This 1790 image of the north side of St Michan’s Church, sketched by an unknown artist, allows us to recapture the loveliness of this building as it once was. Rocque’s map below tells us that, at this time, there was a field beside the church, where Kings Building now stands. The artist may have stood in this field while sketching.
An article from the Irish Times of Monday 11 May 1891, published as part of an appeal for funds for the repair of its tower, gives some information about St Michan’s long-standing legal connections:
“On the spot where the Four Courts now stand [was] the Friary of Saint Saviour. On the suppression of the monasteries by Henry the Eighth, [it became] the King’s Inns. The Inns were the official residence of judges and a special pew was assigned to them in Saint Michan’s Church. Many judges and members of their families were buried in the vaults or under the judges’ seats. As you enter the Church by the northeast, you pass over the last resting place of Judge Johnson, appointed in 1685.
In the earliest known map of Dublin, dated 1610, you see clearly marked the bridge which spanned the Liffey, and you see St. Michan’s as the most prominent building on the map with the ancient tower. That tower is most probably the same as the tower of the original foundation and as the tower of today, except for the second story window and doorway, which are evidently Queen Anne or Georgian. It is a graceful and striking monument of the past…
Doctor John Pooley, while prebendary of Saint Michan’s about the year 1685, built the present church on the site of the former church and by the year 1697 St. Michan’s became one of the wealthiest parishes in Dublin. Greek Street, Church St, Beresford Street, Smithfield, and, in the 18th century, Henrietta Street, were inhabited by the aristocracy and by leading members of the professional and merchantile classes. There was scarcely an old Irish noble family whose name is not to be found in the parish registers. There were to be found the names of members of the families of Abercorn, Blayney, Blessington, Clanricarde, Drogheda, Desmond, Enniskillen, Fingall, Roscommon and many others.
This prosperous state of things continued down to the end of the last century, but from the beginning of the present century fashion deserted St. Michan’s and it became the parish of a poor and struggling Protestant population and is now one of the poorest parishes. The present building was erected in the year 1685, but it was thoroughly restored in 1828.”
Judge Johnston may have been Robert Johnston, Baron of the Court of Exchequer (1657-1730) though his appointment as judge was a decade or so later than stated. Whoever he was, if you ever enter St Michan’s through its north-east door, tread gently, particularly if you are a member of the legal profession; you will probably be treading on his grave.
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