Dublinia is lucky enough to be housed in a spectacular landmark building in the centre of Dublin called the Synod Hall. The Synod Hall is a nineteenth century building designed by George Edmund Street, the same architect who led the restoration of Christ Church Cathedral in the 1870s. The building contains a two-story hall surrounded by many passages and lobbies which are now our exhibition spaces.
About the building
The architecture is a robust First Pointed style, with simple buttresses, circular turrets and plate tracery, an element of stonemasonry that supports the glass in a Gothic window.
There is a Great Hall on the second floor which is accessed via a contouring stone stairway that would have welcomed the Church of Ireland clergy to annual General Synods. An imposing multi-arched wooden roof still exists on the upper level where the words ‘Aye’ and ‘Nae’ can be seen carved over two double doors to facilitate mass voting. There is a fully integrated stone bridge, leading to Christchurch Cathedral, and where our visitors exit the exhibition experience.
St. Michael’s Tower
Dublinia’s late seventeenth century viewing tower belonged to the church of St Michael’s the Archangel, which once stood at the site now occupied by Dublinia. The original medieval tower, of the medieval St Michael’s church, was incorporated into the design of the Synod Hall. Remnants of the tower’s medieval past can be seen in the footprint of the nineteenth century building. It is now part of your visit to Dublinia Dublinia visit and visitors can now climb 96 steps to the top, where you can see spectacular views of the city.
Come see our exhibition at the base of the tower where you can learn all about its history and that of the surrounding parish. What were firebuckets used for, see maps of medieval Dublin and learn all about the stone masonry of the Tower.
