St. Audoen's Church, Dublin (Church of Ireland)

St Audoen's Church (Irish: Eaglais San Audoen) is the church of the parish of Saint Audoen in the Church of Ireland, located south of the River Liffey at Cornmarket in Dublin, Ireland. This was close to the centre of the medieval city. The parish is in the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough. St Audoen's is the oldest parish church in Dublin and is still used as such. There is a Roman Catholic church of the same name adjacent to it. In 2012 the parish was merged with St. Catherine and James Church on Donore Ave.

The church is named after St Ouen (or Audoen) of Rouen (Normandy), a saint who lived in the seventh century and was dedicated to him by the Anglo-Normans, who arrived in Dublin after 1172. It was erected in 1190, possibly on the site of an older church dedicated to St. Columcille, dating to the seventh century. Shortly afterwards the nave was lengthened (but also made narrower) and a century later a chancel was added. In 1430 Henry VI, Lord of Ireland, authorised the erection of a chantry here, to be dedicated to St Anne. Its founders and successors were to be called the Guild or Fraternity of St Anne, usually called Saint Anne's Guild. Six separate altars were set up in this chapel and were in constant use, financed by the wealthier parishioners. In 1485 Sir Roland Fitz-Eustace, Baron Portlester, erected a new chapel next to the nave, in gratitude for his preservation from a shipwreck near the site. The turbulent events of the 16th century had their effects on the upkeep of the church and in 1630 the church was declared to be in a decrepit state. The Archbishop, Lancelot Bulkeley, complained that "there is a guild there called St Anne's Guild that hath swallowed upp all the church meanes" (although chantries and guilds were suppressed during the Reformation in England and their property taken over by the king, in Ireland they survived, with varying vicissitudes, for many years).

Church data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).