16.12.2018
Friends of St Thomas’s to Celebrate 260th Anniversary of City Centre Church
Family and friends with historic connections to St Thomas’s Church on Cathal Brugha Street are warmly invited to attend a special 260th Anniversary Service to mark its foundation, on Friday next, December 21 (The Feast of St Thomas the Apostle) at 7.30pm in the church.
The Service, which will be led by Archbishop Michael Jackson, will bring together local religious, political, sporting, cultural and academic figures, each with a particular interest in the oldest church site in continuous use in Dublin 1.
St Thomas’s current building is unique having been paid for by the Irish Free State Government as compensation for the original building’s destruction in the Civil War in 1922. Indeed during its reconstruction, Cathal Brugha Street itself was formed.
The foundation stone of the first St Thomas’s Church was laid in 1758 upon land granted by the Right Honorable Charles Gardiner. Since then St Thomas’s has witnessed many changes in both Dublin city’s development and its local Protestant population. In 1825 for example there were 17,108 members of St Thomas’s Parish.
In April 2017, the Parish was closed and the church, which is now in diocesan control, has begun to seek new opportunities to build upon 260 years of Christian worship and service in the area. There will be light refreshments served after the service.
RSVP to Philip McKinley at stthomasschurchdublin1@gmail.com.