FINDLATER PLACE

FINDLATER PLACE - CATHAL BRUGHA STREET - MARLBOROUGH STREET [CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE AND ST. THOMAS]

The last time I visited the area the church grounds [within the railings] was occupied by a number of rough sleepers in tents but it would appear that they have moved on.

To the best of my memory many older people incorrectly referred to this as Findlater's Church but is is actually the Church Of St. George And St. Thomas and it is located within a triangle defined by Findlater Place, Cathal Brugha Street and Marlborough Street. Findlater's Church is nearby at Parnell Square North [Frederick Corner].

The church was designed by the architect Fredrick G. Hicks and it was opened in 1931, it won the 1932-33 Royal Institute of Architects Ireland Prize. It was built to replace, St. Thomas's Church on Marlborough Street, which was destroyed following a fire during the Irish Civil War in 1922.

With the decline in the Anglican community in 1966 the parish of St. Thomas merged with the parish of St. George. In 1990, St. George's Church, Dublin, and the church was renamed the Church of St. Thomas and St. George. St. George's Brass Band moved to Cathal Brugha Street, where they meet every Monday.

Over the years a number of other Christian denominations were allowed to use the church, including Orthodox, Filipino Christians and Anglican Igbo Speaking Community. St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church use the church for their weekly services, and from 2006 it became their parish church, the St. Thomas Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Church.

St. Thomas's ceased to be the Church of Ireland parish church in 2017. The parishes of Drumcondra and North Strand (Waterloo Avenue) would serve as parish churches for the Anglican community.

As of 2021, there is a growing movement to return the church to its parishioners.