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Christ Church Cathedral

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 Normans to Ireland in 1669, 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.

Over the centuries the Cathedral suffered many ignomimies, not least the use being made of the vaults as taverns and the nave as a market in the late 1500s. In 1562 the nave vaulting collapsed bringing with it the south wall. The Cathedral was in such a state of disrepair by the mid 1800s that there was a real treat to its survival. Not to be outdone by Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness' magnanimous gesture in providing the money for the restoration of nearby St Patrick's Cathedral in 1864, Genry Roe, a Dublin whiskey distiller, stepped in with both the interest and the money required to save this great Cathedral. The restoration cost £ 250,000, quite a sum at that time.

Christ Church is a fine example of early-Gothic architecture and the accompanying Romanesque sections which date to the late 12th century provide an interesting opportunity to view two clearly distinct styles of architecture.

Treasures of the Cathedral displays an unique range of manuscripts, historic artefacts and spectacular examples of gold and silver ware. Of particular interest are the silver gift plate given by William 3 in thandsgiving for his victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and the restored tabernacle used in Christ Church during the return of the Roman Catholic liturgy under James 2.