Whitefriar Street Church

It's easy to walk past among the shops of Aungier Street, but this Carmelite church holds something that draws visitors from all over the world every 14 February: relics attributed to St Valentine.

1A gift from the Pope

The Carmelites had a priory in this area in the Middle Ages until it was suppressed at the Reformation. They returned in the 19th century, and the present church, by George Papworth, was completed in 1825. Its prior, Father John Spratt, was a well-known preacher. In 1835 he preached in Rome, and Pope Gregory XVI gave him, as a mark of esteem, remains taken from the cemetery of St Hippolytus that were attributed to St Valentine. They arrived in Dublin in 1836.

2Who was St Valentine?

This is where the mystery begins. Early sources mention at least two Valentines martyred in Italy in the third century, and their stories are so tangled with legend that the Church dropped his feast from the general calendar in 1969. The link with lovers appears much later, in English poetry of the late Middle Ages. Whether these bones belong to the saint cannot be proven.

The reliquary sits in a side chapel beneath a statue of the saint, and couples leave notes and prayers there.

The church also holds a life-size oak Virgin, Our Lady of Dublin, thought to date from the 16th century.

3What to look for

• The Virgin in the niche above the entrance.
• The columns of the doorway, standing out on a plain front.
• Inside, the reliquary casket, if the church is open: entry is free.