Council plans to turn St Werburgh’s church into 250-seat venue

The long stepped laneway between Castle Street and Ship Street Little was flanked by crowds on walking tours as a light rain fell on Saturday’s grey evening.

In both English and Spanish, their guides filled them in on the tales of the neighbourhood’s characters, and pointed out that they were behind St Werburgh’s, the Protestant church founded in 1179.

If they went around onto Werburgh Street however, they wouldn’t be able to set foot inside at the moment. Its black steel front gates were locked.

The council, however, is taking steps to get the gates open at St Werburgh’s.

On Monday 14 April, City Arts Officer Ray Yeates shared with councillors at the South East Area Committee its strategy for turning the old church into a 250-seater venue.

It is probably one of the most important historical buildings in the area, Yeates said at the committee meeting. “Although it has gone through difficult times and hasn’t been in sacred use for, I would say, almost more than 20 years.”

Despite that, it has been used for a few cultural events, like TradFest, the annual Irish traditional music and cultural festival, he said. That’s what led to the council identifying it as a place that could work well as a limited venue and place for tours once it is renovated, he said.

There is a considerable shortage of venues in the city for choirs, small-scale orchestras, and chamber-music events, as well as other offerings like traditional and contemporary music.

If refurbished, the church could address this shortfall, a report provided to the committee said.

The venue will need some ongoing revenue support from Dublin City Council and the Arts Council, the report says, so they will have to generate income through charges and fees. The council would plan to contract out the job of managing the venue, Yeates said.

Green Party Councillor Carolyn Moore said at the meeting it would be good to open the church as a venue, to address the dearth of small venues in the city that can accommodate niche art forms.

Working within limits

The idea to turn St Werburgh’s into a music venue has been floating around for a few years.

In July 2023, councillors on the South East Area Committee agreed to proceed with a Part 8 planning application – in which the council applies to itself for permission – to redevelop the church.

The dean of Christ Church Cathedral, who is responsible for St Werburgh’s, had approached the council, asking if the council could refurbish the building, Yeates said, at the meeting on 14 April.

The idea was that the building could then be used as a tourist destination and venue, “while continuing to facilitate occasional religious services”, the council report says.

The council’s intention is to do significant restorative works to the building, because it is both a work of art in itself, and shows potential as a place for tours and as a limited venue, he said.

They have done studies on how good it would be as a venue, and there are some challenges – like its acoustics, he said. “But for certain kinds of performances – small-scale, classical or choral music, poetry performances, it would be a welcome addition to the venues in the city.”

The proposed changes to the church building itself are “modest”, according to a report outlining the council’s plans, including repairs to the floors and adding a second glazing to the windows.

But, as the council decided that it would become a modern venue, it has to meet modern building regulations, said Pamela Kennedy, an architect with Cube Architects and the council’s external project manager.

“It has to work as a venue for the public to come safely inside and outside,” she said.

Protected structures don’t have to be accessible and meet all of the regulatory requirements, but building regulations say that every effort still should be made towards this, she said.

The Renaissance-inspired Italianate exterior of the building, for instance, incorporates a number of steps going up to the front entrance, making universal accessibility there impossible, she said.

Previously, the council had looked at a pedestrian access point in the laneway between Castle Street and Little Ship Street, but the Office of Public Works (OPW) had reservations about this, as it would involve opening up part of the historic walls, so the idea was dropped, the council report on the project says.

Instead, the council agreed to an alternative with the OPW, which owns buildings along the northern boundary at Castle Street. The new access point is going to be at 10 Castle Street, she said. That “will bring you in at a level, which is the same as the level of the nave”.

This point will provide access to performers, equipment, and people with wheelchairs or any mobility issues, she said.

At the back of the church, the old Sexton’s House, which hasn’t been used for years, will be incorporated into a reception area, and nearby, toilets will be added to the existing open area, she said.

“So we will be providing a certain amount of a sanitary area, not as much as you would normally have,” she said. “But as much as is reasonable.”

A concrete area behind the church is also going to link to the reception area, which will allow attendants to view the church graveyard – one of the last untouched medieval graveyards in the city, she said.

Within the church, the plan is to keep and refurbish all of the existing seating, she said, which means “there is a limited sight line from the upper level”.

Management

The refurbishment is being carried out by the council, said a spokesperson for the dean of Christ Church Cathedral on Tuesday.

And in return for undertaking those works and assuming responsibility for the ongoing maintenance and management of the building, the council has proposed it takes full control of the church, the council’s report to the area committee says.

This would be on a lease with limited access granted to Christ Church Cathedral for services and choir performances free of charge, the report says, with the details of this lease subject to the approval of councillors.

Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn said he was delighted the building is going to get some love and care.

He spent a lot of time in the church when he was a kid, he said at the meeting. “It was a fantastic place to be in, certainly a great place to hide in when you were mitching school, because no Catholics would come in.”

It would be good if the church mainly had a community use, as there aren’t enough community centres in the area, he said. “While I do understand the commercial aspects of it, I do believe that it needs to have a community purpose.”

Yeates, the city arts officer, said there are three kinds of uses for venues: private for rehearsals; rentable or semi-private for concerts and community meetings; and community use, which is free.

“Everyone’s trying to get public use into things where people feel free to walk into somewhere and use it,” he said.

But one big challenge for the management is deciding how to monetise different activities that go on in the venue, he said. “So some of them are going to be free. Some of them are going to be charged. Some of them are going to be funded.”

There will have to be an income model put together by the management to make the venue viable, he said. “So the right operator needs to be found.”

Dublin City Council as the operator would be a very expensive option, he said, but an independent cultural operator could make it work.

It isn’t a deconsecrated church, Yeates said. “This is a very important point, and it’s our licensed relationship with the church that’s going to define a lot of how we operate the building.”

The church could be used by many spiritual groups in the city, not just Church of Ireland groups, Yeates said.

“So the word that comes up for me is: what is the business plan? What would be your source of activity and revenue, and I think that is as critical to its ongoing success.”

The next step is for the council to develop a Part 8 planning application and bring it to the area committee and the full council for approval, but it’s unclear when that will happen.