St Michan's Church

From the outside, St Michan's looks like an ordinary parish church. But beneath your feet lie some of the most famous vaults in Europe. There has been a chapel here since 1095, founded in Viking times, and it is the only parish on the north side of the Liffey with that origin. The present building dates from 1686.

1Bodies that don't decay

In the vaults, the air is kept very dry by the limestone of the walls, and bodies mummified naturally. Among them were a nun from some four hundred years ago, a very tall man popularly known as ‘the Crusader’ and the brothers Henry and John Sheares, executed for their part in the 1798 rebellion. Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, is said to have visited these vaults as a boy, but there's no evidence of it.

2Break-ins and a fire

The recent history is a sad one. In 1996 vandals set fire to one of the vaults. In 2019 an intruder decapitated the Crusader and stole his head, which the Gardaí recovered weeks later. And in June 2024 another arson attack destroyed five mummies, the Crusader among them.

According to a tradition recorded in 1852, Handel practised on this church's organ before the premiere of Messiah in 1742. It has never been confirmed.

After the fire, access to the vaults was suspended. Check the parish website to see whether they can be visited.

3What to look for

• The stepped battlements of the tower, a typically Irish feature.
• The gravestones, some from the mid-17th century.
• The old almshouse in the grounds, built around 1720 and later used as parish offices.