Whitefriar Street Church

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Whitefriar Street

56 Aungier StreetGothic Revival

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

§What is known

Built: 1827 · George Papworth (later enlargements)
Style: Gothic Revival
Order: Carmelite (OCarm)
Dedication: Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Mass times

Sunday: 8:00 AM · 10:30 AM · 11:30 AM · 12:30 PM · 4:00 PM · 7:00 PM
Saturday: 8:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 10:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 11:30 AM (Weekday Mass) · 1:10 PM (Weekday Mass) · 3:00 PM (Weekday Mass)
Monday: 8:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 10:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 11:30 AM (Weekday Mass) · 1:10 PM (Weekday Mass) · 3:00 PM (Weekday Mass)
Tuesday: 8:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 10:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 11:30 AM (Weekday Mass) · 1:10 PM (Weekday Mass) · 3:00 PM (Weekday Mass)
Wednesday: 8:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 10:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 11:30 AM (Weekday Mass) · 1:10 PM (Weekday Mass) · 3:00 PM (Weekday Mass)
Thursday: 8:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 10:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 11:30 AM (Weekday Mass) · 1:10 PM (Weekday Mass) · 3:00 PM (Weekday Mass)
Friday: 8:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 10:00 AM (Weekday Mass) · 11:30 AM (Weekday Mass) · 1:10 PM (Weekday Mass) · 3:00 PM (Weekday Mass)

§Where

Address: 56 Aungier Street, Dublin 2 · D02 YF57

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.

Rings blessed at the Valentine shrine

Atlas Obscura and Irish Heritage News describe the annual 14 February custom: the reliquary is moved from its side altar to the high altar for veneration, special Masses are held, and couples come for a blessing of wedding and engagement rings. The shrine draws couples and the curious year round.

Source: Atlas Obscura; Irish Heritage News

Our Lady of Dublin

The life-size oak statue of the Virgin and Child known as Our Lady of Dublin is the only such medieval wooden statue to survive in Ireland in continuous veneration; tradition holds it came from St Mary's Abbey and was hidden after the Reformation, and Fr Spratt is credited with recovering it in 1824. Sources differ on its date: the NIAH and Wikipedia describe a sixteenth century figure, the Carmelites' history a fifteenth century one.

St Albert's water

The church keeps a relic of St Albert of Trapani, a Sicilian Carmelite who died in 1306. On and around his feast on 7 August the relic is dipped in water from St Albert's Well, which the faithful take for healing.

Timeline

1279
Medieval Carmelite foundation The Carmelites' own history dates their establishment on this site to 1279, within the order's arrival in Ireland in the 1270s, on land in St Peter's parish provided through Sir Robert Bagot.
1539
Priory surrendered at the Dissolution Whitefriars, Dublin, was surrendered on 3 August 1539 during the suppression of the monasteries.
1826
Foundation stone of the present church After the community's return to Whitefriar Street in 1825, the Archbishop of Dublin laid the foundation stone of George Papworth's church in 1826.
1827
Consecration The church was consecrated on 11 November 1827 and dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
1836
Relics of St Valentine arrive The reliquary given by Pope Gregory XVI to Fr John Spratt in 1835 arrived in Dublin on 10 November 1836 and was installed at Whitefriar Street after a solemn procession, with Archbishop Murray presiding at a high Mass.
1951
Reorientation of the church Major works in 1951 under Rev C. Haughey, with the architect J.J. Robinson, reversed the church's orientation and created direct access from Aungier Street.
1956
New shrine of St Valentine During restoration work in 1956 a new side altar and shrine were built for the Valentine reliquary, with a statue of the saint holding a crocus by the sculptor Irene Broe.
1983
Kenneth Jones organ installed A Kenneth Jones pipe organ was installed in the church in 1983.

People

George Papworth (1781-1855) Architect of the 1825-1827 church — Papworth designed the church built for the Carmelites' return to Whitefriar Street, consecrated in 1827.
Fr John Spratt O.Carm. (1796-1871) Prior, builder of the church, obtained the Valentine relics — Ordained in 1820, Spratt led the Carmelite return to Whitefriar Street, opened schools, campaigned for temperance and founded charitable institutions. In 1835 Pope Gregory XVI gave him the reliquary of St Valentine, and he is credited with recovering the Our Lady of Dublin statue in 1824.
Pope Gregory XVI (1765-1846) Donor of the St Valentine relics — Gregory XVI gave Fr Spratt the reliquary of St Valentine, with contents certified in a letter of Cardinal Carlo Odescalchi dated 29 January 1836.
Irene Broe (1923-1992) Sculptor of the St Valentine statue — Broe carved the statue of St Valentine in martyr's vestments holding a crocus for the 1956 shrine.
Kenneth Jones Builder of the 1983 pipe organ — The Carmelites' history records the installation of a Kenneth Jones pipe organ in 1983.

Also known as: Whitefriars · Whitefriar Street Church