St George's Church, Hardwicke Place

St George's Church was built between 1802 and 1813 for the Protestant community in the north inner city. Its architect was Francis Johnston, the man who also built the GPO in O'Connell Street. St George's has been closed as a church for a long time and once a theatre group worked from there.

This video is designed as a resource for primary and post-primary students up to Junior Certificate.

St George's Church, Hardwicke Place

Situated beside Temple Street Children’s Hospital, in Hardwicke Place, is St George’s Church. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in Dublin and was built between 1802 and 1813. It was built for the Protestant community of the north inner city, who were wealthy at that time. Its architect was Francis Johnston (1760–1829), the man who also built the GPO on O’Connell Street.

The church is broader than long which makes it very interesting. Actually, it nearly feels as if the church is running the wrong way. At the front of the church are four columns and, above them, a Greek inscription which reads ‘Glory to God in the Highest’. Its clock tower was modelled on a very famous London church called St Martin’s-in-the-Fields.

In 1836 the roof of the church nearly collapsed because the beams of wood used were too short to hold it up. The building was getting too expensive and the architect had bought shorter beams than were needed to save money!

An engineer named Robert Mallet inserted iron arches into the roof and saved the church. Mallet is famous today as the man who invented 'seismology', the science of examining earthquakes. He buried explosives on Killiney Beach and measured the shock waves when they blew up!

St George’s was one of the first buildings in Dublin to be photographed. William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), the man who is sometimes called the father of modern photography, took its photo about 1846. At that time the church was surrounded by big Georgian houses that were all knocked down and replaced with flats in the

St George’s has been closed as a church for a long time and once a theatre group worked from there. Its tower and spire were surrounded by scaffolding for more than 20 years but in 2005 restoration work had finally began.