RESTORATION of a church once at the centre of Dublin's Catholic Protest ant divide was celebrated yesterday. Archbishop Desmond Connell presided at Mass at the Church of the Three Patrons, Rathgar, 137 years after the laying of the foundation stone on St Patrick's Day, 1860.
The church, considered one of Dublin's finest of the 19th century, is in Italian renaissance style, designed by an Irish architect, Patrick Byrne.
The parish priest, Father Paddy Dowling, said the church reflected the history of the area. Houses were being built in Rathgar by prosperous business people. They all had servants, mostly Catholic, and the church became known as "the servants' church". But religious tolerance was on the increase and a substantial part of the cost was contributed by householders.
The restoration work, which began in 1994, includes reproofing, insulation, pointing of stonework, a new heating system, cleaning of the paintings and redecoration. It cost £500,000. The architect in charge, Mr Paul Arnold, has worked on other restorations including the Irish Institute in Louvain, Belgium.
The tolerant spirit which inspired the 19th century Protestant residents to help pay for the building had its critics.
The Irish Times, then the voice of unionism, had harsh words for the event. "The adherents of the Papacy in this country seem to be determined to brave the law and public decency to the utmost," said the paper. "On Sunday last, the Protestant and quiet township of Rathgar was the scene of mob fanaticism and priestly display. A chapel, it seems, is to depreciate the value of the property of the neighbourhood and drive the Protestant occupants from the place."
Processions formed and the Metropolitan Police kept the road open. There were priests in pontifical robes and the Bishop of Bombay, who blessed the foundation stone, "was resplendent in tinsel and embroidery".
No attempt was to keep the occasion private, the paper complained. "Popery was dominant and, careless of the law, marched her processions and performed her showy ritual without disguise, to the accompaniment of music and singing. If a few Protestant youths play a tune which rings of loyalty or patriotism with a fife and drum, the police immediately seize the offenders . . . Under the windows of the Protestant gentry all the paraphernalia of Popery was ostentatiously displayed and the people were taught that Romanism was, indeed, the dominant religion."
Father Dowling said that nowadays relations between the two communities were "very cordial". Last week the Presbyterian community was thanked at an ecumenical service for the use of its church during building work on the Three Patrons.