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Christ Church Cathedral (founded c.1028) is the spiritual heart of the city, and one of the top visitor attractions in Dublin. Enjoy the cathedral’s beautiful interior and fascinating medieval crypt.
Explore the crypt – Follow the steps that bring you beneath the cathedral and explore the medieval crypt, one of the largest in Britain and Ireland, and the earliest surviving structure in the city. The crypt houses fascinating memorials, the cat and the rat, the Treasury (an exhibition of manuscripts and treasures), an audio visual presentation, the cathedral shop and the cathedral café.
Follow in the footsteps of pilgrims – Christ Church Cathedral was a major pilgrimage site in the medieval period, with an important collection of relics ranging from a miraculous speaking cross to a piece from the crib of Jesus. Today, it is still possible to see one of these relics, the heart of Laurence O’Toole, patron saint of Dublin.
Visit the ‘Cat & the Rat’ – A mummified cat and rat are the most unusual inhabitants of the crypt and are mentioned by James Joyce in “Finnegan’s Wake”.
Experience Evensong – The choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, enjoys an enviable reputation as one of Ireland’s finest choirs, and is constantly in demand to perform in concerts, on tours and on radio broadcasts nationwide. Tracing its origins to 1493 with the founding of the choir school, the cathedral choir has always been highly regarded in Dublin’s musical life and took part in the first performance of Handel’s Messiah in Dublin in 1742.
Opening Times Mon-Sat:
March, October 9.30 am-6.00 pm
April-Sept 9.30 am–7.00 pm
Nov-Feb 9.30 am-5.00 pm
Opening times Sundays:
March, October 12.30 pm-3.15 pm, 4.30 pm-6.00 pm
April -Sept 12.30 pm-3.15 pm, 4.30 pm-7.00 pm
Nov -Feb 12.30 pm-3.15 pm
Closed 26 December
Christchurch Place, Dublin 8.
Tel: 01 677 8099.
Adults €8; concessions.
Guided tours of the cathedral, which now all incorporate the belfry, take place at 11.00 am, 12.10 pm, 2.00 pm, 3.00 pm and 4.00 pm Monday – Friday; and at 2.00 pm, 3.00 pm and 4.00 pm on Saturday. All guided tours give you the opportunity to visit the belfry and ring the bells of Christ Church Cathedral yourself. The tour costs €4 (on top of the €8 normal visitor fee). There are no guided tours on Sundays.