The former Christ Church Leeson Park in Dublin has been sold by the Church of Ireland to the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ireland.
The church is estimated to have sold for more than €4 million and was purchased with financial assistance from the government in Romania.
In a statement, the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Ireland and Iceland said Christ Church in Leeson Park, Dublin, is to become “the Episcopal Cathedral of the Diocese”.
Describing the purchase as a “historic achievement”, the Romanian diocese said the purchase was made possible through “the generous support” of the department for Romanians abroad, part of the Romanian government, “through the contributions of donors, and through the sacrifice of all those who offered their time, effort and resources to make this dream come true”.
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The church would be “the heart of Romanian Orthodoxy in Ireland and Iceland” and “a symbol of unity and of the living presence of our ancestral faith in these lands”, it said.
In an accompanying statement, the Romanian embassy in Ireland said the church would allow Romanians “to continue carrying out religious, educational and social activities, as well as the promotion and preservation of cultural values and traditions within the Romanian community in Ireland”.
The Romanian Orthodox community in Dublin had been holding services at Christ Church Leeson Park since 2004 by agreement with the Church of Ireland.
According to the 2022 census, there were then more than 105,827 Orthodox Christians in Ireland, of whom 42,460 were Romanian Orthodox, making it one of the largest group of Orthodox Christians in Ireland.
Last March Christ Church Leeson Park was deconsecrated by Church of Ireland Archbishop Michael Jackson of Dublin and put on the property market.
It closed as a Church of Ireland parish in 2007 but continued to be used by the Romanian Orthodox Church.
It was put up for sale last April at a guide price of €4.75 million.
A listed building at the intersection of Dublin 4 and Dublin 6 postcodes, it was expected to attract interest from property developers and investors involved in high-end residential accommodation.
Towards the end of 2024, when told the church was to be put up for sale, the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ireland launched a GoFundMe appeal.
Fr Călin Florea, the church’s parish priest, said at the time: “We do not yet know the sale price, but we estimate it to be around €4 million.
“The good news is that we have the opportunity to purchase this church ourselves, and the Anglican community are keen to preserve this church as a sacred space,” he said.
The goal was to raise €200,000 towards the sale price. The church was, the priest said, “reaching out to individuals and institutions that might support us, both in Ireland and abroad”.
On Sunday, the first Romanian Orthodox service since the purchase will take place in the new cathedral “to celebrate our return to our spiritual home”, Fr Florea said. All Romanians in Dublin and surrounding areas are invited, he said.
The former Church of Ireland archbishop John Neill of Dublin said he was “delighted” that the sale had “worked out”. “It is such a great outcome,” he said.
In a social media post, he recalled how “in my time over 40 years ago, I realised that the parish had simply begun to empty out”.
Ferdinand von Prondzynski, the former president of Dublin City University and now a priest with the Scottish Episcopal Church, said in a reply to the former archbishop’s post: “The writing has been on the wall for some time. But as you say, a good outcome.”
