The Archdiocese of Dublin wants Dublin city council to rezone dozens of church sites for housing.
It comes on the back of proposals to tighten the rules around such plots of land.
In a 130-page submission, the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin has called on the city council to zone a number of its sites for future homebuilding.
It includes 33 churches in places such as Terenure, Artane, Drimnagh and James's Street according to the Irish Times.
It follows plans by the council to introduce stricter zoning rules around such sites that would only allow housing and office developments in exceptional circumstances.
The archdiocese says there are no current plans to change the use of any of the churches but that it wants the option to build homes on some sites in the future.
It also listed a number of church-owned schools in the capital and asked the council to consider alternative zoning across these sites as well.
