Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church

Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church
Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Shrine of Saint Valentine
Séipéal Cairmilíteach, Sráid na mBráithre Bána
Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church is located in Central Dublin
Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church
Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church
53°20′23″N 6°16′01″W / 53.339860°N 6.266999°W / 53.339860; -6.266999
Location56 Aungier Street
CountryRepublic of Ireland
DenominationCatholic
TraditionRoman Rite
Religious instituteCarmelites
Websitewhitefriarstreetchurch.com
History
DedicationOur Lady of Mount Carmel
Consecrated11 November 1827
Relics heldSaint Valentine
Albert of Sicily
Architecture
Architect(s)George Papworth
Groundbreaking1826
Construction cost£4,000
Specifications
Capacity2,000
Length83 metres (272 ft)
Width24 metres (79 ft)
Materialslimestone, marble
Administration
ArchdioceseDublin
DeaneryCullenswood
ParishWhitefriar 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.[citation needed]

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.[2]

The church also contains a life-size oak figure of Our Lady of Dublin.[3]

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.[4]

  1. ^ "The Shrine of St Valentine in the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Whitefriar Street". www.carmelites.ie.
  2. ^ "Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Whitefriar Street, Dublin 2". www.carmelites.ie.
  3. ^ "The Shrine of Our Lady of Dublin at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Whitefriar Street". www.carmelites.ie.
  4. ^ 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.