St. Michan's Church

  This unpretentious little church was originally built around 1095 by the Danish community to serve the Viking population of Dublin. At the time, it was next to an ancient oak forest just outside the city limits. As the city expanded, the forest slowly disappeared and the area surrounding the church became urbanized. For five centuries, this was the sole parish church north of the river Liffy. The original wooden structure was replaced by a stone church around 1695. Beneath the church are several crypts that have become the main church attraction, as those who were buried here became mummified because of the drying effects of the limestone walls. Following the reformation, Henry VIII assigned St. Michan's church to Christ Church Cathedral and it became a Church of Ireland (Anglican). Around 1825, the church was closed for three years in order to undergo extensive restoration work.

St. Michan's church.

The rather plain looking high altar still serves an active community.

The central aisle looking towards the organ loft.

Even this unpretentious little church has elegant stained glass windows.

Entrance into one of several underground crypts.

These stairs were quite steep and a bit difficult to navigate.

The largest of the crypt area with several vaults off of it.

Perhaps the most visited vault is this one. While there are no documents left to verify who is here, legend states that the casket on the right contains a female simply called "the unknown"; the center casket contains a male who is missing both feet and his right hand. He is called "the thief"; and the left hand casket reportedly is "a nun". Behind these three is said to be an 800 year old mummy of a "crusader".

This vault lies behind a heavy oak door and reportedly contains the remains of more wealthy individuals. The lone casket to the left is said to be of an individual abandoned by his family.

Behind the iron gate are the remains of brothers John and Henry Shearers, barristers who were executed for their part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

Death mask of Theodore Wolfe Tone.

The last known burial was this cremation base put here in the 1920's.