St. Thomas's Church (old), Dublin

St Thomas's Church was built in 1758-62 in Marlborough Street when the parish of St. Mary's was divided to cope with increased population. The architect of this church (and of St. Catherine's in Thomas Street) was Mr. John Smith. The design is modelled on Palladio's Il Redentore in Venice.[1] £2000 was granted by Parliament for the building of the church, and later another thousand pounds to finish it off. At the time it was considered to have the most beautiful facade of any church in the city.[2] It was opened for worship in 1762.[3]

In 1866 Rev. John Grainger from St. Thomas's, moved to the found the new Church in Sherrif Street, East Wall St. Barnabas' Church, Dublin.

A barricade outside St. Thomas' Church gate just before it was destroyed by fire in 1922

The church was gutted by a fire in July 1922. This fire, which destroyed most of Upper Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street), occurred during the Civil War. Although the main structure survived, the opportunity was taken to extend Gloucester Street (now Sean Mac Dermott Street) up to O'Connell Street,[4] and the church had to be removed in 1926 to enable this. The new St Thomas's Church was erected on the site of the former parochial hall, on an "island" site in Cathal Brugha Street, in 1930. The foundation stone of the former church is retained in the new St Thomas's Church.[3]