Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church, Dublin

Situated in the heart of Dublin City Centre, this Roman Catholic church is under the care of the Carmelite order and renowned for housing the relics of Saint Valentine, donated in the 19th century by Pope Gregory XVI, having been transferred from their previous resting place in Rome's cemetery of Saint Hippolytus. The church itself occupies the site of a pre-Reformation Carmelite priory established in 1539. Its current structure, designed by George Papworth, dates back to 1825 and shares an architect with the Saint Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin.

Remarkably, the church has remained largely unchanged since 1844, boasting exquisite stained-glass windows and an impressive array of sixteen intricately crafted statues and shrines. Notably, among these shrines is the one dedicated to Our Lady of Dublin, a precious relic hailing from the ancient Cistercian Abbey formerly located on Abbey Street; another is dedicated to Saint Albert, a Sicilian martyr who passed away in 1306 and whose relic is ceremoniously dipped into the waters of Saint Albert's Well, believed to bestow healing upon those who partake. The Rosary windows, believed to be among the oldest in the church, were crafted in the renowned workshops of Early's of Camden Street, with one window dating back to 1831.

Visitors are welcome to capture the church's beauty through photography outside of worship services.