Rebuilding a proud tradition in Dublin’s Liberties

St James’s Church is a forgotten Dublin treasure. Millions of people have passed it on their way to the famous Guinness Storehouse but few have stopped to look at it.

Pearse Lyons
Pearse Lyons

It is the resting place of at least 30,000 Dubliners, and possibly ten times that number, since its graveyard opened in the 10th century.

My father grew up within a stone’s throw of St. James’ on South Earl Street and my grandfather John Hubert Lyons was buried there in 1948; so, even as a boy, I knew it was there.

At the start of 2014, I was lucky enough to buy the church ...