sentences:  Subscriptions were collected, and as was common in that period, came from people of various denominations.A design was commissioned by the well-known architect Patrick Byrne, who also worked on a number of other churches, and the first stone was laid in 1859.The church was officially opened in 1864 by the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Cullen, with a gala reception at a local "big house", Raheny Park, afterwards.