Daddy's Day with Unicorn Princess L

Joe got the children off to school on his last full day here. I got to sleep in a little until I had to drive them to school. Then we got ready to go into town for "Daddy's Day" with L (and Mom too). We took the bus into town to Grafton Street, and then decided to walk over to Christ Church Cathedral and do the tour. It was such a nice sunny day (for once) we thought we should do something touristy. 

Christ Church was built on the same site as the first wooden church, built in the Viking times (roughly 1030AD). This was originally built as a Catholic Church but remember when Henry VIII came into power he dissolved the Catholic monasteries and churches. He also took the two biggest churches in Dublin - Christ Church and St. Patrick's. Handel's Messiah was first performed here in 1742. There is nothing really much to see inside here, the church is actually more famous than visit-worthy. But it is really pretty on the outside. 

I love the medieval doors 

Looking at the alter

These windows are all located in the Baptistery. They were a gift of the architect who restored the cathedral in the 1870's. They are 6 of the Irish saints. Many of the Anglican saints are the same as Catholic saints since most of these saints are from when the Anglicans (church of England and Ireland) were in union with Rome. 

St. Cormac

St. Laurence O'Toole

St. Bridget

St. Patrick

St. Cuthbert

St. Finbar

These stained glass windows are from the 13th c and it depicts
 the Jesse Tree. This is looking at the back of the church. 

The choir screen dates from the 1870's restoration. There is a copy of the Cross of Cong at the top. 

Side chapel behind the alter

This wall to the right looking at the back of the church leans
to the right 18 inches. Its called the Leaning Wall of Dublin. 

Strongbow's Tomb - leader of the Anglo-Normans who
 captured Dublin in 1170. He was buried in the cathedral in 1176. 

We then walked down to the crypt which dates from the 11th century. This medieval crypt is not only one of the largest in Britian or Ireland, but its also the oldest structure in Dublin. It is unusual for a crypt to stretch under the entire church. The crypt contains many historic artifacts which survived here. 

James II promoted Roman Catholics to important positions in Ireland and England.  This angered the Protestants that he was forced to go to France to seek the support of Louis XIV. His daughter, Mary, was a Protestant and was married to William of Orange, the ruler of Holland and enemy of Louis XIV. When James went to France the English parliament invited William and Mary to be king and queen. This started the War of the Three Kings (William, Louis, and James) and was fought mostly in Ireland. William won the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. In thanksgiving for his battle he presented Christ Church with a set of gift communion vessels. 

Williams gift to Christ Church

Many episodes of The Tudors were filmed in Christ Church. Here are some of the costumes from the show. They used the cathedral for backdrops for weddings, coronations and baptisms. The crypt was used for burials, taverns, and the interior of the Tower of London. 

We can only assume the cat and the rat where chasing each other and became trapped in an organ pipe in the 1850s. They were then mummified. Ughh! James Joyce refers to this in his book, "Finnegans Wake", as someone is described as being, "...as stuck as that cat to that mouse in that tube of that Christchurch organ...".

the cat & the rat

Cafe in a Crypt

FOXY FRIARS!!!

 We then walked back over to Grafton Street to get a quick bite to eat. We decided to go to Bewley's Cafe again since I wanted to take Joe there. We had a good meal and this time our table was next to the fire. Perfect!

Cuppa Irish Tea

The beautiful full rainbow

L had a great day with Daddy in town. We saw a beautiful rainbow on O'Connell street as we were walking down to the bus stop. We had to get back in time for K and T since they were going to be out of school soon. 

Joe requested a spicy burger, battered sausage, and curry chips from the "chipper" for his last meal. We also got curry chicken from the chinese restaurant and fried rice. The curry over here is so good! Also Chinese food here does not come with rice it comes with chips (french fries).  I am not sure why. You have to order the rice separately.