The Dublin Hebrew Congregation is an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located at 32a Rathfarnham Road, in

Terenure Terenure (), originally called ''Roundtown'', is a middle class suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6 and D6W postal districts. The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Terenure was 17,972 as of the 2022 ce ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

History

In 1892 a new headquarters of the Dublin Hebrew Congregation was established. The building was consecrated by

Hermann Adler Hermann Adler HaKohen CVO (30 May 1839 – 18 July 1911; Hebrew: נפתלי צבי הירש הכהן אדלר) was the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire from 1891 to 1911. The son (and successor as Chief Rabbi) of Nathan Marcus Adler, the 1911 ...

, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, who declared "Ireland is the only country in the world which cannot be charged with persecuting Jews". The Terenure Hebrew Congregation was established at a meeting on 26 September 1936. The community aimed to provide services for members in the areas of

Rathgar Rathgar () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (off ...

Rathmines Rathmines (; ) is an inner suburb on the Southside (Dublin), Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal of Ireland, Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranela ...

, and

. The congregation rented rooms at 6 Grosvenor Place, Rathmines. In April 1940, the congregation purchased 52 Grosvenor Road. At Rosh Hashanah in 1948, the group moved to a

Nissen hut A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure originally for military use, especially as barracks, made from a 210° portion of a cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. It was designed during the First World War by the Canadian-American-British e ...

at “Leoville”, Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, which had been donated to the congregation by Woulfe Freedman and violinist Erwin Goldwater. Construction of a new synagogue began in August 1952 and was dedicated on 30 August 1953. The Nissen hut became a function hall.

Merger

A separate congregation, established at 36-7 Adelaide Road, had built a

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

synagogue in 1892. In January 1999, the Terenure Congregation and the Adelaide Road Congregation held

extraordinary general meeting An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body that occurs at an irregular time.' The term is usually used where the group wo ...

s (EGMs) at which the members of both congregations agreed to begin the process of merging the congregations. The Adelaide Road Synagogue was sold and some proceeds of the sale were used to build a new

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

and synagogue complex on the Terenure property. On 15 December 2004, the congregations held simultaneous EGMs and agreed to a complete merger. On 25 January 2005, the Dublin Hebrew Congregation held its first council meeting. The synagogue is located at 32a Rathfarnham Road, Dublin.

Fire

On 9 February 1966, the synagogue was set on fire. The synagogue was severely damaged and several Siffrei Torah were destroyed. The Nissen hut was converted back into a synagogue so that no Shabbat Services would be missed. On 26 May 1968, the congregation opened and dedicated the refurbished synagogue.

Burial grounds

Ballybough Cemetery, built in 1718, is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Ireland. As it reached capacity in the late 1800s, it was replaced by the current cemetery in

Dolphin's Barn Dolphin's Barn () is an inner city suburb of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the Southside of the city in the Dublin 8, and partially in the Dublin 12, postal district. Etymology The district's English name may derive from an Anglo-Norman famil ...

. The new cemetery was established in 1898 by Robert Bradlaw who raised £300 in donations to set up a new

chevra kadisha The term ''chevra kadisha'' () gained its modern sense of "burial society" in the nineteenth century. It is an organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that the bodies of deceased Jews are prepared for burial according to Jewish tra ...

References

External links

* {{Jews and Judaism in the Republic of Ireland 1936 establishments in Ireland 20th-century synagogues in Europe Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Ireland Ashkenazi synagogues Jewish Irish history Jewish organizations established in 1936 Jews and Judaism in Dublin (city) Orthodox synagogues in Europe

Synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...