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All Ireland Dublin Oddities of Christ Church Cathedral
AO Edited

Oddities of Christ Church Cathedral

The mummified heart of a saint lives on in this church—after a brief hiatus when it was stolen.

Dublin, Ireland

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Braden Herbert
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The heart of Laurence O’Toole, upon its return to Christ Church.   Getty Images/ Tom Honan - PA Images
Heart of St. Laurence O’Toole   Laura LaRose/CC BY 2.0
Heart of St. Laurence O’Toole   Bkwillwm/CC BY-SA 3.0
Christ Church Cathedral   William Murphy/CC BY 2.0
The cat and the rat   Braden Herbert
Christ Church Cathedral   Jaszmina Szendrey / Atlas Obscura User
Christchurch Graves   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
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Altar in the Chapel of Laurence O’Toole   Andreas F. Borchert/CC BY-SA 3.0
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Exterior of Christ Church   mjoleksy / Atlas Obscura User
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August 2023   DMStephenson / Atlas Obscura User
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The Foxy Friars.   Julius Spada / Atlas Obscura User
St. Laurence O’Toole’s heart, encased in wood   Braden Herbert
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Crypt Tomb   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Mummified Mouse   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Gargoyle III   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Church Door   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
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Since the 11th century, Christ Church has been an integral and intriguing part of Irish history, and over the centuries has collected a variety of strange artifacts.

Founded in 1030 by the Hiberno-Norse King Sitriuc Silkenbeard and Dúnán, first Bishop of Dublin, the original Viking church has been a part of Dublin and Irish history ever since. The wooden Viking structure was destroyed during the Norman invasion by King Richard (Strongbow) de Clare, and the stone church was built starting in 1171. Strongbow’s tomb is inside the church walls, and his effigy can be seen just beyond the entrance.

Famed saint Laurence O’Toole was named Archbishop in the 1150s and although he died in France in 1180, his heart remained in the cathedral until March of 2012, when it disappeared. The preserved heart, which resided inside a heart-shaped box enclosed by iron bars, was stolen by a thief who seemed to have no interest in any of the easily nicked valuables surrounding the relic. In April 2018, the heart was located and returned to the cathedral.

A decidedly un-Christian stockade is on display in the crypt (the largest crypt in either Ireland or Britain). Made in 1670, these stocks were used to punish criminals in Christ Church Place. They were moved inside the cathedral in 1870.

Another of the cathedral’s more intriguing inhabitants are the mummified remains of a cat and rat. According to church lore, the cat chased the rat into a pipe of an organ and both became stuck. James Joyce used both cat and rat as a simile in Finnegan’s Wake when he described someone as being "...As stuck as that cat to that mouse in that tube of that Christchurch organ..." The cat is chasing the rat in perpetuity behind glass in the crypt of the church.

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Sacred Spaces Relics And Reliquaries Hearts Saints Catholic

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TravelTourist, Mom0ja, Molly McBride Jacobson, SEANETTA...

  • TravelTourist
  • Mom0ja
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • SEANETTA
  • Jaszmina Szendrey
  • GerhardM
  • reganmcmaster
  • Xavixavir
  • Michelle Cassidy
  • mjoleksy
  • Julius Spada
  • DMStephenson

Published

July 29, 2010

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Sources
  • http://cccdub.ie/
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church_Cathedral,_Dublin
  • http://www.thejournal.ie/st-laurence-otooles-heart-found-3979079-Apr2018/
Oddities of Christ Church Cathedral
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