July 12, 2010 Dublin, Ireland

Once classes were over on monday the entire group went to both Christchurch and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Both churches were absolutely beautiful and very large in size. They are both Church of Ireland churches even though they are only 2 blocks away from each other. The reason for their close proximity and being the same denomination was that in the original Medieval city of Dublin Christchurch was within the walls and St. Patrick's was outside the city walls for those citizens that didn't want to pay city taxes and therefore lived outside the protection of the city walls. Christchurch has the supposed tomb of Strongbow a famous Irish warrior that took control of Ireland from the ancient Kings but it is not thought that he is actually buried there. The heart of St. Lawrence O'Toole can also be found in this church and it is the only relic to survive the reformation. There are many other important things and graves in this church mainly because it was the main cathedral in Dublin for many years.

St. Patrick's on the other hand is just as large but it feels a bit more welcoming and there are many many beautiful stained glass windows. In many way when I was in St. Pat's I focused probably too much on viewing the stained glass than I did focusing on the rest of the church, for that reason I have less to say about it, other than I would most definitely go back to St. Pat's waaay before going to Christchurch. I feel like St. Patrick's is more of the people's church that Christchurch is.