St. Peter's parish, erected by order of council in 1680, is the largest in the city, comprising the ancient parishes of St. Peter and St. Kevin, and a portion of that of St. Stephen.
It contains 27,176 inhabitants, and 2260 houses valued at £5 and upwards, the total annual value being £124,865. 10.
It is a vicarage, united to the rectories of Tawney, Rathfarnham, Donnybrook, and district of Booterstown, together forming the corps of the archdeaconry of Dublin, in the patronage of the Archbishop ; the minister's money is £1086. 15. 4., and the gross annual income is £2768, out of which there are 12 curates to be paid. The church, situated in Aungier-street, is a very large unornamented building, in the form of the letter T : the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have granted £735. 0. 6. for its repair.
In the attached cemetery are interred the remains of many persons of rank ; those of the celebrated John Fitzgibbon, Earl of Clare, lie here under a plain tombstone ; Maturin, the poet, who was curate of the parish, is also buried here.
There are within its limits three chapels of ease, one in Kevin-street, one in Upper Mount-street, Merrion-square, and a third at Rathmines ; and within the parish are Sandford Episcopal chapel at Cullenswood, and an Episcopal chapel in Upper Baggot-street.
The church or chapel of St. Kevin is a plain edifice, in the form of the letter T, situated to the south of Kevin-street ; it appears to have been erected on the site of an ancient chapel dedicated to St. Kevin.
The chapel in Upper Mount-street, dedicated to St. Stephen, is an elegant structure. The portico is of the Ionic order; over the pediment rises the belfry tower, of octangular form, covered with a cupola, the apex of which is 100 feet high.
The Episcopal church in Upper Baggot-street, with a female penitentiary attached, was erected in 1835 by subscription, at a cost of upwards of £6000 : the exterior is plain, but the interior is exceedingly handsome ; it will accommodate 1200, and has from 300 to 400 free seats : the appointment of the chaplain is in nine trustees.
The Episcopal chapel of the Magdalen Asylum, in Leeson-street, is also in this parish.
There are parochial schools for boys, girls, and infants ; schools at Sandford chapel for boys, girls, and infants ; a Methodist female orphan school ; St. Stephen's male and female day school in Mount-street ; Bride-street parochial female school ; day schools at Hatch-street and Cuff-lane ; two in Whitefriar-street ; two at Rathmines and Miltown ; two other infants' schools and five Sunday schools. There is also a parochial dispensary, and a loan fund established in 1813.
