Founded before 1233, probably in 1231. In 1348, 23 of the community died of the Black Death. Suppressed and abandoned in 1541. A new friary built in Cook Street in 1615; in 1619 the chapel was destroyed but rebuilt. A new church built in 1749, and the present church was begun in 1834, and completed in its present form in 1938.
Church open: The Church will be open from 10.00am – 5.00pm Monday to Friday and open for the Mass times at the weekend.
5.30pm Saturday – Vigil Mass For Sunday
Mass – 12.00 noon Sunday
Monday to Saturday: confessions will be available from 45 minutes before each Mass.
The FMU Shop opening Times: Monday To Friday –10.00am to 4.00pm
Mass Offerings: Individual Masses, Shared Enrolment Masses can be arranged through the FMU Office/Shop. Perpetual Enrolment Folders for both Living and Deceased members are also available.
Donations towards St. Anthony’s Bread and our Franciscan Missions are appreciated.
A selection of Mass/Enrolment cards are also available – Sincere Sympathy, Spiritual Bouquet, Get Well, Birthday, Christmas, Easter, etc, for more details contact office.
Our missionary magazine The St. Anthony Brief is also available.
Credit card payments accepted.
Enquiries For Fmu And Shop: Tel: (01) 6777651 or email: fmu@franciscans.ie
The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Merchant’s Quay became the parish church of a new parish in 1974.
From 1975 some friars who were teaching in the technical schools lived in Millmount and Mountjoy Square. Broc House in Nutley Lane served as a student residence for former Gormanston pupils from 1967 until 1995 and used as a residence for Irish friars until 2000. Ballywaltrim, near Bray, became a Franciscan parish from 1976 to 2000.
Following the example of St Francis of Assisi, Franciscans in Dublin have always had a concern for those who struggle with poverty or marginalisation (Simon Community and Fr. Frank O’Leary). For over 40 years the Tea Rooms (founded by Bros. Sebastian and Salvador) for the homeless have been part of life at Merchants Quay. Subsequently, in the 1980s, an outreach to drug users was founded here. Both projects are now run by Merchants’ Quay Ireland which is part-funded and supported by the Franciscans.
The site of the medieval friary was that of the Catholic Church in Francis Street. There are no remains and all later sites were in the Cook Street area.
It would seem that a group of friars travelled to Dublin fairly soon after their initial landing at Youghal. The early history of Dublin friars is obscure. Some authorities suggest that the friars tried a number of sites before settling in Francis Street. Henry III was a notable benefactor, if not the actual founder. At least twenty three friars died there during the Black Death. An Anglo-Irish foundation, Dublin friary did not accept the Observant reform of 1521. It was an early target for suppression, but the community were able to continue in existence until 1543.
While individual friars may have continued in the city, it was not until 1615 that a community returned and took up residence in Cook Street. Following a raid on the 26th December 1629, they had to find another house in the same area. Expelled by the Cromwellians, the friars returned after the Restoration and tried to resume residence at their old site in Francis Street. The little chapel they erected there served as the pro-Cathedral of Dublin until it was replaced by the present church of St. Nicholas in 1834.
In the meantime the friars returned to Cook Street where their church was in such a bad state of repair that it literally collapsed. A new chapel was opened in 1749, almost back to back with the parish church of St. Michael. In 1766 there were nine friars in the community, with another three on parish work in other parts of the city. By this time the friars had obtained a small house on Merchants Quay. To disguise the chapel, the entrance was through the Adam and Eve Inn, thus the popular name of the present church and friary.
The old church of St. Michael was purchased in 1815. The foundation stone of the new church and friary was laid on the 16th April 1834. The architect was Patrick Byrne. Given the limited resources of the times, the original plan took over a century to complete and the church was not consecrated until 29th April 1939, by which time apse, dome, aisles, façade and shrines had been added to the original building. As part of the re-organisation of the central Dublin parishes, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Merchant’s Quay, to use the official title, became parish church of a new parish in 1974.
From 1975 some friars who were teaching in the technical schools lived in Millmount and Mountjoy Square. Broc House in Nutley Lane served as a student residence for former Gormanston pupils from 1967 until 1995 when it was used as a residence for Irish friars until it was sold in 2000. Ballywaltrim, near Bray, became a Franciscan parish from 1976 to 2000.
Franciscan Altar Plate new site and follow the following option: Material Culture of the Mendicant Orders in Ireland
