[nb 1] Christ Church Cathedral is located in the former heart of medieval Dublin, next to Wood Quay at the end of Lord Edward Street.

However, a major dual carriageway building scheme around it separated it from the original medieval street pattern which once surrounded it, with its original architectural context (at the centre of a maze of small buildings and streets) lost due to road-building and the demolition of the older residential quarter at Wood Quay.

The church was built on the high ground overlooking the Viking settlement at Wood Quay and Sitric gave the "lands of Baldoyle, Raheny and Portrane for its maintenance.

Its design was inspired by the architecture of the English western school of Gothic, and its wrought stones – of a Somersetshire oolite from quarries in Dundry[7] – were sculpted and laid by craftsmen from the same area.

By 1358, the nave of the cathedral was partly in use for secular purposes and a "long quire" was added, extending the old choir area by around 10 metres.

The cathedral was the location of the purported coronation, in 1487, of Lambert Simnel, a boy pretender who sought unsuccessfully to depose Henry VII of England, as "King Edward VI".

As part the dissolution of the Irish monasteries, King Henry VIII by Royal Warrant of 12 December 1539 abolished the Priory of the Holy Trinity.

Thus the last Augustinian Prior (Robert Paynswick) became the first Dean of Christ Church, though the process of conversion actually continued in 1540 and 1542, finishing with a Chapter of eight clergy.

King Edward VI formally suppressed St Patrick's Cathedral and, on 25 April 1547, its silver, jewels and ornaments were transferred to the dean and chapter of Christ Church.

This episode ended with a late document of Queen Mary's reign, a deed dated 27 April 1558, comprising a release or receipt by Thomas Leverous, dean, and the chapter of St Patrick's, of the "goods, chattels, musical instruments, etc."

The cathedral and Synod Hall were extensively renovated and rebuilt from 1871 to 1878 by George Edmund Street, with the sponsorship of the whiskey distiller Henry Roe of Mount Anville.

[9] Wyse Jackson notes that Roe may have been trying to "outdo" Benjamin Lee Guinness the brewer, who some years earlier in 1864 had privately funded the restoration of nearby St Patrick's Cathedral.

[10] Street built the adjacent Synod Hall, taking in the last remnant of St Michael and All Angels's Church, including the bell tower.

Christ Church is the centre of worship for the united dioceses and holds notable annual events such as the Citizenship Service.

Photographs of the exterior show the extent of the Victorian rebuilding: Archbishop de St Paul's 14th-century cathedral, in particular, the "long choir", was almost entirely destroyed.

Patrick Wyse Jackson, curator of the Geological Museum in Trinity College, assessed the building in 1993 as part of his book "The Building Stones of Dublin: A Walking Guide" and made the following observations: A much wider array of stones were employed during the late-1800s restoration of the cathedral, as detailed by Wyse Jackson: The cathedral contains the reputed tomb of Strongbow, a medieval Norman-Welsh peer and warlord who came to Ireland at the request of King Diarmuid MacMorrough and whose arrival marked the beginning of Anglo-Norman involvement in Ireland.

The crypt contains various monuments and historical features, including: Behind the altar area, there is the chapter house, which contains cathedral offices, meeting rooms and other facilities.

The board has committees – mid-2007, these are administration and finance, culture (including the treasury), deanery, fabric, fundraising, health and safety, information technology, music, safeguarding trust and tower.

In the 1860s and 1870s, the bells were gradually recast and augmented to twelve by John J. Murphy, his son, with a tenor weight of 36 hundredweight in the key of B.

[18] They are regularly rung on tower tours and on Sunday for Sung Eucharist and Choral Evensong, with a ringing practice on Friday nights.

[19] Christ Church has a range of historical archives and has arranged for a number of publications over the years, as well as maintaining a website since the 1990s.

This work is overseen by, among others, the "Honorary Keeper of the Archives" and the honorary secretary of Christ Church Publications, Ltd.[citation needed] As Christ Church receives no regular state support, while it welcomes all guests and has a chapel for those who simply wish to pray, there are fees for sightseeing, which can also be paid in combination with the purchase of a ticket for the neighbouring "Dublinia" exhibition.

A number of dresses and outfits worn by Maria Doyle Kennedy (playing Catherine of Aragon) and Jonathan Rhys Myers (King Henry VIII) are displayed within the cathedral crypt.

On 3 March 2012, the heart of Lorcán Ua Tuathail (Saint Laurence O'Toole, Archbishop of Dublin) was stolen from the cathedral.