Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Beneath Christ Church runs the largest medieval crypt in Britain or Ireland: 63 metres of stone vaulting put up in 1172–73, and the oldest building still in use anywhere in Dublin. That crypt, not the cathedral above it, is the reason to buy a ticket. It holds the Treasures of Christ Church exhibition, and tucked among the silver and manuscripts is the cathedral’s oddest exhibit, a mummified cat and a rat the cat was chasing into an organ pipe when both got stuck and dried out. James Joyce name-checks them in Finnegans Wake; Dubliners call them Tom and Jerry.

Be clear about what you’re paying for: above ground this is a fairly compact cathedral, and you can see the nave in fifteen minutes. The value is downstairs, and on the guided tour.

In the crypt: the Treasures

The Treasures of Christ Church fill the restored 12th-century crypt. The headline pieces are a rare 14th-century copy of the Magna Carta Hiberniae, the gilt royal plate given by King William III in 1697 as thanks for the Battle of the Boyne, and the heart of St Laurence O’Toole, Dublin’s 12th-century archbishop and patron saint, kept in a heart-shaped iron reliquary. Audio-visual displays run through the cathedral’s near-thousand years, and the cat and rat sit in their case nearby.

Strongbow and the nave

The nave is built over the tomb of Strongbow, Richard de Clare, the Anglo-Norman earl who captured Dublin in 1170 and whose arrival reshaped the city. It was Strongbow’s impetus that saw the original Viking timber church rebuilt in stone from 1172. The floor keeps its medieval tiles, and the long rivalry with St Patrick’s Cathedral over which was Dublin’s senior church ran for centuries before a 1300 agreement let both stand.

The bells and the belfry

Christ Church is often billed as holding a world record for the number of change-ringing bells, nineteen of them, though the cathedral more modestly calls them world-famous. If you do one thing here beyond the crypt, take the guided rather than the self-guided tour: it includes the 86-step climb to the belfry for a wide view over the rooftops, and you may get to ring a bell under the ringers’ supervision. The self-guided ticket doesn’t get you up there.

History in brief

The earliest record places a church here around 1030, founded by Dúnán, the first bishop of Dublin, and Sitriuc (Sitric Silkenbeard), the Norse king of Dublin, on high ground above the Viking settlement at Wood Quay. It was one of only two churches in the whole city. The stone cathedral that followed the Norman takeover was reformed under Archbishop Laurence O’Toole from the 1160s. By the 19th century the fabric was failing, and a sweeping restoration by the architect George Edmund Street between 1871 and 1878 — paid for almost single-handedly by the whiskey distiller Henry Roe — gave the building much of the silhouette it has today.

Visiting

Opening hours

Hours genuinely vary by day, with earlier closing on Tuesday and Thursday and a Sunday break around services, so check before you set out. Last admission is 45 minutes before closing, and as a working cathedral it can close at short notice for services or events.

Admission

These are the door prices; booking online is cheaper. Entry is free with a Go City Dublin Pass, and the DoDublin Days Out Card gives 40% off. Audio guides come in nine languages plus Irish Sign Language, with three themed routes to choose from. A combined ticket with Dublinia next door works out well if you’re doing both.

Getting there and parking

The cathedral is in the heart of medieval Dublin on Christ Church Place, an easy walk from Temple Bar and the Liffey quays, and about ten minutes on foot from the Four Courts Luas stop on the Red Line. There’s no on-site parking; the nearest car park is Q-Park Christ Church.

Nearby

• Dublinia – the Viking and medieval Dublin experience, linked to the cathedral by its covered stone bridge.
• Leo Burdock’s – cross the road for chips from Dublin’s oldest chipper, going over 100 years.
• Chester Beatty Library – a free, world-class collection of manuscripts and art in the Dublin Castle grounds, a few minutes’ walk away.