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Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church

From Catholicism Wiki
Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church
Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Shrine of Saint Valentine
Séipéal Cairmilíteach, Sráid na mBráithre Bána
53°20′23″N 6°16′01″W / 53.339860°N 6.266999°W
Location 56 Aungier Street
Country Ireland
Denomination Catholic
Tradition Roman Rite
Religious institute Carmelites
Website whitefriarstreetchurch.com
History
Dedication Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Consecrated 11 November 1827
Architecture
Architect George Papworth
Groundbreaking 1826
Construction cost £4,000
Specifications
Capacity 2,000
Length 83 metres (272 ft)
Width 24 metres (79 ft)
Materials limestone, marble
Administration
Archdiocese Dublin
Deanery Cullenswood
Parish Whitefriar Street

Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church is a Roman Catholic church in Dublin, Ireland maintained by the Carmelite order. The church is noted for having the relics of Saint Valentine, which were donated to the church in the 19th century by Pope Gregory XVI from their previous location in the cemetery of St. Hippolytus in Rome.[1]

The church is on the site of a pre-Reformation Carmelite priory built in 1539.

The current structure dates from 1825 and was designed by George Papworth, who also designed St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin. It was extended and enlarged in 1856 and 1868.[2]

The church also contains relics of St. Albert, a Sicilian who died in 1306. On his feast day (7 August), a relic of the saint is dipped into the water of St. Albert's Well, and the Carmelites say that those who piously use the water receive healing of both body and mind through the intercession of St. Albert.[3]

The church also contains a life-size oak figure of Our Lady of Dublin.[4]

The 1825 building features in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833 as The Church of the Carmelite Friary., an engraving of a painting by George Petrie of the interior being accompanied by a poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon.[5]

References

  1. Back to citation "The Shrine of St Valentine in the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Whitefriar Street". www.carmelites.ie. Archived from the original on 12 March 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  2. Back to citation "Dictionary of Irish Architects". www.dia.ie. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  3. Back to citation "Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Whitefriar Street, Dublin 2". www.carmelites.ie.
  4. Back to citation "The Shrine of Our Lady of Dublin at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Whitefriar Street". www.carmelites.ie.
  5. Back to citation Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1832). "picture". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833. Fisher, Son & Co. Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1832). "poetical illustration". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833. Fisher, Son & Co. p. 51.