Dublin Civic Trust Learning

Repairing the Spire of ‘Findlater’s’ Abbey Church

This stimulating morning webinar will focus on the recent multi-disciplinary conservation of the soaring 180-foot (55m) steeple of the Abbey Presbyterian Church on Dublin’s Parnell Square. Commonly known as ‘Findlater’s Church’ on account of its founding and funding by the Scottish-born Dublin merchant Alexander Findlater (1797–1873), this distinctive example of the French Gothic was designed by Scottish architect Andrew Heiton and completed in 1864, located on a highly prominent site bookending Palace Row at the junction with Cavendish Row. Its beautiful spire is one of the most graceful features of Dublin’s skyline, ambitious in construction and beautiful in scenographic effect.

High-level cement-based repairs carried out to the granite and Portland stone spire after 1960 accelerated decay of the original materials which, in addition to weathering, precipitated later falls of masonry. This resulted in protective scaffolding being erected around the spire which remained in place for 18 years until the recent works got underway, funded by grant assistance from the Historic Structures Fund and fundraising by the Abbey Church congregation.

In this fascinating webinar, a series of detailed visual and technical presentations by the multi-disciplinary design team will lead attendees through the staged approach taken to repairing the spire. Themes will include surveying with challenging access restrictions, design brief and tendering in the context of significant variables, complex scaffolding, structural assessment, materials defects, approaches to repair, cleaning and weatherproofing.