The Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church is a Roman Catholic church in Dublin, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 maintained by the Carmelite order. The church is noted for having the relic

Relic

In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...

s of Saint Valentine

Saint Valentine

Saint Valentine is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name "Valentine", derived from valens , was popular in Late Antiquity...

, which were donated to the church in the 19th century by Pope Gregory XVI

Pope Gregory XVI

Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...

 from their previous location in the cemetery of St. Hippolytus in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.http://www.carmelites.ie/ireland/Whitefriar%20St/valentine.htm.

The church is on the site of a pre-Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 Carmelite priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

 built in 1539. The current structure dates from 1825 and was designed by George Papworth

George Papworth

George Papworth was an English architect who practised mainly in Ireland during the nineteenth century.-Early life and career:Papworth was born in London in 1781 and was the third son of the English stuccoist John Papworth...

, who also designed St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin. It was extended and enlarged in 1856 and 1868.

The church also contains relics of St. Albert

Albert of Trapani

Saint Albert of Trapani was a Sicilian saint. Born in Trapani, he entered the Carmelite monastery there at a very young age and was later transferred to the Carmelite house at Messina....

, a Sicilian

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 who died in 1306. On his feast day (August 7), a relic of the saint is dipped into the water of St. Albert's Well and is said to grant healing of body and mind those who use the water.

The church also contains a life-size oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

 figure of Our Lady of Dublin

Our Lady of Dublin

Our Lady of Dublin is a statue of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus. The statue is currently on display in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland that represents the Black Madonna of Ireland.- Art History Perspective :...