Raheny parish (Roman Catholic)
[1]: 15 In the 12th century, the Church in Ireland moved towards a parochial model, and following restructuring under figures such as St. Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh, and the Papal Legate Cardinal Paparo in 1152, thirty-eight dioceses, each comprising a number of parishes, were approved.
At the dissolution of the monasteries, while St. Mary's survived in 1537, it was closed in 1539, and its lands at Raheny passed to the Crown, and on to, largely, the Lords of Howth.
There is no record of the original church during this time, and as happened in many parishes, it may have been allowed to fall into ruin, but parishioners are known to have attended the small chapel in inland Baldoyle later known as Grange Abbey.
For many years, Raheny continued as a quiet constituent area, with local people mostly attending mass at Coolock chapel, and some at Clontarf.
Then, in the 1850s, the parish priest secured land at the top of Main Street, and commenced collection of subscriptions for a new church there; contributions came from both Catholics and Protestants.
It was noted that the area then held 280 Catholic families (around 1200 people), that the new St. Anne's development would bring around 600 more households, and would be followed by Dublin Corporation work in Edenmore and Kilbarrack.
In January 1960, the parish launched the memorable magazine The Acorn, which documented its work and also a great deal of local history.
The Editor of the Acorn was local resident and journalist Laurence Joseph "Joe" McCullagh, who lived on St. Assams Road; an archive of the journal is held at Raheny Library.
Later changes included the development of Foxfield-St. John (begun in 1971 from Bayside, itself a division of Kilbarrack from part of another large Union, which took in the ancient territories of Howth and Sutton, as well as Baldoyle, for which it was named) as a new parish, later renamed Kilbarrack-Foxfield.
Associated groups work on liturgical matters, baptism, bereavement and visitation, and run the Parish Book and Newspaper Shops, and the Video Library.
The first sod was turned on 3 May 1959, and the foundation stone for the new Church of Our Lady, Mother of Divine Grace was blessed and laid by Archbishop J.C. McQuaid in the presence of Fr.
on 24 April 1960.: 31–32 On 22 July 1962, the church was blessed, dedicated and opened, also by Archbishop J.C. McQuaid,: 2 with now Monsignor Dr. Fitzpatrick, Parish Priest, Vicar Forane and historian, and a substantial congregation.
