Marble from the four provinces
The wall linings use Irish marbles gathered from around the island: black from Kilkenny, green from Galway, red from Cork, and brown and grey stones from Armagh and Offaly.
§Architecture & history
- Built
- 1856
- Architect
- John Hungerford Pollen
- Style
- Neo-Byzantine / Lombardo-Romanesque
- Dedication
- University Church
- Heritage
- Protected Structure
Ground was broken in May 1855 in the garden between two Georgian houses, and the church opened on Ascension Day, 1 May 1856. Pollen gave it an atrium, a long aisleless nave, an arcaded gallery and a semi-dome apse modelled on San Clemente, lined with Irish marbles: black from Kilkenny, green from Galway, red from Cork. A Lady Chapel followed in 1875. During the 1916 Easter Rising, British soldiers set a machine gun post on the roof. The church became a parish in its own right in October 1974. Since 2016 it has been in the care of the University of Notre Dame, whose Notre Dame-Newman Centre for Faith and Reason was announced by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin; around the 150th anniversary period, darkened copies of Raphael tapestry cartoons were replaced with new work by the artist Levent Tuncer.
Built for Newman's Catholic University; one of Dublin's richest interiors.
Constituted 1 October 1974 from Harrington Street. Built 1855-56 for Newman's Catholic University.
§Notes
Fragments gathered while researching this church: stories, curiosities, people and dates.
A church hidden behind a porch
The NIAH notes that the modest entrance porch on the Green gives little hint of the large decorated nave behind, built in the garden plot between the Georgian houses.
Timeline
-
1855
Construction begins Ground was broken in May 1855 on the plot beside University House, St Stephen's Green.
-
1856
Opening on Ascension Day The church opened on Ascension Day, 1 May 1856, having cost 5,600 pounds, nearly double the estimate.
-
1875
Lady Chapel added A Lady Chapel was added to the church in 1875.
-
1916
Machine gun post in the Easter Rising During the 1916 Easter Rising, British soldiers established a machine gun post on the church roof.
-
1974
Established as a parish church In October 1974 University Church, previously attached to the Catholic University and later to Harrington Street parish, became a parish church in its own right.
-
2016
Care passes to the University of Notre Dame Archbishop Diarmuid Martin announced the Notre Dame-Newman Centre for Faith and Reason at University Church, and the church passed into the care of the University of Notre Dame; the centre itself was founded in 2017 according to one account.
-
2019
Canonisation of Newman marked at the church On the day of John Henry Newman's canonisation in Rome, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin presided at a celebration in University Church and preached on Newman's kindly light.
People
- St John Henry Newman (1801-1890) Founder and first rector of the Catholic University; built the church — Newman, rector of the Catholic University of Ireland from 1854, commissioned and paid for the church and chose its non-Gothic style. He was beatified in 2010 and canonised in October 2019.
- John Hungerford Pollen (1820-1902) Architect and decorator of the church — English convert, Professor of Fine Arts at the Catholic University 1855-1857, Pollen designed the church and much of its decoration.
- Thomas Farrell (1827-1900) Sculptor of the Newman bust — A posthumous bust of Newman by the Dublin sculptor Thomas Farrell, dated 1892, stands in the church.
- Levent Tuncer Painter of replacement apse-level canvases — Around the church's 150th anniversary period, darkened copies of Raphael tapestry cartoons were replaced with new paintings by the American-Turkish artist Levent Tuncer.
- John A. Costello (1891-1976) Future Taoiseach, married here in 1919 — John A. Costello, later Taoiseach, was married in the church in 1919.
- Rev Mark Thesing CSC Director of the Notre Dame-Newman Centre — The Notre Dame-Newman Centre website lists Rev Mark Thesing CSC as director, as accessed in July 2026.
Also known as: Catholic University Church · University Church
§If you go
Mass times
- Sunday
- 11:00 AM · 6:15 PM
- Monday
- 1:05 PM (Weekday Mass)
- Tuesday
- 1:05 PM (Weekday Mass)
- Wednesday
- 1:05 PM (Weekday Mass)
- Thursday
- 1:05 PM (Weekday Mass)
- Friday
- 1:05 PM (Weekday Mass)
Checked 10 Jul 2026