelled No. 14), to the E of Dam Gate (DU018-020028-) (labelled No. 15) which was the E gateway to the walled city of Dublin. On this map the church is depicted as a rectangular building aligned on an E-W axis with bell-tower on the W end of the church which stood in the N quadrant of a D-shaped enclosure which represented the burial ground or graveyard (DU018-296----) attached to St. Andrew's parish church. The Dublin Assembly Rolls of 1592-3 recorded that; 'Lucas Challener shall have a lease for tearme of three score and one yeares uppon St. Androwes churche [DU018-020071-] and churchyard (after our estate therin perfected) he payeing yearly to the cittie xl.s., Irysh' (CARD Vol. 2, 259). Earlier in 1577 the Dublin Assembly Rolls recorded that 'Richard Fyanes, alderman, hath gyven St. Androwes churche unto this cittie frauncklie and frelie, to be converted into a scole howse [schoolhouse] or poor howse' (CARD Vol. 2, 120). In 1549, John Ryan a merchant of Dublin was granted a 21 year lease of, 'the Rectory of St. Andrew the Apostle, and also the chapel of St. Andrew and the cemetery [DU018-296----] of the said chapel, a certain parcel of land adjoining the same on the west and a garden on the north of the said chapel, and also the tithes of three orchards in the parish of St. Andrew' (Mason 1820, 33-4). In the 17th-century the medieval site was abandoned and a new St. Andrew's Church (DU018-020072-) and graveyard was constructed on Suffolk Street. Th 1892 ed. City of Dublin OSi sheet No. 57 bears the annotation; 'Munster & Leinster Bank Site of St. Andrew's Church'. According to Gilbert (1854-9, vol. 3, 305); 'The old church of St. Andrew, on the southern side of Dame-street, having been totally demolished some years before the Restoration of Charles II., the Parliament of Ireland, in 1665, passed an Act separating the parish of St. Andrew from that of St. Werburgh, extending its limits by the addition of Lazar's-hill, and authorizing the parishioners, by contributions among themselves, to rebuild the church in such manner as they should agree upon. Under this statute the patronage of the vicarage of St. Andrew's was vested in the Archbishop of Dublin, the Lord Chancellor, the Vice-Treasurer, Chief Justices, Chief Baron, and Master of the Rolls; ten pounds per annum were appropriated, payable by the vicar to the Precentor of St. Patrick's, as ancient proprietor of the rectory; and the churchwardens and their successors were constituted a body corporate. Arthur Earl of Anglesey and Sir John Temple were appointed the first churchwardens of the new church of St. Andrew, of which Richard Lingard, Professor of Divinity in Trinity College, was nominated first vicar; and he, dying in 1669, was succeeded by Dr. Anthony Dopping. In April, 1670, the parish resolved that the new church (DU018-020072-), after an oval model by William Dodson, should be erected on "the old bowling-green" given to them by Henry Jones, Bishop of Meath; the expense of the building being defrayed by subscriptions and parochial assessments'. The church and graveyard was described by Mason (1820, 34) as follows; 'The church of St. Andrew and its cemetery [DU018-296----] stood on the south side of Dame-Street; a Flesh-market was afterwards erected upon the site, denominated the Castle-market; this last has likewise given place to a handsome row of buildings: the church occupies, at present, a more easterly position [Suffolk Street]'. The medieval St Andrew's Church was described in the Urban Survey of Dublin City as follows; 'the foundation of this church has been dated to the twelfth century (Gilbert 1854-9, ii, 258). This is based on the mention in Roger of Hoveden's chronicle that Henry II's palace was built in 1171 outside the city "near the church of St Andrew" (Stubbs 1868-71, ii, 32 ). Since Roger of Hoveden wrote of these events as a near contemporary, his evidence is fairly reliable (but see the comments in Warren 1973, 204 n. 1). The church was clearly in existence by 1219 when it was assigned to the precentor of St Patrick's cathedral. The cemetery [DU018-296----] of St. Andrew is referred to in a document of 1353 and it was here according to Gilbert that the election of the 'mayor of the bull-ring" took place until c. 1600. Speed's map shows this cemetery as a semi-circular enclosure, and this may have been part of an enclosure similar to those found around rural Early Christian church sites. After the Reformation the church fell into lay ownership and the parish was united with St Werburgh's (Wheeler and Craig 1948, 9). The church building was badly damaged in the Nine Years War and, because it was conveniently close to the castle [DU018-020488-], it was used for stabling the lord deputy's horses (Gilbert 1854-9, ii, 261). In 1631 a petition was filed to restore the building but it was not until 1663 that the parish was re-created and a new church [DU018-020072-] was constructed. This church, built by William Dodson between 1670 and 1674 was not on the old site, on a part of which Castle Lane and the adjoining houses were erected, while the remainder of it was occupied by the Castle Market, opened in 1704 (Gilbert 1854-9, ii, 262; iii, 306-7). The seventeenth century church stood close to the site of the present church [on Suffolk Street] and a drawing of it by Francis Place still survives (Wheeler and Craig 1948, 9). St Andrew's Church was described by Wheeler and Craig (1948, 9-10) as follows; 'The parish was founded probably in the the XIth century. The original church occupied the site of the present Munster and Leinster Bank in Dame Street, lying therefore just without the walls. At the Reformation the parish was united to St. Werburgh's, and the church used as a mint and as a vice-regal stable. Laud attempted to rescue it, but it was not till 1665 that the parish was re-created by Act of Parliament. The church [DU018-020072-] [on Suffolk St.] was built 1670-74: it was 'round' (elliptical) in form, and the architect was William Dodson'. Stubbs, W. 1868-71 Chronica Rogeri de Houedene, 4 vols. London. Warren, L. 1973 Henry II. London. See attached section of Speed's 1610 Map of Dublin City showing Dame's Gate (No. 15) at the W end of Dame Street (No. 14) adjacent to St. Andrew's Church (No. 16), Newman's Tower (No. 6) to N, accessible online at http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PR-ATLAS-00002-00061-00001/38 See attached section of 1892 OSi City of Dublin: sheet XVIII.57 ("City of Dublin," held by Ordnance Survey Ireland. © Public domain. Digital content: © Ordnance Survey Ireland, published by UCD Library, University College Dublin <http://digital.ucd.ie/view/ucdlib:40905>). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 26 July 2023