St Audoen's Catholic Church Dublin

St Audoen's Catholic Church in Dublin is the church of the parish of St Audoen, at Cornmarket south of the River Liffey. It belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin and is now home to the Polish chaplaincy in Ireland. An Anglican Church of Ireland building of the same name stands beside it; this page concerns the Roman Catholic church.

What is St Audoen's Catholic Church in Dublin?

The church is the Roman Catholic St Audoen's at Cornmarket, Dublin, rather than the adjacent Anglican church. That distinction matters because the two buildings share the same name while belonging to different Christian traditions. St Audoen's Catholic Church is also the Dublin home of the Polish chaplaincy in Ireland.

What makes this church's setting historically distinctive?

St Audoen's is described in the tour source as Dublin's only remaining medieval church. The building rose at the centre of the Pale and was named after the patron saint of the Normans who invaded Ireland in the 12th century.

Behind the church, part of Dublin's old city wall survives. The source dates this section to 1240 and describes it as the longest and oldest surviving walls of the city, marking where the inner city was located. A gate also survives with the wall, making the church's immediate setting a physical link to Dublin's earlier city boundary.

The church was built on top of a 7th-century church dedicated to St Columicille, described in the source as the third patron saint of Ireland after St Patrick and St Brigid. This earlier Christian layer sits beneath the medieval church's story and helps explain why the site has significance beyond the present building.

What should you look for in front of St Audoen's?

Look for the Lucky Stone in front of St Audoen's. The tour source identifies it as the quest's object, says it has been there since the 14th century, and records the belief that rubbing it could heal and bring luck.

A drinking fountain was placed touching the Lucky Stone so that the water, and anyone who drank it, would be blessed. Notice the stone and take a photograph without trying to resolve the tour's quest question. The Hidden Dublin: Main Attractions and Hidden Stories tour records St Audoen's as stop 9 of 10, so this is one point on a wider route rather than a description of the walk's end.