Christ Church Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral is one of Dublin’s oldest and most significant historical buildings. It’s origins date back to almost one thousand years ago, when a Danish King, Sitric, constructed a wooden church here around 1038 AD (Christ Church Cathedral, 2005). This wooden church was replaced with the cathedral we know today in 1172 AD by Strongbow (Richard de Clare), after the Norman invasion of Ireland (Christ Church Cathedral, 2005). The cathedral was heavily renovated in the late 19th century (1871), which was fully funded by Henry Roe, a Dublin distiller (1172 – Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, 2010). It’s location lies just off Winetavern Street and Christchurch Place.

Physical remains

Unfortunately, remains of the original wooden

It runs almost the entire length of the church, except for the west bay of the nave of the church which was added in the 13th century (O’Keeffe, 2003, pg. 97). Inside the crypt are stone columns which help to support the church above, and also numerous historical artefacts (1172 – Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, 2010).
According to (Christ Church Cathedral, 2005), in the Chapel of St. Laurence O’Toole, were surviving floor tiles from the 13th century that were re-used elsewhere in the cathedral during the restoration in the 19th century. The vault of the church collapsed in 1562, leading to the destruction of the south wall of the nave (O’Keeffe, 2003), which was rebuilt in the 17th century (Christ Church Cathedral, 2005). This collapse, along with other poorly built renovations, eventually led to the much better 19th century

Long Choir

A choir in a church is the seating area for members of both the clergy and the choir. The original choir in this church was extended by about ten metres (which then became known as the “Long Choir”) in the 1350s by John de St Paul (1358 – Long Choir, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, 2013). As the church got older the choir began to fall apart like the rest of the building, eventually leading to it being demolished and rebuilt in the renovation during the 19th century.

Importance

Christ Church Cathedral is one of Dublin’s, and Ireland’s, most historically iconic buildings. Therefore it is undoubtedly important to the modern archaeologist. The reason for it’s historical importance is due to how it was built by Richard de Clare (one of the men whom led the Norman invasion of Ireland). It is also one of only two Protestant cathedrals in Dublin (the second church is St. Patrick’s Cathedral). As for it’s age; the original church was built almost a millennium ago, and the current structure was built c. eight hundred years