SS Philip & James - Booterstown Church
Original Architect - John Bowden under the direction of Joseph Welland
Builder - Hugh Tassie completed by his father thought to be William Tassie
Architect of extension and additions in 1868/9 - John Rawson Carroll
It was described as 'handsome, in the later English style with square embattled tower, with
crocketed pinnacles, at the angles, and surmounted by lofty spire. The walls are strengthened with
buttresses, terminating in pinnacles, and crowned with a embattled parapet"
In 1820 a notice appeared in the newspaper that a builder for a church in Booterstown was required.
It was signed by Isaac Matthew D'Olier of Collegnes. According to B H Blacker the site was gifted by
the Earl of Pembroke, George Augustus Herbert, the owner of the Fitzwilliam estates. He also
gifted 1k although it is not clear if this was towards the build or for the provision of a clergyman. The
total cost was just under 5k raised by a grant and a loan from the Board of First Fruits. The builder
chosen was Hugh Tassie who went bankrupt during the build and his father had to complete the
build as he was one of his sureties. The insolvency was said to be caused by Hugh Tassie having a
fall from a church steeple in Virginia, Cavan.
Consecration of Booterstown Church 14 May 1824
'On Sunday last this light, convenient, and elegant structure, was consecrated by his Grace the
Archbishop of Dublin, aided by Archdeacon Torrens, the Archdeacon of Kildare, and his Grace's two
sons, the Rev T P Magee, and the Rev W Magee. The ceremony of Consecration was performed in the
most solemn and impressive manner. The sermon, from the 8th Kings, was admirably delivered by
Archdeacon Torrens. In clear, argumentative, and classical language, he urged the necessity of
co-operation on the part of the parishioners, when a school shall be established in that district. The
Reverend Gentleman's discourse produced a powerful effect on his highly respectable and very
numerous auditory. He announced that a most splendid contribution towards the provision of a
Clergyman to officiate at Booterstown Church, had been made by the Earl of Pembroke, who had
remitted for that purpose the sum of One Thousand Pounds. The Church is a simple gothic structure,
not yet completely finished outside, and is graced by a beautiful spire, which, enveloped by the
surrounding lofty trees that compose the noble avenues of Booterstown and its vicinity, is seen to
peculiar advantage on the traveller's approach to the Rock. The interior is admirably lighted by
windows on an improved principle, a neat gothic window, decorated with rich and tastefully stained
glass, rises over the communion table.'
In 1854 Sydney Herbert, the owner of the Fitzwilliam estate gifted a further 1/2 acre and had an
avenue built to the church from Mount Merrion Avenue.
The church was found to be too small for the congregation and in February 1867 is was announced
that the church was to be enlarged and improved. Steps were taken to secure grants from the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the Guardians of the Earl of Pembroke. A subscription list was
opened and a committee formed. By April they had chosen John McCurdy as the architect and a
new chancel and transept were to be added to provide over 300 additional seats. By March the
following year it appears that McCurdy was not involved and John Rawson Carroll had been
engaged as architect and Messrs Crowe and Sons as contractors. The buttresses were moved to
the new portion and a robing room and porch were also added at a cost of £1600. The church
reopened on the 2 May 1869 although it does not to have closed fully as marriages still took
place there during the building work.
In 1875 plans were afoot to build a rectory, and a second transept to house a new organ at a
cost of £3000. The organ was opened on 24 Dec 1876 by the musical director Sir Robert Prescott
Stewart.
Ministers
1824 Rev James Bulwer
1825 - 1832 Rev Anthony Sillery
Incumbents from 1824
1832 - 1853 Rev Robert Herbert Nixon
1857 - 1874 Rev Beaver Henry Blacker
1874 John Lombard
1892 Thomas Sterling Berry
1913 Gilbert Mahaffey
1916 Thomas Arnold Harvey
1933 - 1965 Ernest Maunsell Bateman
Curates
1855 George Campbell Williams (the controversial curate)
1867 Alured Henry Alcock
1872 John Carter
1875 Thomas Edmund Hackett
1881 Samuel Sandys
1882 Robert Irvine Ford
1882 James Francis Caitness
1885 Francis Hoffman Battersby
1892 William Frederick Fitzgerald
1893 William Anderson
1894 James Smith
1897 Walsingham Collins Good
1905 Samuel Hutchinson
1913 William Frederick Crosthwaite
1916 George Townsend
1919 William Cecil De Pauley
1920 Herbert Lombard Eves
1925 William Walter Johnston
1927 Richard Randall Hartford
Church Wardens
1824 - 1825 Robert Alexander & James Diggs La Touche
1826 Isaac Matthew D'Olier & Samuel Pittar
1827 Robert Roe & Henry Lanauze
1828 John Elliot Hyndman & Charles Smith
1829 John Elliot Hyndman & Henry Lanauze
1830 Hill Wilson & Patrick Stack
1831 John Gillman & Jonathan Deverell
1832 Henry Cole & William Henry
1833 Henry Higinbotham & John Woods
1834 Isaac Matthew D'Olier & Charles Smith
1835 Sir J H Cairnecross, KCB & Hickman Kearney
1836 Thomas Beasley & Joseph Webster Talbot
1837 Arthur Ormsby and John Gillman
1838 Capt J F Cockburn & Charles Fletcher
1839 Capt William Osbourne & Nicholas W Monsarrat
1840 James Kelly & Henry Carey Field, MD
1841 George Bury & Richard Purdy
1842 Robert Kelly & Capt Charles Woodward
1843 Major William St Clair & Digby Marsh
1844 Edmund Ball & Charles J Bond
1845 Capt William Smyth & Edward Browne
1846 Col Joseph Kelsall & Henry William Mulvany
1847 Capt Richard J Annesley & William Pennefather
1848 Hugh Carmichael & James Wright (resigned)
1849 Edward Browne & David Wilson Hutcheson
1850 - 1851 Col Joseph Kelsall & John Webster Talbot.
© Karen Poff 2015 - 2026
Original Architect - John Bowden under the direction of Joseph Welland
Builder - Hugh Tassie completed by his father thought to be William Tassie
Architect of extension and additions in 1868/9 - John Rawson Carroll
It was described as 'handsome, in the later English style with square embattled tower, with
crocketed pinnacles, at the angles, and surmounted by lofty spire. The walls are strengthened with
buttresses, terminating in pinnacles, and crowned with a embattled parapet"
In 1820 a notice appeared in the newspaper that a builder for a church in Booterstown was required.
It was signed by Isaac Matthew D'Olier of Collegnes. According to B H Blacker the site was gifted by
the Earl of Pembroke, George Augustus Herbert, the owner of the Fitzwilliam estates. He also
gifted 1k although it is not clear if this was towards the build or for the provision of a clergyman. The
total cost was just under 5k raised by a grant and a loan from the Board of First Fruits. The builder
chosen was Hugh Tassie who went bankrupt during the build and his father had to complete the
build as he was one of his sureties. The insolvency was said to be caused by Hugh Tassie having a
fall from a church steeple in Virginia, Cavan.
Consecration of Booterstown Church 14 May 1824
'On Sunday last this light, convenient, and elegant structure, was consecrated by his Grace the
Archbishop of Dublin, aided by Archdeacon Torrens, the Archdeacon of Kildare, and his Grace's two
sons, the Rev T P Magee, and the Rev W Magee. The ceremony of Consecration was performed in the
most solemn and impressive manner. The sermon, from the 8th Kings, was admirably delivered by
Archdeacon Torrens. In clear, argumentative, and classical language, he urged the necessity of
co-operation on the part of the parishioners, when a school shall be established in that district. The
Reverend Gentleman's discourse produced a powerful effect on his highly respectable and very
numerous auditory. He announced that a most splendid contribution towards the provision of a
Clergyman to officiate at Booterstown Church, had been made by the Earl of Pembroke, who had
remitted for that purpose the sum of One Thousand Pounds. The Church is a simple gothic structure,
not yet completely finished outside, and is graced by a beautiful spire, which, enveloped by the
surrounding lofty trees that compose the noble avenues of Booterstown and its vicinity, is seen to
peculiar advantage on the traveller's approach to the Rock. The interior is admirably lighted by
windows on an improved principle, a neat gothic window, decorated with rich and tastefully stained
glass, rises over the communion table.'
In 1854 Sydney Herbert, the owner of the Fitzwilliam estate gifted a further 1/2 acre and had an
avenue built to the church from Mount Merrion Avenue.
The church was found to be too small for the congregation and in February 1867 is was announced
that the church was to be enlarged and improved. Steps were taken to secure grants from the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the Guardians of the Earl of Pembroke. A subscription list was
opened and a committee formed. By April they had chosen John McCurdy as the architect and a
new chancel and transept were to be added to provide over 300 additional seats. By March the
following year it appears that McCurdy was not involved and John Rawson Carroll had been
engaged as architect and Messrs Crowe and Sons as contractors. The buttresses were moved to
the new portion and a robing room and porch were also added at a cost of £1600. The church
reopened on the 2 May 1869 although it does not to have closed fully as marriages still took
place there during the building work.
In 1875 plans were afoot to build a rectory, and a second transept to house a new organ at a
cost of £3000. The organ was opened on 24 Dec 1876 by the musical director Sir Robert Prescott
Stewart.
Ministers
1824 Rev James Bulwer
1825 - 1832 Rev Anthony Sillery
Incumbents from 1824
1832 - 1853 Rev Robert Herbert Nixon
1857 - 1874 Rev Beaver Henry Blacker
1874 John Lombard
1892 Thomas Sterling Berry
1913 Gilbert Mahaffey
1916 Thomas Arnold Harvey
1933 - 1965 Ernest Maunsell Bateman
Curates
1855 George Campbell Williams (the controversial curate)
1867 Alured Henry Alcock
1872 John Carter
1875 Thomas Edmund Hackett
1881 Samuel Sandys
1882 Robert Irvine Ford
1882 James Francis Caitness
1885 Francis Hoffman Battersby
1892 William Frederick Fitzgerald
1893 William Anderson
1894 James Smith
1897 Walsingham Collins Good
1905 Samuel Hutchinson
1913 William Frederick Crosthwaite
1916 George Townsend
1919 William Cecil De Pauley
1920 Herbert Lombard Eves
1925 William Walter Johnston
1927 Richard Randall Hartford
Church Wardens
1824 - 1825 Robert Alexander & James Diggs La Touche
1826 Isaac Matthew D'Olier & Samuel Pittar
1827 Robert Roe & Henry Lanauze
1828 John Elliot Hyndman & Charles Smith
1829 John Elliot Hyndman & Henry Lanauze
1830 Hill Wilson & Patrick Stack
1831 John Gillman & Jonathan Deverell
1832 Henry Cole & William Henry
1833 Henry Higinbotham & John Woods
1834 Isaac Matthew D'Olier & Charles Smith
1835 Sir J H Cairnecross, KCB & Hickman Kearney
1836 Thomas Beasley & Joseph Webster Talbot
1837 Arthur Ormsby and John Gillman
1838 Capt J F Cockburn & Charles Fletcher
1839 Capt William Osbourne & Nicholas W Monsarrat
1840 James Kelly & Henry Carey Field, MD
1841 George Bury & Richard Purdy
1842 Robert Kelly & Capt Charles Woodward
1843 Major William St Clair & Digby Marsh
1844 Edmund Ball & Charles J Bond
1845 Capt William Smyth & Edward Browne
1846 Col Joseph Kelsall & Henry William Mulvany
1847 Capt Richard J Annesley & William Pennefather
1848 Hugh Carmichael & James Wright (resigned)
1849 Edward Browne & David Wilson Hutcheson
1850 - 1851 Col Joseph Kelsall & John Webster Talbot.
© Karen Poff 2015 - 2026