A coffin behind glass
Matt Talbot's tomb in the church has a glass panel through which his coffin can be seen.
← The Church
To come
Matt Talbot shrine church
Our Lady of Lourdes, Sean McDermott Street
This church is still ahead. Its chapter will be written when its visit comes.
§What is known
- Built
- 1954 · O'Connor and Aylward
- Style
- Neo-Romanesque (Romanesque Revival) in red brick
- Order
- Salesians of Don Bosco (parish administration)
- Dedication
- Our Lady of Lourdes
Mass times
- Sunday
- 11:00 AM · 12:00 PM · 7:00 PM (Romanian Mass · Romanian)
- Saturday
- 7:00 PM · 8:00 PM (Romanian Mass · Romanian)
- Monday
- 10:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 8:00 PM (Romanian Mass · Romanian)
- Tuesday
- 10:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 8:00 PM (Romanian Mass · Romanian)
- Wednesday
- 10:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 8:00 PM (Romanian Mass · Romanian)
- Thursday
- 10:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 8:00 PM (Romanian Mass · Romanian)
- Friday
- 10:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 8:00 PM (Romanian Mass · Romanian)
No photographs yet — the essay appears only after the visit.
§Notes
Fragments gathered while researching this church: stories, curiosities, people and dates.
From the Tin Church to brick
The heritage record notes that the 1954 church replaced an earlier corrugated iron structure known locally as the Tin Church.
A street with a layered past
The street was Gloucester Street until 1933 and formed the northern edge of the Monto red light district; a Magdalene laundry operated nearby from 1887 until 1996.
Timeline
-
1915
Temporary chapel opens A temporary chapel, later remembered as the Tin Church, began serving the street, then called Gloucester Street.
-
1954
Present church built The neo-Romanesque red brick church by O'Connor and Aylward replaced the corrugated iron chapel.
-
1970
Parish constituted The parish of Sean McDermott Street was constituted from the Pro-Cathedral parish.
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1972
Matt Talbot's remains transferred The remains of Matt Talbot were moved from Glasnevin Cemetery to a tomb in the church, where the coffin is visible through a glass panel.
-
1975
Matt Talbot declared Venerable Pope Paul VI declared Matt Talbot Venerable, a step on the path to beatification.
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1993
Salesians take on the parish The Salesians of Don Bosco began administering the parish around 1993; in 2018 the parish marked 25 years of their involvement.
-
2025
Centenary of Matt Talbot's death June 2025 marked one hundred years since Talbot's death on Granby Lane, commemorated at the shrine during the Jubilee Year.
People
- Venerable Matt Talbot (1856-1925) Remains enshrined in the church — A Dublin labourer who took the pledge in 1884 after sixteen years of heavy drinking and kept it for forty years, living in prayer and austerity. He collapsed and died on Granby Lane on Trinity Sunday 1925 on his way to Mass. His remains were moved to this church in 1972 and he was declared Venerable in 1975. He is invoked worldwide by people struggling with addiction.
- O'Connor and Aylward Architects of the 1954 church — The heritage record attributes the building to the firm O'Connor and Aylward.