Christ Church Cathedral (or, more formally, The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity) is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the Ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the Church of Ireland. It is situated in Dublin, Ireland, and is the elder of the capital city’s two medieval cathedrals, the other being St Patrick’s Cathedral.
Christ Church is officially claimed as the seat (cathedra) of both the Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic archbishops of Dublin. In law, and in fact it has been the cathedral of only the Church of Ireland’s Archbishop of Dublin, since the English Reformation. Though nominally claimed as his cathedral, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin uses St Mary’s in Marlborough Street in Dublin as his pro-cathedral (acting cathedral).[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 carriage-way 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. As a result, the cathedral now appears dominant in isolation behind new civil offices along the quays, out of its original medieval context. In recent years the Cathedral has offered a great set for Medieval Dramas such as the CW’s hit drama “Reign”. The Main Building of “Christchurch Cathedral” was used to film pivotal moments in the drama’s pilot. The Cathedral also offered a great backdrop to the hit drama “the Tudors” which was Christchurch’s Cathedrals longest running Television show to be filmed within the compounds of the Cathedral, Many Dresses and outfits worn by Maria Doyle Kennedy (Catherine of Aragon) and Jonathon Rhys Myers (King Henry) are available to be viewed within the crypt of Christchurch Cathedral.
Christ Church is the only one of the three cathedrals or acting cathedrals which can be seen clearly from the River Liffey.