[6] The church is included in the Record of Protected Structures maintained by Cork City Council.

[7] Built of local limestone and red sandstone,[8] the church was commissioned by the then parish priest, Daniel Albert O'Brien, to replace an existing thatched building.

[9] O'Brien, who had been appointed as parish priest and vicar general in 1760 by the then Bishop of Cork, Richard Walsh, was a member of the Dominican Order.

[10] The church was further extended in the 1860s, and additional work undertaken on the altar, in the 1870s, by ecclesiastical architect George Goldie (1828–1887).

[11] Other former parishioners include educator Nano Nagle, hospital founder Mary Aikenhead, military general Daniel O'Leary, sculptor John Hogan and Arctic explorer Jerome Collins.