Beneath our feet on Fishamble Street once stood St John the Evangelist. Founded in 1168 by Giolla Michell, a native Irishman, St John the Evangelist has a rich history.
The church was initially attached to Christ Church. In those days, Fishamble Street didn’t stretch as far as it does today. Where the church stood was known as Bothestret. Inside, St John the Evangelist held two chapels. One honored St Mary and the other St John. The Guild of Tailors regularly used the chapel dedicated to St John.
Can you believe that in the 14th century, St John the Evangelist hosted a Miracle Play? It told the story of the Resurrection at Easter. Arland Ussher, a Mayor of Dublin’s nephew, rebuilt St John the Evangelist in 1557. His church featured a chancel, a nave, two aisles, vaults underneath, and a belfry with three bells.
The church was rebuilt again in 1681. Its walls reached just 24 feet high. Imagine 42 pews crammed inside, shared by families named Bladen, Hutchinson, and others.
By the mid-18th century, St John the Evangelist needed work again. A committee gathered funds from the government and other donors. In 1773, George Ensor’s rebuilt church reopened. The best seats were auctioned off. Alderman Robert Smith funded an organ. Sadly, it never worked quite right.
St John the Evangelist was handsome inside but plain. Oak panels fronted the galleries. The Guild of Tailors displayed their crest. Its Latin motto read: “I was naked and you clothed me.” This may have come from an earlier Tailors’ Hall nearby.
In 1878, St John the Evangelist closed. The parish merged with St Werburgh. The pulpit and other items moved to the new church. In 1879, St John the Evangelist became a parochial hall. It was demolished in 1884. A new Mission Hall, designed by James Franklin Fuller, replaced it in 1886.
The churchyard lay to the north. The earliest tombstone was William Scriven’s from 1681. However, a burial record exists from 1648. Many important people were buried here. These included aldermen, sheriffs, and Lord Mayors. Over 12,500 burials took place.
Bishop John Atherton, executed in 1640, asked to be buried “in a rubbish dump in the corner of the churchyard.”
St John’s parish combined two older parishes. St John’s united with St Olaf’s. St Olaf’s honored Olaf I, King of Norway. Its church stood on present-day Essex Street. The parishes joined in 1558.
Thomas Sheridan paid for a pew for his Smock Alley Theatre players in 1748. Henry Grattan was baptized at St John the Evangelist in 1746. John Duncan Craig served as a curate in the mid-1850s. Jeremiah John Moore was baptized here in 1818. He later opened Sydney’s first bookshop.
Though St John the Evangelist is gone, its story remains. It reminds us of Dublin’s past and the people who shaped it.