Old Church of St George, Hill Street Dublin

The tower of the former St George's Church

1797 map of Dublin

The Old Church of St. George, commonly called "Little George's" in Hill Street (formerly Temple Street Lower) Parish of St. Mary, Dublin was built in 1668 by the Eccles family for their workmen and also as a chapel-of-ease to the nearby St. Mary's Church.^[1][2] However, that St. Mary's Church was not St. Mary's Church, Dublin as its foundation stone was laid in 1700, and it was not St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin as it was dissolved in 1539. Therefore St George's church, Hill Street, may have been a Chapel-of-Ease to St. Michan's Church in Church Street. The main body of the church, with the exception of the tower, was demolished in 1894.^[3]

Church tower

The Tower of the old church is now in the Dublin City area, but in the past it was probably said to be in the Drumcondra area, the same as the New Church. The tower of the church is now classed as a "Protected Structure".^[4] The entrance was below an old square steeple or tower, about 40 feet in height. The interior of the tower is small and was adorned with a few monuments. The communion-table was in a recess at the eastern end lit by a large circular-headed window, with a monument to the memory of Lady Galbraith on its south side. In the west over the entrance was a small, badly lit gallery.

Burials

Richard Kirwan died in June 1812 aged 79 years and was buried in Old St George Church, where Mr. Pope, his butler, was buried a few years later in the same grave. Francis Tempest Brady, the father of the Lord Chancellor, and was also buried in the grave-yard.^[5]

References