St Ann's Church, Dublin

St. Ann's Church, Dublin, Ireland, was built in the early 18th century.

The building of the church of St Ann's in baroque style commenced in 1720, to a design by Issac Wills. The current façade dates to the 19th century.

St. Ann's original façade was never completed above the first floor. In 1868 Thomas Newenham Deane and his father won a competition was to design a new façade. The beautifully ornate façade as it now exists lacks some elements of Deane's original designs, most notably the tallest tower.

The Georgian interior was designed by Isaac Wills, influenced by churches built by Christopher Wren but with variations characteristic of Irish architecture. The church underwent a major renovation in 2009.

St. Ann's is noted for its wood carving. The carved reredos, placed within a shallow rounded apse, shares an unusual decorative feature with the reredos of the former St. Mary's in Dublin: Corinthian pilaster capitals with twin acanthus scrolls.

A charitable feature of St. Ann's is the wooden Bread Shelf. Since 1723, as a result of a bequest by Lord Newton of Newtown Butler, the church has made daily bread available to anyone who chooses to receive it.

Victorian stained glass replaced the original 18th-century clear windows. Indeed St. Ann's is said to contain "more stained glass than any other church in Dublin."

Oscar Wilde was baptized within the current parish, at the former St. Mark's Church and St. Ann's now possesses the relevant records after the two parishes merged. Dracula author Bram Stoker was married at St. Ann's (1878), as was Irish patriot Wolfe Tone (1785). Anthony St. Leger, founder of the St Leger Stakes horse race, was buried in the churchyard of St. Ann's. The philantropist Thomas Barnardo as a boy attended St. Ann's Sunday school.

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Telephone: 00 353 (0) 1 6616400
Email: stannschurch@eircom.net

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