Establishment of the Church of Saints Alphonsus & Columba

This church was built between 1855 and 1856 by Fr. Bartholomew Sheridan who was then Parish Priest in Dun Laoghaire (then known as Kingstown).  The construction of this church commenced either years after the Great Famine and barely a year after the Dublin to Kingstown railway line extension to Bray had been completed. 
In 1882 the architect George Ashlin, who by then had built his home in St. George’s Avenue, Killiney, added the imposing spire to the church.  This spire is a landmark over the entire countryside and is particularly visible when exiting the M50 to Cherrywood.  The spire is octagonal rising from a pyramidal base above the belfry to a finial decorated with crockets. 
The church is built in the French Gothic style to the plan of a cross.  It is constructed of granite ashlar, with windows set high up in the walls of the nave.  The granite tracery is a feature of the building.  Under the bell tower at the centre of the west end is the main entrance which has a large pointed door-case with several sets of hood-mouldings, or dripstone, above it.  
The interior of the church is a gem to behold.  The stain glass windows bring to the church an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.  The carved mouldings surrounding the tabernacle and on the pulpit depict scenes from the Bible.
The organ was built by Bevington of London around 1860.  It may be the only sizable instrument by the leading and highly regarded 19th century organ-builder to survive intact and unaltered to this present time.  To hear this organ played by a true musical artist is to listen to music at its best.
Taken from Parish website. 

BYOP

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