THE CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE AND ST. THOMAS – I ONCE BELIEVED THAT THIS WAS FINDLATER’S CHURCH

St Thomas’s Church was built in 1758-62 in Marlborough Street but it was gutted by fire which destroyed most of Upper Sackville Street (now O’Connell Street) in the Civil War in July 1922. Although the main structure survived the opportunity was taken to extend Gloucester Street (now Sean Mac Dermott Street) up to O’Connell Street. The new St Thomas’s Church was erected in Cathal Brugha Street in 1930.

Before I started photographing the city of Dublin I thought this church on Cathal Brugha street was Findlaters Church because my father collected me on his home every evening after school and he always referred to it as Findlaters Church [he would meet me at Findlater’s Church].

As my father did not often make mistakes I decided to check if there every was a Findlaters shop in the area and I soon discovered that a section of one of the streets on which the church is located is named Findlater Place. When I was young it was common practice to refer to a church by it location rather than its official name.

As a matter of interest, Abbey Presbyterian Church is a church located at Parnell Square and is colloquially known as “Findlater’s church”.