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The Pyramid Church

Our Lady of Dolours, Glasnevin

GlasnevinPost Vatican II church of two intersecting pyramids on exposed steel frame

This church is still ahead. Its chapter will be written when its visit comes.

§What is known
Built
1972 · Vincent Gallagher
Style
Post Vatican II church of two intersecting pyramids on exposed steel frame
Dedication
Our Lady of Dolours

Mass times

Sunday
9:30 AM (Irish Language Mass · Irish) · 11:00 AM
Monday
10:00 AM (Weekday Mass)
Tuesday
10:00 AM (Weekday Mass)
Wednesday
10:00 AM (Weekday Mass)
Friday
10:00 AM (Weekday Mass)
§Where
Address
Botanic Avenue, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 · D09 K5R6
Open route ↗ Official website ↗ Return to the map

No photographs yet — the essay appears only after the visit.

§Notes

Fragments gathered while researching this church: stories, curiosities, people and dates.

The Pyramid Church

One post on a local nostalgia blog documents the church under the name by which it is popularly known, the Pyramid Church, with a photograph taken from the National Botanic Gardens. A Dublin street photography site uses the same nickname for its page on the building.

Source: Irish Nostalgia

Brick chosen with the Tolka in mind

An account by the architect's grandson, published in Type magazine, records that exposed brick walls were chosen to limit flood damage from the nearby Tolka river, and that steel I beams anchor the corners of the pyramids to bedrock.

No seat far from the altar

The same account states that the centrally positioned altar ensures no member of the congregation is more than about 30 metres from the celebrant.

An early basement parish centre

The NIAH and the parish history note that the undercroft parish centre was among the first such arrangements in an Irish Catholic church.

A well travelled predecessor

The wooden church that stood here from 1881 to 1969 had already served as a church at Berkeley Road and at Glasthule before being re erected in Glasnevin.

Timeline

  • 1881
    Temporary wooden church erected Fr Keon erected a temporary wooden church in 1881, a structure that had previously served congregations at Berkeley Road and Glasthule.
  • 1912
    Glasnevin becomes an independent parish Glasnevin was made an independent parish in 1912 under Canon Dudley, its first parish priest.
  • 1969
    Wooden church demolished The wooden church of 1881 was demolished in 1969 to make way for the present building.
  • 1971
    Foundation stone laid Archbishop John Charles McQuaid laid the foundation stone on 25 March 1971.
  • 1972
    Dedication of the new church Archbishop Dermot Ryan dedicated the newly built church on 5 March 1972.

People

  • Vincent Gallagher Architect of the church — Vincent Gallagher, an Irish modernist active from the 1950s to the 1980s, designed the pyramid church. His other work includes the temporary octagonal church of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom at UCD Belfield (1969).
  • John Charles McQuaid (1895-1973) Archbishop of Dublin, laid the foundation stone in 1971 — Archbishop McQuaid laid the foundation stone on 25 March 1971, near the end of his tenure.
  • Dermot Ryan (1924-1985) Archbishop of Dublin, dedicated the church in 1972 — Archbishop Dermot Ryan dedicated the church on 5 March 1972.
  • Patrick Pollen (1928-2010) Painted the sanctuary cross — The parish history credits the painted sanctuary cross to Patrick Pollen.
  • Ronan Jacob Made the etched glass stations of the cross — The parish history credits the etched glass stations of the cross to Ronan Jacob.
  • Canon Dudley First parish priest of Glasnevin, from 1912 — Canon Dudley led the new parish from 1912 and established the Drumcondra chapel of ease in 1924 that later became Corpus Christi parish.