In this new series, Christopher Moriarty delves into the history and architecture of Irish Cathedrals and Churches.
Nearly a thousand years ago, the highest point in the city of Dublin was crowned by the building of a cathedral. At the time it could be seen from miles around, standing as a beacon of faith on the hilltop overlooking the Liffey, and by far the biggest building in Dublin. Partly hidden today by houses, office blocks and public buildings, and looking small in comparison with its neighbour St. Patrick’s Cathedral at the bottom of the hill, Christ Church remains dearly loved by the people of Dublin, whatever their religious denominations.
Sitriuc, King of Dublin, when an old man made a pilgrimage to Rome in 1028. Not long after his return, he made a gift to the Church of the land where the cathedral now stands, and gave orders for the building. Although the precise date is uncertain, historians in general agree that the work began in 1030. Written accounts of the event have long since disappeared and the earliest surviving historical reference to the foundation wasn’t set down until three hundred years later. Nor does any trace of the original structure remain, but it is likely to have been similar in plan and size to the ruined cathedral of Glendalough.
The building that Dubliners know and love began to take shape in the 1180s, following the annexation of the city by the Anglo-Normans and the consecration of John Cumin, one of their number, as Archbishop of Dublin. The foundations of the cathedral date to this late 12th century period and they claim to constitute the oldest building still in use in Dublin.
More than 800 years ago, the stone masons constructed this great, underground crypt, a chamber of pillars with a vaulted ceiling. It is rectangular in plan, with an east-west axis and its pillars supporting the nave and chancel of the present-day building.
Once dark and windowless, electric light was added in the 20th century, changing the crypt from a gloomy store-house to a bright hall, frequently used for hospitality.
The walls of the Crypt are decorated with a great number of memorial tablets to rich and famous people of the past. Part of the chamber serves now as the ‘Treasury’, and has a notable collection of sacred vessels and other artefacts on display. Amongst them are the tabernacle used when Catholic worship was resumed for a short while in the reign of King James II, and a collection plate for Protestant services donated by his son-in-law William of Orange when he reigned as King William III.
The present-day appearance of Christ Church, with its square tower, dates to the 14th century, when the tower was added – or possibly rebuilt. But changes in detail took place in the course of the next six hundred years. Above all, the south wall of the nave collapsed on 3 April 1562.
A casualty of the collapse of the wall was the tomb of Strongbow, Earl of Clare, leader of the Anglo-Norman conquest in the 12th century. As was the practice in medieval times, the cathedral fulfilled many civic as well as religious functions, and in Dublin it was customary to certify legal agreements over Strongbow’s Tomb. So it had to be replaced, and an effigy of an unknown knight was brought in, and remains in place to this day.
The collapse of the nave took place twenty years after the profound change in worship and administration which followed from the savage reforming zeal of King Henry VIII. Christ Church had been administered by Augustinian friars from early times until 1539, the year in which the community lost its monastic standing.
In 1540 the monastery became a cathedral and the prior, Robert Castle Paynswick, who had adopted the ways of the reformed church, was appointed dean by the Crown. Gradually, the rites were changed in accordance with the new ways.
The damage of 1652 was repaired and the Cathedral survived as a place of worship; but the building was frequently in a poor state of repair. Restoration work and substantial alterations to its appearance and to the surrounding buildings were made frequently. But the final, decisive development took place between 1868 and 1878. Changes in church government meant that Christ Church was reduced to something of a state of poverty. Repairs were urgently needed but seemed likely to be far beyond any realistic hopes. Help arrived from an unexpected quarter. The nearby St. Patrick’s Cathedral had been restored, thanks to the generosity of a Guinness heir. A whiskey distiller, Henry Roe, came to the rescue of Christ Church.
George Edward Street, regarded as the foremost authority on gothic architecture, was commissioned to see to a major programme of rebuilding. In parts this programme restored the cathedral to its medieval appearance, and Street claimed to have based his plans on the original structure. He did indeed see to the carving of faithful replicas of ancient structure and ornaments. But he added a great many features of his own design, including battlements, flying buttresses and other details.
Although far from architecturally pure – it never was – today’s Christ Church is a charming building, with much the same appearance overall as it has had since the tower was built seven hundred years ago.
The tower contains nineteen bells, ancient and modern which ring to announce services and, above all, to welcome the New Year as they have done for uncounted generations.
Towards the end of the 20th century the cathedral choir was reborn and has become one of the leaders in church music in Ireland. And, following Vatican II, Catholic archbishops and other clergy came to be welcomed back and to take part once again in worship.