Trinity Church, Dublin
Trinity Church, Dublin also called the Protestant Episcopal Church, was a Church of Ireland church begun in 1838 but opened in 1839 in Gardiner Street Dublin.[1] It was designed by Frederick Darley who designed many buildings in Trinity College Dublin, the church would have accommodated 1,800 people. The first rector was the future Bishop of Cork, Rev. John Gregg from 1839 until his elevation in 1862 to Bishop.[2] Mr. Vance wealthy Dublin businessman funded it, so long as Rev. Gregg could raise the other half of the money required to build it, which he did. It was Propriety Church independently funded by wealthy laypeople, the term Episcopal was used to distinguish it from other movements in the reformed faith at the time, the church was evangelical, and verging on Calvinist. Trinity Church Schools were developed at the church, along Beresford lane.
People Associated with Trinty Church, Dublin
Rev. Thomas Preston Ball(c.1825-1913) served as Chaplain of Trinity Church, Dublin, from 1879 to 1884. The Rev. John Olphert Gage Dougherty served as Rector of Trinity Church, Dublin, from 1902 to 1904. George Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle, attended services in the Church as did the future provost of Trinity College John Pentland Mahaffy.[3] Rev. Henry Irwin served as assistant chaplain to Bishop Gregg. Rev. A. Thomas was assistant chaplain.
Closure
The Trinity Church built in 1839, closed in about 1909.[4]It served as an Employment Exchange for almost a century,[5] and the building became known as The Exchange.
Reopening
In the 2000s it reverted to being a church used by a non-denominational Christian group, renamed itself The Trinity Church Network.[6] [7]
Protestant Episcopal Chapels
Other protestant episcopal churches at the time in Dublin were:-
- Bethesda Chapel, Dorset Street, Dublin.
- St. George's Church, Temple Street, Dublin.
- Free Church, Great Charles Street, Dublin.
- Episcopal Chapel, Upper Baggot Street, Dublin.[8]
- Swift's Alley Free Church, Francis Street, Dublin
- Plunket Street Meeting House, Plunket St (now Dillon St.), Dublin
- Magdalen Asylum Chapel, Leeson Street, Dublin
- Mariners' Church, Dún Laoghaire
References
- Trinity Church Dublin Buildings of Ireland.
- Gardiner Street Employment Exchange: The Historical Background and Development by Ciaran Clancy, Dublin Historical Record, Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring, 1990), pp. 47-51, Published by: Old Dublin Society
- A Flight of Parsons: The Divinity Diaspora of Trinity College Dublin, edited by Thomas P. Power.
- Gardner Street History www.gardinerstreetdublin.com
- Soup Run Dublin www.journal.ie, June 25, 2018
- The Exchange www.trinity.ie
- Famous Labour Exchange becomes a church but dole queues form again by Colin Bartley, Irish Independent, September 26, 2008.
- Baggot Street, History of the Area