page_title: Blanchardstown
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Blanchardstown / Religion
caption_attribution_description: English: Business Premises, originally Carmelite Convent, Blanchardstown. Built in 1828 as a Carmelite Convent and closed in 1832. In 1859 established as a Holy Ghost seminary. Within a year because if its success they moved to Blackrock which led to the establishment of the still very successful 'Blackrock College'. In 1860 the sisters of St Joseph of Cluny set up a convent in the building. This order subsequently set up Mount Sackville Convent, Chapelizod 538551. The building was recently restored and now house business premises including a restaurant.
context_page_description: Blanchardstown is a large outer suburb of Dublin in County Fingal, Ireland, built out from a small village since the 1960s. It is located 10 km north-west of the city centre. It is within the historical barony of Castleknock in the traditional County Dublin, as well as the Dublin 15 postal area and the Dublin West electoral constituency.
  Blanchardstown is the largest urban area in Fingal. One of Ireland's largest shopping and leisure centres, the Blanchardstown Centre, is located in the area.
context_section_description: St Brigid's Roman Catholic Church is situated behind Main Street at Church Avenue. The foundation stone for the church was laid on 13 October 1835 and the first Mass was celebrated there on 29 October 1837. The construction of the Church and its unusual Flemish spire was finally completed in 1863.
  In the 19th century, the Roman Catholic parish of Blanchardstown encompassed much of the area now within the Dublin 15 postal district; some of the component areas were quite distinct from Blanchardstown but Catholic parishes had been merged during Penal Laws times. Following the relaxation of the Penal Laws, it became possible for Catholic adherents to consider the construction of additional churches and to repair the existing stock of religious buildings. Church authorities used the opportunity to implement the Tridentine reform which saw the parish as the basic unit of ecclesiastical organisation and the parish priest as the central figure within the parish.
  The new parish priest of Blanchardstown in 1839, Fr Michael Dungan, oversaw the construction of a number of new churches, which today serve independent parishes, and invited a number of religious communities to provide for the education of Catholic children. St Brigid's Church, Blanchardstown – not to be confused with a church of the Church of Ireland in nearby Castleknock – was constructed in 1837 upon the foundation of a church that had been built prior to 1731. It is the mother church of 12 other churches constituted out of the parish over the following 156 years. 
  Chapelizod - "Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (separated from Blanchardstown Parish 1883)
  Navan Road - "Our Lady Help of Christians" (separated from Chapelizod 1953)
  Castleknock - "Our Lady Mother of the Church" (separated from Blanchardstown 1976)
  Laurel Lodge / Carpenterstown - "St Thomas, the Apostle" (separated from Castleknock 1983)
  Porterstown - "St Mochta's" (separated from Castleknock 1986. The present church was constructed in 1890 as a Chapel of ease for Blanchardstown.)
  Corduff - "St Patrick's Church" (separated from Blanchardstown 1976)
  Mountview - "St Philip, the Apostle" (separated from Corduff 1979)
  Blakestown - "Church of Mary of the Servants" (separated from Corduff 1979)
  Huntstown - "Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus" (separated from Blakestown 1981)
  Littlepace - "Chapel of Ease, Mary, Mother of Hope" (in the process of development since 2002)
  Hartstown - "St Ciarán' Church" (separated Blanchardstown 1979)
  Mulhuddart / Lady's Well - "St Luke, the Evangelist" (separated from Blanchardstown 1993)
caption: The former Carmelite Convent (now a business premises) in Blanchardstown
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