Stones of Dublin

Lisa Marie Griffith

• Publisher: The Collins Press
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781848898721
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Irish History
• Index: History

Stand on any street in Dublin and one is confronted with history. Behind the façades of the ten buildings featured here is the story of Dublin, bringing to life key events and characters from the past. The buildings include: Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin's oldest church; Dublin Castle, the colonisers' castle; Trinity College Dublin, the first seat of learning; the Old Parliament House (Bank of Ireland); City Hall, the centre of civic life; Kilmainham Gaol, where leaders of the rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916 were detained; St James' Gate Brewery, home of Guinness; the iconic GPO, the last great Georgian public building erected; the national theatre and 'cradle of Irish drama', the Abbey, and Croke Park, home of the Gaelic Athletic Association and a cathedral of sport. These survive as tangible reminders of Dublin's past and help shape the city landscape today. Bringing together the stories of these landmark buildings takes us on a wonderful journey through the shifting social, political and cultural history of Ireland's capital.

1

Christ Church Cathedral

CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL has been at the heart of Dublin’s religious community for almost a millennium. Nestled in the centre of the old medieval city, important civic and national institutions sprang up around the cathedral. Christ Church is one of the most important links to the city’s medieval history and one of the oldest buildings in the city. This area of the city was inhabited long before the arrival of the Vikings. When Dublin’s Viking community founded the church, in 1030, they placed it at the heart of their settlement. Many of Ireland’s important medieval leaders, warriors and religious figures, including Dublin’s patron saint (Laurence O’Toole) and the man who led the Anglo-Norman attack on Dublin (Richard de Clare, or Strongbow), are closely linked with the cathedral. The cathedral as we know it today is vastly different to the original site and the story of Christ Church is one of evolution and change. Once a monastic site and home to a Dublin order of Augustinians, it became a secular cathedral during the Reformation and, as the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Dublin, it was an important institution of the Reformation. The cathedral also has a more obscure history. After the Reformation, the monastic buildings were used for a variety of purposes. For many years the city law courts were located within the cathedral complex. The cathedral precinct was also a busy commercial site, with stalls, shops and vendors attracting city shoppers. Rents within the precinct were a valuable source of income for the cathedral. Many of these medieval buildings were cleared away in the nineteenth century, leaving the cathedral building visible. Consequently, many people do not know the part that the cathedral played in the commercial, civic and legal life of the city.

THE ORIGINS OF SETTLEMENT IN DUBLIN: ÁTH CLIATH AND DUBH LINN

To understand how the cathedral came to be built we must examine the early city settlers. Dublin is one of the oldest capital cities outside the boundaries of the Roman Empire, and had grown long before the arrival of the Vikings. The early settlement developed in two distinct phases—around, respectively, a secular and a monastic site—and it is from these early settlements that the city takes its modern name. Áth Cliath, or ‘Hurdle Ford’, is believed by historians to have been on a ridge that facilitated fishing on the river Liffey. It is thought that a farming settlement grew up around it. We cannot be sure exactly where this community was, but we know that one of the early roads from the ancient royal site of Tara led to it.¹ The Irish name for Dublin, Baile Átha Cliatha, has evolved from this early settlement. We can’t be precisely sure when this community first came into being. The second site, Dubh Linn, was a monastic settlement. The name for this settlement in English, ‘black pool’, is said to be derived from its position. A pool was created when the river Poddle, which flows underneath the city today, met the river Liffey. It is probable, then, that this village was around the present-day site of Dublin Castle. Archaeological excavations have confirmed that the Liffey tide would have flowed as far as the castle’s northern boundary. The Poddle was re-directed and used to create a protective moat defence on the southern and western side of the castle. With little material evidence we cannot date the settlement and must work on scant information.² Nevertheless, details from Irish texts and archaeological digs have allowed us to build up a likely scenario for how the settlement evolved.

We know that Norse Vikings were undertaking raids in the Dublin area, and along the Irish coast, from 795 to 836. By 841, according to the Annals of Ulster, there was a longphort at Dublin that lasted until 902. The longphort—a type of temporary settlement which the Vikings used to winter at Dublin—was known as longphort oc Duibhlin. There is much debate about its exact location. By 902 the Irish in the area managed to defeat the Vikings, who were by now using the longphort as a more permanent residence. The Vikings then fled the city, some going to the Isle of Man, England and southern Scotland. This exile did not last long, and within 15 years they had returned to Dublin, where they established a second settlement in the area after 917. This would grow into the modern-day city. Their exile abroad had probably encouraged them to emulate some of the characteristics of urban settlements they would have seen in other countries. The Vikings were turning from raiders to traders, and they set up trading networks throughout the Viking world.³ We know from excavations at Wood Quay that they traded not just agricultural goods like food and hides, but also jewellery and combs. We also know Dublin was part of the extensive European slave economy.⁴

Christ Church Cathedral, 1968, from O’Donovan Rossa Bridge (Dublin City Library and archives)

HIBERNO-NORSE DUBLIN

While the Vikings at Dublin certainly looked out towards the rest of the Viking world, that did not mean they were isolated from the Gaelic population. There was cultural and economic exchange, which has led to historians identifying the period between 980 and 1170 as ‘the Hiberno-Norse’ period in the city. This was a time when the inhabitants of Dublin would have spoken Norse, English and Irish. It was also during this period that Christ Church Cathedral came into being. The medieval historian Howard Clarke describes Dublin in this period as ‘Ireland’s first genuine town’.⁵ As a successful trading port and a busy settlement, Dublin was seen as an attractive prize. Several Irish kings from the late tenth century managed to bring Dublin under their jurisdiction.⁶ The medieval city occupied only a fragment of the territory that is the modern-day city, and only a few medieval buildings have survived. These include the two cathedrals of Christ Church and St Patrick’s, the churches of St Michan’s and St Audeon’s, and Dublin Castle. Interest in the medieval city blossomed due to discoveries at Wood Quay, in the heart of the medieval city. The Wood Quay site ran from the existing cathedral boundary to the Liffey. Excavations, which took place between 1962 and 1981, uncovered a Viking settlement that was practically intact and revealed extensive settlement in this area of the city.

Unfortunately, the excavations were taking place so that Dublin City Council could build their new headquarters. A protest movement campaigned against the new building and sought to preserve this part of the city, and to create a protected site at Wood Quay (there were few protective laws in place for sites of this nature). When the case came before the Irish High Court, the Wood Quay group lost and archaeologists were given just five months to extract as many finds from the area as they could before Dublin City Council built on top of the area. This was a great loss to not just Irish heritage and history, but to medieval studies internationally, as no comparable site (in terms of size, and the number of objects so well-preserved) has been discovered before or since. Nevertheless, the fight to protect Wood Quay ensured that the need to safeguard urban history and geography from rapid development was highlighted.⁷ If a silver lining is to be found, it is that ‘these stormy events prompted new research, which is reflected in the growing number of publications that are now available on different aspects of medieval Dublin’.⁸ The Friends of Medieval Dublin, a research group of archaeologists and historians, has been central to our understanding of medieval Dublin. By exploring the stories of the medieval buildings that have survived, like Christ Church, we learn a great deal about the early inhabitants of Dublin.

Archaeological excavations at Wood Quay in 1974 (Dublin City Library and archives)

THE FOUNDATION OF CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL

The Church of the Holy Trinity (informally and then later known as Christ Church Cathedral) was founded by Sitriuc Silkbeard, who came from a strong Hiberno-Norse background. His father, Olaf, was a Norse man who had made a failed claim for the title of king of York before settling in Dublin, while his Gaelic Irish mother, Gormlaith, was a daughter of a future king of Leinster, Murchad. Their marriage highlights the continued connection between the Gaelic and Norse communities in Ireland. Sitriuc came to the kingship after Glúniarainn, king for a brief period, was murdered by one of his slaves in 989.⁹ While Sitriuc ruled during the Battle of Clontarf (1014), his reign is generally considered to be peaceful, and a time when the city was more closely connected with English trade, culture and politics.¹⁰ A large horde of English coins found in the city, dating from 991–97, confirms the importance of English trade during this period. One of Sitriuc’s greatest achievements was the creation of a Dublin bishopric and the foundation of the Church of the Holy Trinity. The coming of Christianity to Ireland in the early fifth century had led to development and settlement along the Liffey, and we know of four churches along the Poddle river bank: St Brigid, St Kevin, St Patrick and St MacTaill. While it can’t be proved conclusively that they were pre-Viking churches, it is very likely.¹¹ This points to the existence of a lively Christian church, but the establishment of a bishopric in Dublin was significant as it created a position of power, from which Dublin could lead and effect changes within the Irish church. Sitriuc made a pilgrimage to Rome in his seventies and it was during this trip that he gained permission to have Dublin established as an episcopal base, along with permission to found a cathedral dedicated to the Holy Trinity. While historians are not certain of the date for the foundation of the cathedral, it is believed to be circa 1030 when he returned from Rome.¹²

The foundation of the cathedral was not merely a religious matter, though, and the location within the confines of the Viking walls (which were made of wattle and built up with silt from the Liffey), where land was at a premium, shows the significance that Sitriuc placed on the new cathedral. The medieval historian Stuart Kinsella has said that ‘in one move Sitriuc gave the Hiberno-Norse town a new heart, embracing its westward expansion by situating the cathedral in the western edge of Duiblinn’s old dún, and unifying the Viking settlement of Átha Cliath and the older Irish Duiblinn’.¹³ The cathedral unified two distinct parts of the city and became the centre of the town. While it has been suggested in the past that this new church was made of wood, it is now thought more likely that it was made of stone.¹⁴ This would have been quite expensive, but would have added a permanency to the building and would have made the cathedral stand out from the other buildings in the Viking town.

THE ANGLO-NORMAN INVASION

The cathedral was rebuilt when a new ruling elite in the city, the Anglo-Normans, came to power. Traditionally the king of Leinster claimed that the town was within his jurisdiction but it was directly governed by Ragnall Mac Torcaill, a member of the Ostman family of Hiberno-Norse descent. When Ragnall died in 1166, he was succeeded by his brother Hasculf, who submitted to Rory O’Connor, the over-king of Connaught, effectively ousting Dermot McMurrough, the over-king of Leinster, who had been acknowledged as overlord of Dublin in 1162. Dermot moved to build up an army to reclaim his jurisdiction but was forced across the water to England to do so.¹⁵ While Henry II was not in a position to grant Dermot an army, he gave Dermot permission to raise a force of mercenaries. In 1169 an Anglo-Norman army from Wales under the command of Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke (Strongbow), sailed to Ireland to support Dermot. Together they captured Waterford. With an army of about 5,000 they marched on Dublin. Hasculf called on Rory O’Connor to defend the town. O’Connor had just been installed as high-king of Ireland and had a larger army than Strongbow and Dermot.¹⁶ As O’Connor moved to defend Dublin, Dermot and Strongbow took a route through Glendalough, bypassing his forces stationed at Clondalkin. Those left to defend the city sent the archbishop of Dublin, Laurence O’Toole, to negotiate with the approaching army. O’Toole was an important political figure in his own right. He was the son of Muirchertach O’Toole, who had been king of North Leinster. As a child he had become a hostage to McMurrough, over-king of Leinster, to ensure his father’s good behaviour.¹⁷ O’Toole’s sister, Mor, was married to McMurrough, and Aoife was his niece. O’Toole had introduced the Augustinian order to the monastery at Christ Church Cathedral, and on his death was elevated to sainthood for his good deeds. On 21 September, 1170 O’Toole submitted to McMurrough and Strongbow, recognising Dermot (his brother-in-law) as king of Dublin once more.¹⁸ O’Toole would have sought a speedy handover of the city to protect its inhabitants, but during the negotiations two knights breached the walls and slaughtered most of the townspeople.

Dermot, happy to have retaken the city, retired to his capital in Ferns, Co. Wexford, and died in the spring of 1171, leaving Strongbow to inherit his title of Lord of Dublin. On his way back from the funeral, Strongbow encountered Rory O’Connor and a pan-Gaelic force that had been sent to recapture the city in his absence. Strongbow defeated them and returned to his seat at Dublin. By now, however, Henry II was concerned about Strongbow’s activities in Dublin. With Rory O’Connor defeated for a second time, and as Strongbow was Dermot’s legitimate successor, Henry was worried that Strongbow could seize the rest of the island independently of the English crown. Henry had been encouraged...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• About the author
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Christ Church Cathedral
• 2. Dublin Castle
• 3. Trinity College Dublin
• 4. Parliament House (now Bank of Ireland)
• 5. Dublin City Hall
• 6. St James’s Gate Brewery
• 7. Kilmainham Gaol
• 8. General Post Office (GPO)
• 9. The Abbey Theatre
• 10. Croke Park
• Epilogue
• Endnotes
• Select bibliography
• Imprint page
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