Church in Unknown Townland

Present 19th-century disused C of I church now part of the Pearse Lyons Distillery was believed to have been built on the site of the medieval parish church and cemetery of St. James the Apostle on land donated by Henry Tirel c. 1190, which was granted to St Thomas's Augustinian Abbey congregation of St. Victor c. 1196 (Gilbert 1889, 383; Clarke 2002, 18). However on the de Gomme 1673 Map of Dublin, the church is depicted standing on a plot of land which appears to match the plot land to the W of the present 19th century church close to the house (DU018-440----) on the corner of Steeven's Lane and Bow Lane West. If the 1673 map is correct the site of the medieval St James's Church stood between the 19th century church and the house on the corner of Steeven's Lane. The church of St James the Apostle was under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin and had been granted to the abbots and canons of St. Thomas the Martyr (White 1941, 181). In 1540 after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the possessions of the Augustinian abbey of St. Thomas called Thomas Courte near Dublin included the 'Rectory of St. James in the suburbs. Tithes, 2 copp. [couples of grain), 26.s. 8.d. Altarages, 53.s. 4.d. Total, 4. li. All leased to John Butteler chaplain, for life, without rent' (White 1943, 29). In 1948 the Church of Ireland church on St James Street was described as follows; 'The parish is of very great antiquity, though by 1707 we find it united with Kilmainham as part of St Catherine's. In that year it was separated, and a new church erected. This church was long, low and narrow, and survived till 1861, when the present church was built from the designs of J. Welland. It is an unpretentious but not very interesting building, cruciform, with a SW spire and a small W gallery. The arcading between nave and S aisle is not without merit. In the tower lobby is an interesting mural tablet of 1691-1693 [DU018-471----] and against the N wall inside, two good examples of the XVIIIth century. The church plate is for some reason now in St Catherine's. The parish records (unprinted) go back to 1736. Curious ceremonies with cut paper shapes were formerly observed in the graveyard during St James's Fair. Toby Butler, who framed the Articles of Limerick, is buried here beneath an ivy-grown monument. The church is almost entirely surrounded by Guinness's Brewery, and owing to the absence of a sexton, it is very rarely open' (Wheeler and Craig 1948, 21). St James' Parish Church site was described in the Urban Survey of Dublin City as follows; 'The precise foundation date of this church is unknown but the earliest reference to it occurs during the episcopate of John Comyn (1181-1212), when it formed part of the property of St Thomas' abbey. Comyn fixed its parochial boundaries as Newgate on the east and the land of Kilmainham on the west, while excepting the area around Francis Street (McNeill 1950, 31-2). Archbishop Bulkeley described it as ruined in his visitation of 1630. Almost entirely surrounded by Guinness' Brewery the present church was built in 1861' (Bradley & King 1987, Vol. 2, 113). Church was described by Ní Mharcaigh (1997, 276) as follows; 'In 1192 the church of St James was granted to the Abbey of St Thomas the Martyr near Dublin as a parish church (Ronan 1941, 13-14). A new church, built in 1707, collapsed in 1761 (Costello 1989, 207). There is no known description of this church. The site is occupied by a nineteenth-century church building, now used as a commercial lighting emporium. The old graveyard (DU018-474----), which has some sixteenth-century burials, surrounds it on three sides'. Saint James's Church, James's Street, Dublin 8, was described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) as a; 'Freestanding cruciform-plan double-height former Church of Ireland church, dated 1861, comprising three-bay nave, gabled chancel to east, gabled transepts to north and south elevations, square-profile four-stage entrance tower to south-west of nave, vestry to south of chancel, and side-aisle with pitched roof to south of nave. Subsequently in use as shop, now disused. The parish of Saint James dates to the twelfth century, and the predecessor of the current church was erected on this site in 1707, with some of the original foundations re-used for this building. It was designed by Joseph Welland, who had been architect to the Board of First Fruits and later to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and was built by Thomas Henry Carroll. The spire was removed in 1948 and the church was deconsecrated in 1963, and the parish united with Saint Catherine’s to the east. The graveyard to the rear of the site, which dates from the sixteenth century, provides contextual interest' (https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/50080312/saint-jamess-church-jamess-street-dublin-8-dublin; NIAH reg. No. 50080312). See attached section of Rocque's 1756 Map of Dublin City showing St James' Church and graveyard to the N. See attached section of 1673 Map of Dublin showing the location of St James's Church - © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London De Gomme, B. 1673 The citty and suburbs of Dublin from Kilmainham to Rings-End, werein the rivers, streets, lanes, allys, churches, gates &c are exactly described 15th No. 1673. P/49(11). © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London Costello, P. 1989 Dublin churches. Dublin. Gill and Macmillan. Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 12 June 2023