The Church itself was established in the 13th century, but has since been much altered. Apart from the present church porch, built in 1886 to replace an earlier one, the shape of the building has not changed since work extending the south and north transepts was completed by the mid-1820s. Of what you can see today, only the tower, the north and south walls of the nave, and the eastern portion of the south transept remain of the old 13th century Norman church.
However, the church was once a much larger building. A side aisle stood south of the present nave, between the tower and the south transept, and the original chancel extended further east. Two grave monuments, the Bellew and Mortimer tombs, which are now outside the church, were within the original chancel. The original south aisle and the extended chancel were probably removed in a restoration of the church which was completed in 1706, resulting in a smaller building. A small stone plaque, inscribed in Latin and set in a recess in the wall near the chancel, commemorates this work.
The present distinctive green copper spire dates from 1932, but is an exact replica of an earlier spire designed for the church in 1787 by Francis Johnston. The clock, with four dials, was installed in 1844.
As you enter the church, in the porch, to the right of the door opening into the nave, you will see the War Memorials which commemorate those parishioners who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. As you walk into the nave, you are entering an interior which has changed very little since the present pews were installed in 1862, replacing the earlier box pews which seated fewer people. Some examples of the old box pews may still be seen in the north gallery.
When you reach the centre of the church, where the nave meets the transepts, you will see where the church was extended in stages in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to cope with an ever-increasing congregation.
First, in 1798, a gallery was erected in the south transept, which was then half the width it is now. In 1815, with a westward extension, this transept and gallery were doubled in size.
In 1807 the vestry was built in the corner between the north transept and the chancel, on the site where a chantry chapel had once stood, most likely founded by Thomas Feld who died in 1536, and whose adjacent gravestone is the oldest in the churchyard.
In 1825-26, the north transept was rebuilt and enlarged (again, most likely doubled in size) to correspond with the south transept directly opposite.
In 1954 St Richard’s Chapel was constructed under the south transept gallery to accommodate services where congregations were smaller, such as Sunday services at 8 am.
The high wooden pulpit is probably the one recorded as having been made in Dublin in 1799, but it is unclear when the wooden reading desk was put in place.
The brass eagle lectern was presented by the then rector, Rev RSG Hamilton, in 1908. Eagle lecterns are most often found in Anglican churches. The eagle, which was once thought to be the bird that flew highest in the sky and nearest to heaven, is the symbol of St John the Apostle, whose Gospel is considered to describe most vividly the divinity of Christ. The Bible, and therefore the Word of God, is borne on the wings of this noble bird which will carry the Gospel throughout the world.
A new font was presented by Mr and Mrs MB Murray in 1910, and a new carved oak communion table was given by Mrs Campbell and Miss Chatterton in 1924.
The east window contains pieces of old Flemish stained glass presented to the church by Lord Roden in 1812. Unfortunately, much of this was damaged or destroyed by vandalism in 1998.
Prior to 1919, members of the cavalry garrison occupied the south gallery at the military service held at 10 am on Sundays, while pupils of the Educational Institution (the predecessor of Dundalk Grammar School) used the same pews at the later 11.30 am service. Lord Roden’s family sat in the north gallery, where the Roden crest can still be seen.
Interesting memorials within the church include the painted stone wall tablet inscribed in Latin and erected in memory of the wife of Rev Ralph Lambert, Mrs Susanna Lambert, who died in 1706, and the representation of the Good Samaritan on the wall in the south transept, which commemorates Dr George Gillichan, who died in 1817 aged 26 from a fever contracted while tending to the poorer inhabitants of Dundalk during a period of famine.
The churchyard was a place of burial for many centuries. The tomb of Richard Fitzralph, Archbishop of Armagh, also known as St Richard of Dundalk, was a place of pilgrimage for many years after his burial there in 1370, at least until 1624, after which there is no record either of the tomb or where it was situated. Except for the Feld, Bellew and Mortimer gravestones, none survive from before the middle of the 18th century. It would appear that from around 1750, burial plots were allocated or sold on ground in which burials had already taken place for centuries, and older grave markers must then have been removed.
The most notable memorial in the churchyard is the Burns monument, just inside the Church Street railings, which commemorates the death in 1834 of Agnes Galt, the sister of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns. In general, the churchyard memorials commemorate many individuals and families involved in the business, professional and military life of the town during a period of approximately 150 years between 1750 and 1900.
St Nicholas’s Church continues to be the spiritual home of the local multi-ethnic Church of Ireland congregation, and on special occasions, most notably for “Carols by Candlelight “ every Christmas, the church draws its attendance from the wider community of Dundalk. In recent years the church has also become an occasional venue for concerts.
