John's Lane Church, Catholic church on Thomas Street, Dublin, Ireland

John's Lane Church is a Catholic church in the Gothic Revival style on Thomas Street in central Dublin, built from red sandstone and granite. Its tall tower rises well above the surrounding roofline, making the building easy to spot as you walk through that part of the city.

Aelred the Palmer, a Norman in Dublin, founded a monastery of Crossed Friars and the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem on this site around 1180. In 1316, Dubliners set fire to Thomas Street to stop Edward Bruce's army, and the flames destroyed St. John's church. After a small church of about 1740, Edward Welby Pugin and George C. Ashlin designed the present church, begun at Easter 1862; the spire and roof were finished in 1874, the exterior by 1895 and the interior by 1911.

The name honours St Augustine and St John the Baptist, though locals use John's Lane, the corner where the church stands. The twelve statues in the tower niches were carved by James Pearse, father of Patrick and Willie Pearse. The apse glass is by Mayer of Munich, while windows come from the Harry Clarke studio and Michael Healy.

The church sits on Thomas Street and is easy to reach on foot from the city center. If you want to look around without interruption, it is best to visit outside of service times.

The foreman and many workmen were Fenians, Irish republican activists, who ran into trouble with the authorities in 1865 and afterwards; the building was nicknamed "The Fenian Church" as a result. The spire, by William Hague, and the roof were finished in 1874, the year the church opened for Mass.