Christ Church has been welcoming visitors for nearly 1,000 years. Enjoy the cathedral’s architectural splendour, discover some of our fascinating stories or experience the spiritual atmosphere of this special place.
We welcome visitors from all walks of life and can tailor tours to suit many different interests. For more information on the history of Christ Church Cathedral, click here or check out our historical book selection in the gift shop on site.
And don’t forget to keep an eye on our calendar for lunchtime lectures, talks, film nights and other interesting events.
At Christ Church, we are always thinking of new ways to make your experience at the cathedral as rich as possible. Some of our new additions include:
An exciting new sound installation that employs technology never before used in Ireland. Free of charge, the installation is wheelchair-accessible and available to all visitors on the viewing platform as they enter the grounds. Enjoy an immersive soundscape inspired by the cathedral, as bone conduction technology conducts the sound to your ears from the platform railing.
A tactile and access-friendly bronze sculpture of the medieval cathedral c.1370 which has been reconstructed from historical documents and images. Situated on the grounds, the sculpture shows the cloisters and the cathedral buildings as they would have been in the medieval period, allowing visitors to compare old and new in a single glance.
Christ Church’s new audio guide uses storytelling to bring the cathedral’s nearly 1,000-year history to life in a new and exciting way. It is offered in five languages; English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. Irish Sign Language and Audio Descriptive tours are also available with transcriptions (in English only). All tour options are available from the Welcome Desk. Visitors are able to choose from three different themes as they explore: ‘Power and Politics’, ‘Christ Church & the City’ and ‘Music & Spirituality’.
Our new Listening Bench in the crypt is a chance to hear a selection of ‘Christ Church Stories’ about the life of the cathedral today and some of the people who are a part of it. These stories are recounted in the storytellers’ own voices and showcase the vibrancy of modern-day Christ Church and the central role it continues to play in the life of the city of Dublin. Available in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. This bench is wheelchair accessible and you can listen to the interviews with your hearing aid via the induction hand-piece.
New information posts in the Treasury reinterpret Christ Church Cathedral’s collection of rare books and silver for a new audience.
For details about accessibility at Christ Church Cathedral, please see here.
Please note, we do not have a library or archive on site. But if you have any historical queries, please contact our Research Advisor Stuart Kinsella at ei.hcruhctsirhc@sevihcra.
In March 2012, a bizarre story began to unfold, when the heart associated with St Laurence O’Toole was stolen from the wall-mounted, metal cage in which it was displayed in the cathedral. Despite international headlines about the overnight theft, the heart’s loss seemed puzzling but permanent.
Listen to a clip from our new audio-guide where the Detective in charge of the case talks about the robbery. Then join us at the cathedral to hear the rest of this fascinating story…
