History of Zion

Zion Church opened its doors on All Saints’ Day, 1st November 1861 and was consecrated in 1862. The funds to create the church and school came from a bequest from John Gold. The building was vested in trustees appointed in furtherance of Gold’s will and in accordance with relevant Acts of Parliament.

The Trustees appointed a management committee. Chapel wardens were appointed at the first General Vestry meeting held on Easter Monday 1862. The first select vestry was elected in April 1871 but the management committee continued to act until 1877. The Diocesan Council assigned a pastoral district in 1885.

In 1921, the trusts in regard to Zion Church were ended, the property was transferred to the Representative Church Body and the former parochial district was constituted a Parish.

Some Key dates in the History of the Parish

1855 John Gold (Gould), stockbroker, dies, bequeathing funds to build a church in Rathgar.

1861 Zion Church opens for worship, 1st November. Governed by trustees.

1862 Zion Church consecrated on 21st November by Archbishop Richard Whately.

1863 Zion boys’ and girls’ schools open.

1871 Church of Ireland disestablished – no longer controlled by
parliament. The first Zion parish Select Vestry is elected.

1885 A pastoral district is assigned to Zion Church.

1897 The present organ installed, built by Norman Bros. & Beard, Norwich.

1898 Sexton’s residence built.

1905 Hydraulic motor installed to supply wind for organ bellows.

1914 Electric lighting installed, replacing gas.

1921  Zion Church vested in the Representative Church Body and
becomes part of the parish system.

1925 No.5 Bushy Park Road purchased as the rectory.

1930 Oak panelling in chancel completed.

1937 Pew rents abolished.

1955 Chapel in memory of Chancellor Parkinson Hill consecrated.

1961   Parochial hall built as a centenary project. Previously, the
school was used for parish activities.

1966   Zion school, with 246 pupils, becomes largest Church of
Ireland primary school in ROI, reflecting housing growth.

1974 First regular CofI Folk Eucharist in ROI introduced.

1974 Rectory moves to 18 Bushy Park Road.

1984 North transept converted into three commercial offices.

1997 First burial of ashes in Garden of Remembrance.

1998 Extension to parish school opened.

1999 The Eucharist twice a month at the main Sunday service becomes the norm.

2001 First parish administrator appointed.

2012 Archbishop Harper of Armagh preaches at 150th anniversary
Eucharist. Hospitality area created under the west gallery.

2016 Modern toilet facilities installed.

2019 New PA system installed.

Rectors of Zion Parish
1861-1895  The Rev’d James Hewitt
1895-1900 The Rev’d Arthur Robinson Barton
1900-1919 The Rev’d William Joseph Clarke
1919-1950 The Rev’d Louis Parkinson Hill
1950-1954 The Rev’d Ernest George Daunt
1954-1971 The Rev’d Denis Robert Coote Hilliard
1971-1988 The Rev’d Robert Alexander Warke
1988-2010 The Rev’d Wilbert Gourley
2011-2022 The Rev’d Stephen Andrew Farrell

Current Rector: The Rev’d David Patrick John White

Curates Assistant of Zion Parish
1862-1864 The Rev’d Richard Burgess Labarte
1863-1867 The Rev’d Nathaniel William Carre
1868-1870 The Rev’d George Augustus Clarke
1870-1874 The Rev’d James Burkitt
1875-1883 The Rev’d Phineas Hunt
1883-1886 The Rev’d Edwin Lewis Franklin
1886-1887 The Rev’d John Charles Frederick Brindley
1887-1889 The Rev’d John Clarence Dowse
1889-1894 The Rev’d Fergus William Greer
1894-1901 The Rev’d James Haythornthwaite
1901-1906 The Rev’d Arthur James Culwick
1906-1912 The Rev’d Robert Northridge
1912-1914 The Rev’d Charles James Latham
1915-1916 The Rev’d Alfred Gahagan Alexander
1916 The Rev’d Franklin Isaac Hutchinson
1917-1921 The Rev’d William Nesbitt Wilson Harvey
1921-1923 The Rev’d Ernest Maunsell Bateman
1923-1926 The Rev’d Noble Holton Hamilton
1926-1933 The Rev’d Norman David Emerson
1934-1939 The Rev’d Douglas George David Harpur
1940-1944 The Rev’d Leslie Aidan Elliott
1944-1945 The Rev’d John Ernest Leeman
1945-1949 The Rev’d Charles Francis Whitley
1949-1954 The Rev’d Victor Samuel Dungan
1954-1957 The Rev’d Cecil Albert Faull
1957-1961 The Rev’d John Herbert Boyle Talbot
1961-1963 The Rev’d Ronald Duncan Baker
1964-1967 The Rev’d Gerald Mark David Woodworth
1968-1971 The Rev’d Cecil William Bryan
1972 The Rev’d William Cecil Gibbon Proctor
1972-1976 The Rev’d Robin Edward Bantry White
1977-1979 The Rev’d Dermot Patrick Roy Carmody
1980-1983 The Rev’d Richard Benjamin Rountree
1983-1986 The Rev’d Marcus Charles Losack
1986-1989 The Rev’d Michael Geoffrey St Aubyn Jackson

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For information about our Stained Glass windows please see: HERE

New Stained Glass Booklet

A new booklet called ‘Glorious and Transcendent: The Stained Glass Windows of Zion Parish Church’ is now available for sale. Written by the Rector, it contains detailed descriptions of all our windows along with a reflection on each for prayer and contemplation.

Costing just €5, it is available from the church and the parish office. (It may also be posted with an extra cost for postage.)

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Some drawings from the archives can be found: HERE

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Model of Zion Church
Victor Styles

The model of Zion Church was built from a collection of scrap and discarded materials, mainly plywood off-cuts. It was started in 1979 and built from a ground plan set out to scale.
The walls were cut out and the space for the windows removed with a fret-saw. The window panes were made from left-over material from Bewley’s cafe after Easter, when they were finished making the boxes to hold the Easter eggs, and were supplied free of charge.
The seats were made from balsa-wood which was presented from leftovers after a model aeroplane had been built by a friend, and the ends of the pews were shaped from lollipop sticks. The front of the choir stalls and the balconies were also made from match-sticks and lollipop sticks. The organ pipes were made from off-cuts in doweling, and, in one or two cases, pencils cut to size.
The baptismal font and in some cases the plaques on the walls were made from plastic rawlplugs. The carpet up the centre of the aisle was a discarded tape from the handlebars of a bicycle. The design for the Chapel of Memory surround was made from plywood and a cut-away plastic hair-curler and painted to suit. The round windows were made from the ends of cotton reels and glued into position with cellophane glued behind, and a plastic strip as the surround; these strips were also used to make the windows of the belfry and the small tower containing the steps of the choir stalls and organ, and were obtained from an old filing case.
The brass work surrounding the pulpit came from a gold strip of plastic in a discarded record-player; the remainder of the pulpit surround and the doors leading to the vestry were made from match-sticks and small pieces of plywood aided by the occasional cocktail stick wherever the pieces were required to be round. The bowl of flowers on the pulpit was shaped from a small piece of telephone cable stripped back to expose the coloured inner cables which represent the flowers.
With the aid of off-cut mouldings the top of the wall panelling (which was made from lollipop sticks) and the outside wall of the church were completed, and, the facing of the walls with a mixture of seaside sand and a half-time of leftover emulsion mixed together. The tiles for the roof and the supports around the outside walls were individually cut from a used 1980 Irish Times calendar, and this operation alone took six months to complete in spare time.
The Notice Board outside the church is made from match-sticks and lollipop sticks, and the steel-work from a hair clip. The notice itself was printed and then reduced to size by a special camera, which was also completed free of charge. The roof of the Boiler-house is made from an old broken-up coil from a motor-car.
The lead window effect was created by using a very thin black plastic strip, generally used to represent rules or borders in magazines or newspapers and is stripped on separately to represent the lead windows. The painting was also completed by myself.
The use of lollipop sticks, match-sticks and cocktail sticks along with very small pieces of plywood or hard card were used in the making of the plaques for the walls, the number boards and numerous small items. The floor-covering was left over after decorating a doll’s house, and was presented free, as was the weather cock, which was a cake decoration.
The tower which houses the spiral staircase to the organ and choir stalls was made from a broken wooden candle-stick.
Finally, all the design work was completed with a fretsaw, and in many cases the piece had to be made several times due to the delicate work involved and the tendency to break in the process.
Zion Church is a beautifully designed church and there are many places that can only be discovered and visited with the help of Mr. Murphy, for whom I am very grateful for his help and assistance in permitting me to study and take sketches of the various sections prior to making them.