Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Anglican cathedral in medieval Dublin, Ireland

Christ Church Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in medieval Dublin, with stone walls and Gothic arches rising above the old city center. Inside, tall naves with pointed arches open toward the altar, while below ground a large crypt runs beneath the entire floor plan, containing several chambers and original masonry.

Viking king Sitric Silkenbeard founded the first church on this site around 1030, marking the earliest Christian building in Dublin. During the late 12th century, Norman builders replaced the wooden structure with stone brought from Somerset, reshaping the building into the form that stands today.

The cathedral choir, founded with the choir school in 1493, sang at the first performance of Handel's Messiah in Dublin in 1742. The building is still an active Church of Ireland cathedral, and the carved statue kept inside stood outside the Tholsel, Dublin's medieval city hall, until the late 18th century.

The cathedral stands at the end of Lord Edward Street beside Wood Quay, separated from the old medieval street pattern by road building. The 12th-century Romanesque portal is on the south side of the transept, and the ruined chapter house of the Augustinian priory lies just south of it. The crypt, 63.4 m long, runs beneath both nave and choir.

In 1860, behind the organ, workers found a mummified cat and rat stuck mid-chase, preserved for centuries in the crypt. The crypt itself dates from 1171/1172 and runs 63.4 metres beneath both nave and choir, held up by rough stone pillars carrying the weight of the main tower.