Dublin Cathedrals

 This is a post which Eva and Brad wrote for our academic blog about our trip to the Dublin Cathedrals. This blog contains the adventures of Brad, Meghann, Elizabeth, and Eva. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday afternoon we took the DART into Dublin to visit two cathedrals! The first cathedral we visited was Christ's Church Cathedral. We were able to walk around the inside of the cathedral with a tour guide explains the interior and other important structures. The stone foundation was inspired by Roman design. However, in 1562, the roof of the cathedral collapsed, and the incident caused much destruction. The tombs, memorials, and tile flooring were ruined and needed definite restoration. The architecture was designed by George Henry Street. His work would cost around 13 million euros in today's economy. One of his restoration projects included the flying buttresses inside the cathedral. 

Another part of the restoration that our guide shared with us was the tiled flooring. In the chapel of St. Laud, the original tile was placed next to the restored tiling. It was interesting to see how similar the new tile looked. The original tiles were created out of dirt and shaped in square boxes and dried out until they were painted. These tiles were designed with medieval art. Also in the chapel of St. Laud sits a metal box, which belongs the precious relic that was stolen in 2012. 

The end of the cathedral was the choir which was separated by a screen. The clergy and monks were to be separated from the regular people. Despite the separation, a huge performance was held in the choir in 1742. Handel's Messiah was performed for the crowd. 

If you stand in the east wing, you will find yourself looking at a mix of Romanesque, Celtic and Gothic styles of architecture. This wing is the oldest park of the cathedral and holds stained glass pictures from the 1960s. From this wing, you can enter up to the bell tower. After climbing about 90 steps, you will find yourself in the bell tower of 19 bells. This is the largest set in Ireland and second largest in England. The heaviest bell weighs 2.5 tons. We were able to each take a tug on the rope and ring the bells. The tower was also used as protection. Not only is the tower built up tall, but the cathedral sits on a hill. The view covers quite a bit of land which helps with protection. Our guide also pointed out the holes that were in the winding staircase up to the bells. These holes were also used to see if enemies were coming up the tower. 

Our final stop on tour was downstairs, the crypt! The crypt at Christ's Church Cathedral is the largest in Ireland, and it stretches the whole length of the cathedral. It was first used as a burial, then as a warehouse and marketplace throughout the 20th century. There are three puns in the crypt; they are called heaven, hell, and purgatory! Although these puns have existed for quite some time, the floor of the crypt was dirt until 2000. The crypt held a collection of different treasures. A secular statue of King Charles the first and second were on display. The dresses used in the modern show, Tudors, was staged for people to marvel over. Of all the different pieces to look st that gave this cathedral its personality, I got a laugh from the "Tom and Jerry" exhibit. One of the organ players at the church thought that the sound was off. He took apart the pipes and found a cat chasing a mouse stuck in the pipes and dried out to death. The air passing through dried and preserved the cat and mouse quite well. 

The tour was lovely and very informative; afterward, we were able to look around the crypt and head back to the ground floor. It was great to visit a cathedral and see how well they have preserved and restored the beauty that remains in the cathedral. 


After touring the Christ's Church Catherdral, we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral which Brad wrote about. 

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is right in the heart of Dublin City Centre. It is known as the National Cathedral of Ireland, but the archbishop of Dublin has his seat in Christ Church. It is one of two Church of Ireland Protestant Churches in Dublin and is the largest church in all of Ireland. 

The Church receives no funding from the state and is solely funded by the attendants and people who want to tour the church. Around 300,000 people visit the church each year. One interesting fact was that Saint Patrick’s was the area where some of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising was condemned to death and then brought to prison. Like many churches, this area is also used as a burial site. Over 500 people are buried underneath the church or in the graveyard outside the church.

 The church still has a children's choir that was for boys only, but now, it has more girls as most boys quit when their voices begin to change. The boys that stick with the choir are considered professional and are paid for being a part of the choir, but, oddly enough, the girls do not get paid. There is a very large and beautiful organ in the church that has over 4,000 pipes that date back to 1695 but was most recently restored in 1963.

This was a self-guided tour which gave us an opportunity to search the premises of the church on own. This meant we could spend more time looking at the things that interest us and not stuck only looking at the guided tour pieces. This did make it harder to have to read everything on our own for research, but this also drove me to do some more research online afterward where I learned about the choir of the church that I did not know just from visiting the church. It still feels a bit odd to me to be in a church as a tourist site as I know that some people still use that place as their place of worship. I have a strong respect for buildings like that to appreciate their history, but still, recognize their true purpose today for worship.