In Celtic and Danish times, the parish was dedicated to St. Martin of Tours; the church stood near the south end of Werburgh Street.

After St. Werburgh's Church was constructed it was much frequented by Bristol men, who were amongst the earliest settlers in Dublin.

From the time of Archbishop Henry de Loundres (died 1228), St. Werburgh's was appropriated to the Chancellor of St. Patrick's.

By 1559 the nearby church of St. Mary del Dam on Dame Street was closed and its parish incorporated into that of St. Werburgh's.

[4] In the eighteenth century, St. Werburgh's came into vogue as the parish church of the British Lord Lieutenant and his entourage, where he had his own Viceregal pew inserted in 1767.

[3] In fact the pew register for this church lists many of the persons prominent in Dublin public life in this century.

[3] The interior of the church was re-modelled in 1877 by the architect William Welland, when the parish was united with that of St. John the Evangelist.

Sir Philip Hoey, a clergyman attached at one time to St Werburgh's church, left a sum of money to purchase an organ.

[6] On 3 May 1787, a commemoration of Handel was performed in St. Werburgh's Church by amateurs of the highest distinction, including Sir Hercules Langrishe, Baron Dillon, Surgeon Neale, Lady Portarlington and Mrs.

George Frideric Handel used this instrument for the rehearsal of his work Messiah which premiered in the Great Music Hall, Fishamble Street.

[8] Nicholas Sutton, the Attorney General for Ireland, was buried here in 1478; his family had lived on Werburgh Street for several generations.

William Hilton, High Court judge and Member of Parliament, and his wife Anne Ussher, were buried here within a short time of each other in 1651.