St. Nicholas's Roman Catholic Parish, Dublin
The parish of St. Nicholas comprises the Protestant parishes of St. Nicholas Without, the city part of St. Nicholas Within, St. Luke, St. Kevin, the entire of the Liberties of Christ-Church and St. Patrick, and parts of the parishes of St. Peter and St. Bride. The duty is performed by a parish priest and six officiating clergymen. The chapel is built on the site of a Franciscan friary, erected in 1235 on a piece of ground granted by Ralph le Porter. It has a square tower, ornamented on each face with coupled Corinthian pilasters and terminating with a figure of Faith. The interior is exquisitely finished: the great altar, which is of Italian marble, was executed at Rome; over it is a group representing a " Dead Christ on the lap of Mary," by Hogan, and two relievos, "The Last Supper" and "The Marriage of Joseph and Mary," from Raphael. A monastery of the order of the Religious Brothers of the Christian Schools, in Mills-street, consists of a superior and two monks, who superintend a free school for boys. There is also a national school for boys, in which 450 are educated and 50 of them clothed; and an Orphan Institution. A convent of the order of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Harcourt-street, commonly called the Loretto convent, consists of a local superioress and a sisterhood of three, who educate about 40 girls.