Scots Presbyterian Church, Dublin


The Scots Presbyterian Church is a ruined former church on Seán McDermott Street in Dublin 1, Ireland. The church was designed in a Greek revival style by architect Duncan Campbell Ferguson and completed in 1846.
The building operated as a Presbyterian church from 1846 until 1888 when the congregation was subsumed by the nearby Clontarf and Scots Presbyterian Church. The building continued to operate as a sometime church for various services until 1896, at which point the building began being used by the Salvation Army owing to its position in the centre of the Monto area of Dublin. In the early 1900s it was converted into a flour mill but its external appearance remained largely intact. It was operated by AW Ennis Limited until a fire in the 1980s forced the business to move to Virginia, County Cavan where it remains as of July 2020.

History

The church replaced an earlier Ebenezer Chapel which the second secession synod congregation had purchased on Hawkins Street, Dublin 2 in 1836 for £600.

Architecture

The church was constructed in granite with a prostyle tetrastyle pedimented portico with four fluted Doric columns on a stylobate supporting frieze with Greek script which have the words "ΜΟΝΩ ΣΟΦΩ ΘΕΩ ΣΩΤΗΡI ΗΜΩΝ ΔOΞH", referring to a biblical passage from Romans 16:27 describing the wisdom of God. Above this sits a modillioned pediment with acroteria situated at either end and at the apex.
The majority of the external features remained intact until the 1980s with a Dublin City Council photo from 1968 detailing the external walls, chimneys and roof as they would have been when the building was first constructed. Following the fire, the majority of the building was demolished for safety reasons. The remaining facade and side walls now sit at the front of 2000s apartment development although many of the main features are still intact.
The buildings risk status is currently listed as at 'moderate' by An Taisce and is currently listed on the Record of Protected Structures under RPS 7480.

Popular Culture

The building appears in a derelict state on the front cover of the 1997 single Keep on Chewin by the Jubilee All-Stars.