inSPIREd Sunday

Sally and Beth host inSPIREd Sunday!

September 2015 - Dublin Ireland

Christ Church Cathedral is Dublin's oldest building, a leading visitor attraction and a place of pilgrimage for almost 1,000 years. Renowned for its beauty, architecture and exquisite floor tiles, it is home to the famous 12th Century crypt, one of the oldest and largest in Britain and Ireland. Perfectly located in the heart of Medieval Dublin, it was founded in 1030 by Sitriuc, King of the Dublin Norsemen and was incorporated into the Irish Church in 1152 and eventually led by the famous Archbishop and patron saint of Dublin, Laurence O’Toole.

Before we leave...

While visiting the Crypt of Christ Church Cathedral, you will come across a unique artifact in the church's history. The mummified remains of a cat and a rat are on display. The theory is the cat chased the mouse into an organ pipe and both became stuck.

The existence of the mummified remains of the duo struck a chord with James Joyce and he made reference to them in his, also unique, novel "Finnegan's Wake."

The sign at Christ Church Cathedral reads:

THE CAT & THE RAT
The one, presumably chasing the other, became trapped in an organ pipe in the 1850s and were mummified. They are referred to in James Joyce's "Finnegan's Wake" where someone is described as being "...As stuck as that cat to that mouse in that tube of that Christchurch organ..."