Survey Data
Reg No
50920135
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Social, Technical
Previous Name
Unitarian Meeting House
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1860 - 1865
Coordinates
315780, 233354
Date Recorded
02/07/2015
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Formerly attached, now freestanding L-plan Gothic Revival Unitarian church, built 1861-63, entrance porch to south-east corner, recent extension to north gable. Raised above street level over former school and meeting rooms located in undercroft, now used as a theatre, the Damer Hall. Pitched slate roof with ashlar stone verges topped by cross finial to east; original profile cast-iron rainwater goods on chamfered ashlar limestone eaves course. Tower rises to slender spire over open work belfry stage having cusped openings over slender octagonal limestone shafts. Uncoursed squared quarry faced granite walls with sandstone dressings; exposed calp limestone to side elevations. Buttresses with offsets to centre of façade with cusped statutory niche over carved gargoyle. Pointed arch window openings with decorative tracery and paviors with carved stops. Decorative quatrefoil cusped lights irregularly arranged. Leaded glass with coloured glass margin lights; some decorative stained glass. Pointed arch entrance with foliated moulding on slender engaged shafts, trefoil cusped opening to doorway. Pierced parapet over timber sheeted door with ornate strap hinges, accessed by four stone steps. Shoulder-arched doorway to either side of central buttress, each having cusped pointed arched overlight. Foliated iron work to light on principal elevation.
Appraisal
Designed by architects Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon, this Gothic Revival church, composed on unusual L-shaped plan, reflects a clever approach to a restricted site with a narrow street frontage. The interior arrangement is particularly notable, combining the church on the upper level, with a school, meeting rooms and caretaker's apartment located in the under-croft below. From the mid 1950s to the late 1970s it became the centre of both professional and amateur Irish language theatre in Dublin as the home of Amharclann an Damer. The world premiere of Brendan Behan's An Giall (The Hostage) took place here in 1957. According to Casey (2005) the church retains stained glass by A.E. Child, L, Lobin and Ethel Rhind. The building is an eye-catching addition to the streetscape and adds variety and character to Saint Stephen's Green.