URBAN CULTURE BY FOTONIQUE

This attractive church now serves the Polish Community so there is a Shrine of the Divine Mercy & Blessed John Paul II. According to a local that I met in the church the Polish community has contributed much to the upkeep and maintenance of the building.

In the past the church was referred to as the 'chapel of statues' due to its large numbers of statues. Nearly all the statues have been removed in the last 30 years which is amazing considering that the first thing that caught my attention on entering the church was the large number of statues.

Rev. Thady Lynch P.P. built a church on this site between 1779 (when the foundation stone was laid) and 1781 when the church was opened on 29 September 1781. There is a stone in memory of Fr. Lynch in the south transept. The Arthur family owned the land on which the church was built and would not allow any houses to be built on the site. In 1881 this church was rebuilt under the supervision of Mr M. Morris and cost £7,400. During the building of this new church human remains were found, which are believed to have belonged to the defenders of the city in 1690 during the siege of Limerick. The remains were re-interred under the altar to the Sacred Heart in 1881. While the church was being built, mass was said in the Town Hall from the summer of 1881 until Christmas Day 1882.