1825 – Union Chapel, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin

In 1818, two branches of Irish Seceding Presbyterianism united to form the Secession Synod of Ireland. The united congregation continued to use a chapel at Mary’s Abbey until funds from the Wide Street Commissioners enabled them to build a new and handsome church in Lower Abbey Street in 1825. This they named Union Chapel, sometimes known as the Scot’s Church. About 1846 the building was described as “a chaste and handsome edifice; a well executed Ionic Portico of granite adorns the front; and a well constructed lantern on the roof lights the interior”. The lantern provided all the interior light, with no windows on the facades.

The church was destroyed during Easter 1916 with only the front wall left intact, the fires sadly destroyed the Presbyterian Archive which contained records from the 1760s, and the church congregation was under insured. Paperwork in the National Archives details their fight to be fully compensated. In 1918 the homeless Union Chapel worshippers accepted the invitation to unite with the Rutland Square congregation, Findlater’s Church, under the new name of Abbey Church, which fittingly reflected their mutual connection with the ancient site of Mary’s Abbey.