St. Mary's Dominican Church, Cork

St. Mary's Dominican Church and Priory, located in Cork, Ireland, is a significant religious institution run by the Dominican Order. The priory serves as a home for a community of Dominican friars, and it also houses a novitiate for the order. The construction of the church on the site of Pope's Quay began in 1832 and was completed in 1839, with Daniel O'Connell being present at its opening. The church was designed by Kearns Deane, a Protestant architect from the Deane family of architects, who did not charge for his services. Fr B.T. Russell was responsible for delivering the church, and in 1850, William Atkins designed the priory in a neo-Romanesque style. The sanctuary, including the pulpit and high altar, was designed by George Goldie.

In 1991, the church underwent extensive renovations, and in 2017, the St. Martin's Chapel was restored and renovated. The pastoral centre is also a part of St. Mary's, and it serves as a venue for counseling services and meetings of various groups, such as Alcoholics, Narcotics, and Gamblers Anonymous. The Lay Dominicans chapter also meets in the pastoral centre, and short courses in theology, philosophy, and Christology are offered by the order.

St. Mary's Cork is the Novitiate for the Dominicans' Province of Ireland, and it provides a year-long program for novices to study philosophy. After completing the program, novices make their first simple profession and move on to the Studium at St. Saviour’s Priory in Dublin for further study in philosophy and theology, culminating in taking vows.