The most prominent and visible location bookending Anne Street was chosen as the site of the new parish church terminating a vista.

[2] It bears a resemblance to the baroque Church of the Gesù and the San Giacomo degli Incurabili in Rome.

The younger Deane, who had been involved with the creation of significant buildings at Oxford University, designed a neo-Romanesque front.

[8] The Georgian interior was designed by Isaac Wills, influenced by churches built by Christopher Wren but with variations characteristic of Irish architecture.

The acanthus frieze is carved with winged angels and bishop's mitre; the segmental pediment, with festoons of flowers.

Since 1723, as a result of a bequest by Lord Newton of Newtown Butler, the church has made daily bread available to anyone who chooses to receive it.

The case of the modern organ, located in the west gallery of the church, is presumed to remain from the original 18th-century instrument.

The church contains memorials to the Irish theologian Alexander Knox; English poet Felicia Hemans, who lived on Dawson Street from 1831; Richard Whately, the "eccentric" Anglican Archbishop of Dublin appointed 1831; and art collector and benefactor Hugh Lane, who created major collections of modern art in Dublin.