Christ Church Cathedral is situated on the western edge of Temple Bar in the heart of what was medieval Dublin. To get there travel a short distance due west of Trinity College along College Green, Dame Street and Lord Edward Street, parallel to the River Liffey and the church will be in front of you.
Opening Hours:
Summer: June - August 9am until 6pm
Winter: Sept - May 9.45am until 5 or 6pm
Admission:
Adults €6
Students/Concessions: €4
Groups of ten or more €5.00 per person €2.50 for group concessions.
Music at Christ Church:
Christ Church has a long musical history, with a well-known Cathedral Choir and a Girls Choir. Choral services are sung five times per week during term time either by the professional mixed-adult Cathedral Choir or by the Cathedral Girls' Choir.
There are often recitals and live classical music events at the cathedral, many of which are free to enjoy and listen to.
The Choir:
 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. 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 1742.
History:
Viking Dublin's cathedral was built on this site c. 1030, and briefly became a cathedral priory under the Benedictines at the end of the 11th century. In 1162, the archbishop of Dublin,
Laurence O'Toole (later canonized) introduced the canons regular of St Augustine to the cathedral where they remained until the Reformation. When Henry VIII broke from Rome, the Irish Church,
however reluctantly, had to follow suit - and a majority of the bishops did. In Christ Church the last Augustinian prior, Robert Castle alias Paynswick, became the first dean, and the chapter followed suit by changing from regular to secular.
Architecture:
 The present shape of the cathedral dates from the 1180s when a new programme of building was instigated under the first Anglo-Norman archbishop,
John Cumin. An extended quire was added in the 14th century, and the collapse of the south wall of the nave in 1562 necessitated a temporary rebuilding,
which lasted until the 1870s! George Edmund Street, one of the foremost Victorian architects of the time, undertook a complete restoration of Christ Church between 1871-8,
at the expense of a Dublin whiskey distiller, Henry Roe, who gave 230,000 (23m today!) to save the cathedral.
As part of this restoration, Street transformed the cathedral and added an elegant bridge across the road to a new hall built for the General Synod of the Church of Ireland, today used for an exhibition on medieval Dublin called Dublinia.
Services:
Christian worship is the primary purpose of the cathedral and visitors of all denominations are welcome at the Sunday and weekday services (Anglican rite). The choral services are sung by the cathedral choir,
which traces its origins to the choir school founded in 1480. This choir is complemented by the cathedral girls' choir, which was set up in 1995, to offer the girls of Dublin the special experience that is the privilege of a cathedral chorister.
Funding:
A donation is requested of visitors visiting the cathedral, often to their surprise. In Ireland, historic churches receive no direct financial help from either national or local government.
They rely on the vital generosity of the visitors to preserve this building for future generations. Indeed many may wish to subscribe to the Friends of the cathedral, one of the oldest organisations of its kind in these islands, which is active in its support of the cathedral.
|
