1 Christ Church Cathedral
2 Dublin Castle and Chester Beatty Library
3 General Post Office
4 Guinness Storehouse
5 James Joyce Cultural Centre
6 Kilmainham Gaol
7 National Gallery
8 National Museum
9 Trinity College and the Book of Kells
10 St Patrick's Cathedral
Dublin's oldest stone building and stronghold of the Protestant faith in Ireland was saved from ruin by extensive Victorian restoration.
Built on the site of the Norse king Sitric Silkenbeard's wooden church of 1038, this Romanesque and early Gothic church was commissioned in 1172 by Richard de Clare, the Anglo-Norman conqueror of Dublin - better known as Strongbow - for Archbishop Laurence O'Toole. The archbishop later became St Laurence, patron of Dublin, whose heart remains in the cathedral in a 13th-century metal casket.
After Henry VIII broke with Rome, Robert Castle, the last prior of the Augustinian priory of Holy Trinity, became the first dean of Christ Church in 1541. In 1562 the nave roof vaulting collapsed, crushing Strongbow's tomb and leaving the cathedral in ruins. Temporary measures to shore up the damage remained in place until the 1870s, and the roof, to the present day, still leans out by 46cm (18 inches). During the 16th and 17th centuries Christ Church's crypt was used as a market, a meeting place and even a pub. Heavy restoration at the expense of Henry Roe, a local whiskey distiller, was undertaken by architect George Edmund Street in the 1870s. Although little remains of the original Norman structure - only the south transept and the crypt - the cathedral was saved from complete decay. Further work took place in the 1980s and 1990s, including the restoration of the 12th-century crypt. This contains an intriguing range of relics and objects, including the old wooden punishment stocks. The exhibition `Treasures of Christ Church' reflects 1,000 years of history, architecture and worship in Ireland.Url: www.cbl.ie
Address: Christchurch Place
Phone: 677 8099
Hours: Mon-Fri 9:45-5, Sat-Sun 10-5
Bus: Cross-city buses
Train: Tara Street
Accessible: Good
Admission: Moderate
Other: Dvblinia
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