Dublin has a rich Catholic history, but the two main Cathedrals that you can visit in Dublin are no longer Catholic. This article is going to focus on Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

We came to St. Patrick’s Cathedral first, and it cost 8 Euro to get in for adults. There was no line when we arrived, and we didn’t get tickets in advance, but as we were leaving a bus full of tourists arrived and the line to get in was long – so that’s a bit hit-or-miss. I always recommend getting tickets in advance when you can for any attraction, especially if you are going during a high tourist season. When we walked into the church, we were very taken aback by the fact that there was a giant gift shop right there in the main part of the cathedral right when you walk in. It seemed really strange and tacky. Apart from that, the cathedral itself was very cavernous and cold, and built in the Gothic style, so it didn’t seem like a very inviting place to worship either.

This cathedral is large and very old, dating to the 1100’s. It was originally a Roman-Catholic Cathedral, but changed to the Church of Ireland in the 1500’s. One of the coolest parts of this building is the stained glass showing the life of St. Patrick, which is very impressive. It’s a bit hard to make everything out, but it’s a super detailed stained glass set of windows, and beautiful to look at. There are also other relics from old timey days around the church, but it felt so commercial here, that Brian and I were both a bit weirded out and didn’t spend too much time here. I would note that, like most other places around Dublin, they offered a free audio guide via QR code that you can scan with your phone.

Christ Church Cathedral was a bit less commercial feeling, and I found the building itself to be more impressive too. This place cost 10 Euro to get in and we didn’t have to wait in line at all. It has a more impressive facade and a courtyard area welcoming you to the beautiful gothic church, which was similar in style to St. Patrick’s but seemed more cozy and inviting rather than cold and commercial.

The very large crypt area was the highlight of this visit. Down there, you could find all sorts of relics and neat items including a copy of the Magna Carta. You can also see St. Lawrence’s heart – he’s the Patron Saint of Dublin. There were also some costumes on display from the Tudors TV series, as some of the scenes in that show were filmed here.

Finally, one of the weirdest displays was a mummified cat and rat. Apparently, the rat ran into one of the organ tubes and the cat followed it in there and they both got stuck. During a renovation, they found their mummified remains. This mummified cat and rat have actually been referenced throughout Irish literature – including in Ulysses by James Joyce. A bit more tastefully, Christchurch Cathedral’s gift shop is also down in the crypt, rather than in the main church area, so that was a bit less weird for us.

If you only have the time to see one of these, I would recommend Christ Church over St. Patrick’s, mainly because I think the building is more interesting and the crypt is very cool with all sorts of neat artifacts. Christ Church is also a stone’s throw from Dublin Castle, which you can read about here, and checking out both of these would take a maximum time of two hours. I would recommend coming here in the morning, and then heading up to the Brazen Head Pub, the oldest pub in Ireland, afterwards for some lunch.