St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Parish, Dublin
St. Andrew's parish comprises nearly the whole of the Protestant parishes of St. Andrew, St. Mark, and St. Anne, and part of that of St. Peter. The duty is performed by a parish priest and seven officiating clergymen. The chapel, in Westland-row, was commenced in 1832, and finished in 1837: its form is that of a Roman cross; the length being 160 feet, the transept 150, the breadth and height 50 each. The walls of the interior are in compartments formed by Grecian Doric pilasters. The great altar consists of four pillars of scagliola, supporting a pediment copied from the Lantern of Demosthenes at Athens. The tabernacle is in imitation of the triumphal arch of Titus in Rome, and is surmounted by a group in white Italian marble, by Hogan, representing the Ascension; on each side of the great altar are smaller altars of Egyptian marble; several good paintings have lately been brought from Rome, and hung up over and at the sides of the altar. The portico in front consists of two pillars and four pilasters in the Grecian Doric style, prolonged at each end by a parochial house, thus presenting a facade of 160 feet in length. The cost of erection, which is defrayed by subscription, amounted to £18,000. In Clarendon-street is the chapel of St. Teresa, belonging to the order of the Discalced Carmelites, the inmates of which consist of a provincial, a prior, and six friars. It is a spacious building of plain exterior: in front of the altar is a fine statue of a Dead Christ in Italian marble, by Hogan. Attached to the convent is an almshouse for widows, and the Society of St. Joseph, for promoting the exercise of spiritual and corporal works of mercy. There is a parochial school attended by upwards of 3100 female children: it is in connection with the National Board of Education. Within the parish there are the following religious institutions; the House of Mercy, Baggot-street, the inmates of which consist of a superioress and a sisterhood of 15, who maintain a day school of about 300 children, visit the sick poor, and receive under their protection distressed women of good character; their house is a plain large building of three stories. In Stephen's-green East is St. Vincent's Hospital, containing 60 beds, and a dispensary, founded by the sisters of charity: a superioress and sisterhood of six preside over it. The Asylum for Female Penitents, in Townsend-street, is superintended by a superioress and a sisterhood of three, and affords shelter and the means of reformation to 41 penitents. The Andrean Orphans' Friend Society was revived in 1832, and supports 28 children by weekly penny subscriptions; the Orphan Society of St. John of the Cross is supported in like manner.