1856 – University Church, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin

A small entrance porch in rich polychromatic brick marks the University Church between two Georgian houses. Supported between the two houses is an unusual belfry. The church was commissioned in 1856, by Cardinal Newman from his friend John Hungerford Pollen in the Byzantine style because of Newman’s dislike of Gothic.

The interior is richly decorated with an ornate baldacchino over the altar, an arcaded gallery with screens and an elaborate pulpit. The church is lit by small windows set under the roof. The nave of the church is reached through a long vestibule and emerging from under a choir gallery. Truly a gem.