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Irish history.

The cathedral was founded in the year 1038 by Sitric, king of the Dublin Norsemen, for Dunan, the first bishop of Dublin, who erected a simple wooden church. After the coming of the Norman’s to Ireland in 1169 , the church was rebuilt in stone by Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke (known as 'Strongbow') for Laurence O'Toole, archbishop of Dublin. Neither lived to see this church of reconciliation between the two traditions completed.

Strongbow died in 1176 and Laurence (soon to be Saint Laurence and patron saint of Dublin ) at Eu in Normandy in 1180 where he was buried . Strongbow's memorial is in the cathedral nave, while the heart of Saint Laurence is in a 13th century reliquary in the chapel of Saint Laud.

VIEW ALSO the 'leaning wall of Dublin', the north nave wall almost 18 inches out of perpendicular since 1562; the south transept, the oldest part of the upper church and dating from about 1180, where are to be seen unusual examples of late Norman and early Gothic styles of architecture overlapping one another; many fine 16th - 19th century monumental sculptures and brasses.

The crypt (lower church), dating from 1172, is unique in Ireland for its scale and size, being almost as large as the entire upper church. It is a store house of fascinating relics - including the punishment stocks of the old 'liberty' of Christ Church, the famous 'cat and mouse' known to every Dublin child and the 1689 candlesticks and tabernacle of James II.

Description

Irish history.

The building of a new Cathedral was begun about 10 years later. The crypt of this church, which is still well preserved below the present structure, is the only one of this period in England or Ireland which stretches under the whole length of the building. The crypt contains many 12th and 13th century architectural fragments which formed part of the church, and also statues of Charles 1 and 11 made in 1684 for the Tholsel which no longer exists.

Otherwise the only parts of the original 12th century church which survive are the north and south transepts which are constructed in the best Romanesque style with three sets of windows one above the other. Some of the capitals might be later, including one capital with figures at the corner of the nave and north transept; the use of such figures shows English influence in the building of the church.

The present nave was probably built by Archbishop John Comyn around 1212, but the western bay was added after 1234, and in its lower portions it has been considerably restored in the last century. A new belfry was erected in 1330 to replace an earlier one which had been blown down.

The choir was rebuilt soon after 1250, but its present form is due largely to Street's reconstruction of 1871-8 during which very considerable parts of the Cathedral as it now stands were rebuilt. The whole was splendidly restored in the 1980s. To the north-east of the choir is the chapel of St. Mary the Great (not normally accessible) which was rebuilt in the second half of the thirteenth century.

The effigy of an armoured knight now under one of the south bays of the nave, is traditionally thought to represent Strongbow, but it really dates to around 1340. In the choir of the Cathedral are preserved some other tombstones including one of a 12th or 13th century bishop. Remains of the 13th century Chapter House of the Augustinians can be seen to the south of the south transept; originally it fronted on to a cloister to the south of the nave which has long since disappeared.

The priory was suppressed in 1539 and given over to the Dean and Chapter. In 1562 the roof and the south wall of the nave fell, and the tower was replaced in 1608.