St. Mary’s Church, located on Athlunkard Street, opened its doors in 1932, replacing an earlier chapel that had served the community since 1749. The original chapel, which held its first mass on December 10, 1749, stood on this site for nearly two centuries. Today, the only remaining element of that eighteenth-century church is the holy water font, now situated at the rear of the new church. Initially, this land was rented from Alderman Ingrim, and the parishioners had previously worshipped in a rented Malt House. The new St. Mary’s Church was designed by Ashlin & Coleman of Dublin, at a cost of £40,000. The foundation stone was laid on May 11, 1930, by the Bishop of Limerick, and the first mass in the new church was celebrated in 1932.
John Ferrar’s description of the old St. Mary’s Chapel in his ‘History of Limerick’ 1787
In the little island, was finished in the year 1749, and is dedicated to St. Mary. It was built in the form of a cross, near an hundred feet in length. The altar is placed northward, the situation of the ground not permitting it to be placed eastward. In the year 1760, a good altar piece, consisting of different orders of architecture, was erected in this chapel, with a painting of the crucifixion, done after the celebrated one of Michael Angelo, by one of the best artists in Italy, which with the altar piece, was erected at the sole expense of Mr John Kelly, merchant, and cost near two hundred pounds.