Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
supplement the work but his paintings were never installed, which is probably just as well
because you can't imagine how this little space would have looked with even more decor-
ation. If you intend visiting, you have to bear in mind that this is still a functioning hospit-
al and you must be very quiet when coming to see the chapel. It's not terribly well sign-
posted inside and is often locked outside visiting hours (although if you ask kindly or look
like you're in desperate need of a prayer, somebody will let you in).
ST MARY'S ABBEY
MUSEUM
( 01-833 1618;
www.heritageireland.ie
;
Meeting House Lane; 10am-5pm Tue-Thu Jun-Sep; 11, 16 or 41
from city centre)
Where now the glories of Babylon? All that remains of what was once Ire-
land's wealthiest and most powerful monastery is the chapterhouse, so forgotten that most
Dubliners are unaware of its existence. Visitors can enjoy a small exhibition and view a
model of what the abbey looked like in its heyday. From March to September, tours can
be booked through the Casino at Marino (
Click here
).
Founded in 1139, this Cistercian abbey ran the show when it came to Irish church polit-
ics for much of the Middle Ages, although its reputation with the authorities was some-
what sullied when it became a favourite meeting place for rebels against the crown. On 11
June 1534, 'Silken' Thomas Fitzgerald, the most important of Leinster's Anglo-Norman
lords, entered the chapterhouse flanked by 140 horsemen with silk fringes on their hel-
mets (hence his name) and flung his Sword of State on the ground in front of the awaiting
King's Council - a ceremonial two-fingered salute to King Henry VIII and his authority.
Fitzgerald's abbey antics feature in the 'Wandering Rocks' chapter of Joyce's
Ulysses
.
ST MARY'S CHURCH
(Mary St; 11, 16 or 41 from city centre)
Designed by William Robinson in 1697, this is the most
important church to survive from that period (although it's no longer in use and is closed
to the public). John Wesley, founder of Methodism, delivered his first Irish sermon here in
1747 and it was the preferred church of Dublin's 18th- century social elite. Many famous
Dubliners were baptised in its font, and Arthur Guinness was married here in 1793.
CHURCH
