In 1884 an interesting little report was published by the committee appointed to erect the ‘Dean O’Connell Memorial’. This was printed at the office of the ‘Irish Builder’, Dublin. It was titled the ‘History and Description of St Marys church, Star of the Sea, Irishtown’.

This begins with the old church at Irishtown, which had the very Rev. Charles Finn as parish priest. He had St. Mary’s Church erected at Haddington Road to accommodate his parishioners residing in that part of the parish. These became more numerous as the city began to spread out. He continued to live in a humble cottage near the chapel at Irishtown, until his death in June 1849.

The new parish priest was Rev. Andrew O’Connell, who was transferred from St.Michael and John’s Dublin. By now it was long felt that a new, larger church was required to serve the populations needs.

The old chapel, though much-loved could claim no architectural pretentions whatever. For most of its life it was almost hidden by a group of small, half-ruinous dwellings.

At the time of the report in 1884, the site of the old chapel was marked by the block of handsome brick buildings which had lately been erected by Mr. Daniel Mearns. These buildings faced Bath Street on one front, with Pembroke Street at the other.

The parish that Rev. Andrew O’Connell P.P. resided over in 1849 comprised of Haddington Road, Donnybrook, Ballsbridge, Sandymount, Ringsend and Irishtown. Almost immediately, he set out to provide a new church which would cover Sandymount, Irishtown and Ringsend.

The Honourable Sydney Herbert, who owned most of the area anyway, generously donated a site in the townland of Irishtown, which is where the Star of the Sea church now stands.

On 5th May 1850 a meeting was held in the old chapel of Irishtown to elect a committee to build the new church which would replace the one they were sitting in, which, by then, had served the area for about three hundred years.

Most of the names that appear on the committee list are still strong in the parish to the present day. These include names such as Reilly, Doyle, Mooney, Breslin, Byrne, Gannon, Purdy and Darcy etc. Over £300 was subscribed and a crew of collectors was appointed to raise the remainder.

A design for the new church was furnished by Mr. James J. MacCarthy, architect. This was described as a chaste and severe style of mediaeval Gothic with a truly grand interior. Two views of the church were published in the report. A foundation of Dublin Calp Limestone was laid over a bed of concrete to provide a base for the building which was of Dublin granite.

In 1852, Hon. Sydney Herbert granted a lease for 150 years at the nominal annual rent of £10, for the whole site, which included the church, presbytery and schools. The first stone was laid by Most Rev. Daniel Murray, Archbishop of Dublin on 7th May 1851.

This stone bore the sign of the cross on each of its surfaces. In a hollowed space within it were placed gold, silver and copper coinage of Queen Victoria’s reign, along with various objects and a copy of the Freeman’s Journal of that date.

Everything was going along fine until the great storms of Christmas Day 1852 blew the front and rear gables, along with their elaborate Gothic windows, down. This must have been heartbreaking for the hard-working parishioners at the time.

With renewed efforts, the damage was repaired and the work continued. The church opened for service on 15th August 1853, and was finally completed in 1858, though the bell tower never rose to its planned height. The money ran out because of the extra work which resulted from the storms.
Rev. Dr. O’Connell served the parish for twenty-seven years before he died in August 1876. During his time he procured a site at Ringsend and had a church built there in 1859. This was later replaced by the present St. Patrick’s in 1912. Rev.Thomas Leahy became the new parish priest after Dr. O’Connell’s death and Sandymount became a new parish.

Standing at the seashore ‘Star of the Sea’ became its everyday title. The building interior dimensions are 130 feet in length by 57feet in width. The nave and aisles are rooted with triple gables after the style of old St. Nicholas’s Church in Galway. The nave is divided from the aisles by Gothic pointed arcades of eight bays. These are supported by Dalkey granite piers.

Above the high alter is a stone mullioned window bearing five lancet lights with beautiful stained glass. The triplet mullioned window over the Virgin’s altar was a gift of Mrs. Morris and serves as a family memorial. A similar window at St. Joseph’s altar commemorates Rev. Thomas Byrne, who was a curate here.

Father Leahy hardly had time to build the Male Parochial School before he died in 1880. Rev. John O’Hanlon became the next Parish Priest A pulpit was erected as a memorial to Rev. Leahy. This was built by J.Pearse, father of Padraig and Willie of 1916 fame.

In 1882 a committee was formed to build a memorial to Dean O’Connell, who had the church built in the first place. This took the form of two side parches, built in granite and harmonising in style with the church.

A book was then published which contained a list of all who subscribed from half-a-crown and upwards. This list makes great reading. To finish off I will just quote a few:

Mrs. Allen, 22 Bridge St., Ringsend, 5-0d.; John Behan, 30 Pembroke St., Irishtown, 2.6d.; Mrs Clarke, 42 Irishtown Rd, 12-6d.; James Doherty, 28 Claremont Rd. 3-6d.; Mrs. Etchingham, Strand Road, 5-0d.; Ellen Finn, 7 Byrnes Cottages, BallsBridge, 4-4d.; Polly Gough, 8 Fitzwilliam St., Ringsend, 7-6d.; Lady Herbert of Lea, Herbert House, Belgrave Square London, £5.; Miss Jones, Caroline Row, Ringsend, 5-0d.; Hanna Kirwin, Rope Walk Place, Ringsend, 5-0d.; A Lady, 10-0d.; A Lady, 7-6d.; George MacNally, 3 Havelock Square, 5-0d.; Messrs. Nolan and Mullen, from Fishermen Ringsend, 10-6d.; Thomas Orr, 25 Bath St., 3-4d.; James Smyth, 13 Star of the Sea Terrace, £10.; Drummer Ward, West Kent Regiment, Beggars Bush Barracks, 2-6d,; etc., etc.

One wonders what will happen when the lease expires in the year 2002.