Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin — Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

Christ Church Cathedral has stood at the heart of Dublin since around 1030, when Dunnan, the first bishop of Dublin, and Sitriuc, the Norse king, founded the original structure. It is one of the oldest buildings in Dublin and the older of the city's two medieval cathedrals.

The cathedral was transformed in the 1170s when Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, better known as Strongbow, rebuilt it as the stone structure visible today. Strongbow's involvement is not just historical footnote. His tomb (or a monument attributed to him) remains inside the cathedral, one of the most iconic medieval artifacts in Ireland.

The crypt beneath the nave is the largest cathedral crypt in Britain or Ireland, constructed between 1172 and 1173. Walking through it, you pass beneath arches that have supported the building above for over 850 years. Among its more unusual residents are a mummified cat and rat, found trapped together in an organ pipe and now displayed behind glass.

By 1869, the cathedral had fallen into serious disrepair. Whiskey distiller Henry Roe funded an extensive restoration supervised by architect George Edmund Street between 1871 and 1878, spending the equivalent of millions at today's prices. The cathedral as it appears today is heavily Victorian in character due to these restorations.

Christ Church and St. Patrick's Cathedral sit less than 500 meters apart, creating one of the densest concentrations of medieval religious architecture in Ireland. A Questo quest through medieval Dublin connects both cathedrals with the surrounding streets, revealing a city built on Viking, Norman, and Irish foundations.