Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 23, 51, 51A, 78 or 79 from Aston Quay)
The Kilmainham Gate was designed by Francis John-
ston (1760-1829) in 1812 and originally stood at the Watling St junction with Victoria
Quay, near the Guinness brewery, where it was known as the Richmond Tower. It was
moved to its current position opposite the prison in 1846 as it obstructed the increasingly
heavy traffic to the new Kingsbridge Station (now Heuston Station), which opened in
1844.
ST AUDOEN'S CHURCHES
It was only right that the newly arrived Normans would name a church after their patron
saint Audoen (the 7th-century bishop of Rouen, aka Ouen), but they didn't quite figure on
two virtually adjacent churches bearing his name, just west of Christ Church Cathedral.
The more interesting of the two is the
Church of Ireland
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
(
9.30am-4.45pm Jun-Sep)
F
, the only medieval parish church in the city that's still in use. It
was built between 1181 and 1212, although a 9th-century burial slab in the porch suggests
that it was built on top of an even older church. Its tower and door date from the 12th cen-
tury and the aisle from the 15th century, but the church today is mainly a product of a
19th-century restoration.
As part of the tour you can explore the ruins as well as the present church, which has
funerary monuments that were beheaded by Cromwell's purists. Through the heavily
moulded Romanesque Norman door you can also touch the 9th-century 'lucky stone' that
was believed to bring good luck to business.
St Anne's Chapel
, the visitor centre, houses a number of tombstones of leading members of
Dublin society from the 16th to the 18th centuries. At the top of the chapel is the tower,
which holds the three oldest bells in Ireland, dating from 1423. Although the church's ex-
hibits are hardly spectacular, the building itself is beautiful and a genuine slice of mediev-
al Dublin.
The church is entered from the south off High St through
St Audoen's Arch
, which was
built in 1240 and is the only surviving reminder of the city gates. The adjoining park is
pretty but attracts many unsavoury characters, particularly at night.
Joined onto the Protestant church is the newer, bigger, 19th-century
Catholic St Audoen's
,
an expansive church in which Father 'Flash' Kavanagh used to read Mass at high speed so
that his large congregation could head off to more absorbing Sunday pursuits, such as
football matches. In 2006 it was handed over to the Polish chaplaincy.
CHURCH
