St Michan Dublin

"St. Michan’s parish was also erected into a prebend of Christ-Church, with cure of souls, by Archbishop Browne, in 1554, and comprehended the whole of Dublin north of the Liffey until 1697, when the parishes of St. Mary and St. Paul were severed from it. It contains 23,918 inhabitants, and 1464 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £43,568. 10. The prebend is in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Christ- Church; the minister’s money is £488. 15.7., and the gross income, £719. 7. 6.

The church, situated in Church-street, is one of the oldest in the city, being supposed to have been founded by the Ostmen previously to the erection of Christ Church, and to have been originally the cathedral church of the diocese. It is a very spacious cruciform structure, with a square tower, erected at a comparatively modern period, although the whole has an appearance of great antiquity. It was re-roofed and thoroughly repaired in 1828, at a cost of about £1500, defrayed by parish cess, since which time the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have granted £230. 19. l. for its further repair. On one side, of the communion table is an ancient figure of a bishop or an abbot; there is also a monumental tablet to the memory of the celebrated Dr.Lucas, There are a parochial school for girls, a day school for girls, an infants’school, four day schools for boys, and two for girls, and a Sunday school."

[From A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland  by Samuel Lewis, published 1837]