Come Here To Me!

I did a brief post on Saint Werburgh’s Church (On Werburgh Street, opposite Burdocks) here before, but today I came across these images I’d taken of the church late last year and thought them worth sharing.

Saint Werburgh’s Church has, most unfortunately, fallen on hard times. It is difficult to disagree with the observations of Fiona Gartland of The Irish Times who noted in an August 2009 article for the paper that paint work inside the church was cracked and peeling, plaster work crumbling and that stucco detail in the church was badly in need of repair. In the article, the Dean of Christ Church the Very Rev. Derek Dunne noted that the once glorious church had “…been neglected for decades” and that “Saint Werburgh’s is not ours, it is in the ownership of Dublin. The work needs to be done, it is almost too late.”

Thankfully, there is a massive restoration currently underway at Saint Werburgh’s. The small church is now closed to the public, with sections of it completely off-limits during the restoration. Yet one must feel a sense of relief that the final resting place of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and indeed the spot were Jonathan Swift was baptised, finally seems safe for the long-term future.

I thought it worth sharing some pictures of one of my favourite buildings in the capital. Its beautiful sandstone facade is unlike anything else in the city, and I often admire Saint Werburgh’s from the upper-floor of the Lord Edward across the road! As good a spot as any…