St Audoen's Church

In front of you is the oldest parish church in Dublin still used as one. The Anglo-Normans built it around 1190, soon after they arrived in Ireland, and dedicated it to St Ouen, a seventh-century bishop of Rouen: a way of bringing a little piece of Normandy with them. It may stand on the site of an earlier church dedicated to St Columba.

1The parish of the rich

For centuries this was the wealthiest parish in the city. The Lord Mayor and aldermen came here on state occasions, and the guilds had their base beside the church: the tanners in the tower and the bakers, through the Guild of St Anne, in a building next door. St Anne's chapel was founded in 1430 and at one time had six altars, paid for by the richest parishioners.

Over time the Protestant congregation dwindled, and by around 1825 part of the building was in ruins. That is why some sections are still roofless today.

2Bells and walls

The tower holds three bells cast in 1423, regarded as the oldest in Ireland. And if you walk down the steps through the garden, you reach St Audoen's Arch, the only surviving gate of Dublin's medieval walls, dating from the 13th century.

From up here, the Norman town tumbled down towards the Liffey through a tangle of lanes and workshops.

3What to look for

• The battlemented tower, where the tanners' guild used to meet.
• The roofless nave, a reminder of the church's 19th-century decline.
• The arch in the city wall, at the foot of the steps down to Cook Street.