There are two main churches in Dublin: Christ Church Cathedral and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Of course the second is the most important as Saint Patrick is the patron of Ireland. We saw both the cathedrals in one afternoon in Dublin.
Christ Church is located in the heart of the city and not far away from St. Patrick’s Church. It is called also The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. This church is even older than the main cathedral and is the only one that can be seen from the River Liffey.
It is not sure but thought that the church was founded around 1028. It was overlooking the Viking settlement as it was built on high ground, but also outside the city walls. It was founded after the pilgrimage of King Sitric Silkenbeard, the Hibernian-Norse king of that time, and king of the Danes.
It was initially a wooden structure and only around 1180 Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and Lord of Leinster. The design was inspired by the Western architecture of Gothic.
Curious the fact that here in 1487 Lambert Simnel was coronated as King Edward VI. He was an imposter to the throne of England of humble origin but educated to be a king at 10 years old only.
1493 the choir school was founded.
From 1539 the church was converted into a cathedral by king Henry VIII. Many kings and queens gave credit to the cathedral and improving the religious house from time to time. In 1551 the service was given the very first time in English instead of the formal Latin. Only 9 years later the bible was read in English, too.
Between 1871 and 1878 the cathedral was extensively renovated, such as the baptistery was built in place of the north porch and the 14th century choir was demolished. The cost would have been today around 26 million €.
Further renovations were made recently between 1980 and 1982.
We found Christ Church in the heart of the Medieval center of Dublin. We walked inside the church, sitting and admiring the simple beauty of the architecture and I wondered how many people are walking here just looking at the church and how many once came here hoping for divine help.
I was particularly impressed by the colorful tiles of the pavement. Normally the pavement is more ‘decent’, appropriate. The tiles have bright colors with very vivid designs.
The high, narrow Gothic vaults make the church appear even higher than it is already.
Beautiful, colorful windows let in a lot of light.
We didn’t walk over to the Synod Hall which would be possible through a bridged path. Here is housed the Dublinia exhibition about Medieval Dublin.
Christ Church, Dublin, Co. Leinster/Ireland:
For further information:
Dublin Webside
Website of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin
