1. Cork Tower2. Castle Gate3. Powder Tower4. Record Tower5. Middle Tower6. Bermingham Tower7. Tower8. Stanihurst’s Tower9. Pool Gate10. Genevel’s Tower11. St Nicholas’s Gate12. Sarsfield’s Tower13. Sedgrave’s Tower14. Fagan’s Tower15. Newgate16. Fitzsimon’s Tower17. Gormond’s Gate18. Harbard’s Tower19. Usher’s House20. Bridge Gate21. Pricket’s Tower22. Fyan’s Castle23. Casey’s Tower24. Isolde’s Tower25. Buttevant Tower26. Bysse’s Tower27. Dam Gate28. St Audoen’s Arch29. Mac Gilla Mo-Cholmóc’s

Gate30. Winetavern Gate31. Gate

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Key to CityDefences

START in Dublinia Interpretative Centre, go to Christ ChurchCathedral, visiting crypt. On leaving, note remains of thechapter-house of the medieval priory. Continue ontoChristchurch Place. Look across the road to the Peace Gardenat the junction of Nicholas Street and Christchurch Place wherethe Tholsel, the headquarters of the merchants’ guild, oncestood. Note the bronze plaque in the footpath representingartefacts found during excavations at Wood Quay. Turn rightat St Michael’s Hill and go down Winetavern Street, notingthe outline of Viking houses in the paving to the right. Turnright into the Civic Offices complex and follow the path,viewing the extant section of the Hiberno-Norse town wall inthe basement through the window. Found during the WoodQuay excavations, this was numbered for reconstructionpurposes but was not demolished. Walk northwards throughthe grounds, originally the Wood Quay waterfront, noting theview of Christ Church to the south. Turn right onto the quays,noting bronze plaques. Turn right at Fishamble Street then leftat Exchange Street Lower. The curving street pattern followsthe line of the Anglo-Norman extension of the city wall built inthe 13th century. Look through the wrought-iron grill at thebase of the apartments on the left and see the foundations ofIsolde’s Tower, the circular tower at the north-eastern angle ofthe city wall. Continue up the street and turn right ontoEssex Street West. Excavations on the left under theapartment complex uncovered evidence of late 9th centuryViking settlement at the confluence of the Liffey and Poddlerivers. Turn left onto Fishamble Street, observing thewidened street, the original location of the medieval fishmarket that gave the street its name. Excavations on the rightrevealed a series of 10th century post-and-wattle houses thatfronted onto the street. Turn right at John’s Lane, at the topof the hill, where a medieval parish church once stood. Thegraveyard, originally attached to the church, now lies underpart of the landscaped grounds of the Civic Offices. Walkdown one of the few surviving medieval lanes alongside thecathedral and find yourself back at Dublinia.

START in City Hall Interpretative Centre, which houses anexhibition on the history of the city. On exiting, turn right intoPalace Street, walking through the gates into the lowercourtyard of Dublin Castle. You are following the line of theRiver Poddle, which originally formed the medieval city moatbut now flows in a culvert under your feet. Turn right towardsthe upper courtyard, which represents the original precinct ofthe medieval castle. Note the Record Tower on the left,which survives generally intact except for the 19th centurybattlement. Do the tour and visit the remains of the PowderTower in the underground chamber. Walk back towards thechapel and around the rear of the castle, turning left into thetranquil Dubh-linn Garden. This garden is all that remains ofthe historic ‘black pool’, which gave Dublin its name. Themonastery, probably suppressed by the Vikings in the 9thcentury, was located somewhere on the bank of this pool. Thiswas also the focus of early Viking activity as Viking warriorshave been found, buried with weapons, around its perimeter.Exiting from the garden, turn left towards the BerminghamTower, noting the tower’s defensive sloping base or batter.Leaving by the castle gate, stop at the junction with ShipStreet Great, where excavations revealed the remains of thechurch (dated to c.1100) and graveyard of St Michael le Poleon the right. Continue walking up Ship Street Little,following the refaced section of the city wall on your right.Note the projection in the wall, which was originally amedieval tower known as Stanihurst’s Tower. You are nowwalking along the line of the city moat formed by the RiverPoddle. Turn right at the junction and continue up WerburghStreet, named after a medieval church on the right-hand sidewhere an 18th century successor now stands. Excavations onthe left-hand side of the street uncovered the remains ofHiberno-Norse post-and-wattle houses confirming its earlyorigins. Continue up the hill to the junction where themedieval pillory (where public punishments took place) oncestood. Turn right into Castle Street, part of the main east-west thoroughfare of the medieval city, and return to City Hall.

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Dublinia WalkCity Hall Walk St Audoen’s Walk

Dublinia (former Synod Hall)

Christ ChurchCathedral

Chapter-house in ruins

St Audoen’s Church St Audoen’sInterpretative Centre

St Audoen’s ArchCity HallInterpretative Centre

Record Tower Dubh-linn Garden

Fishamble St Site of Isolde’s Tower John’s LaneBermingham Tower,Dublin Castle

City wall, Ship Street Little

Werburgh St City wall, Lamb Alley

St Audoen’s Park City wall, Cook St

START in St Audoen’s Interpretative Centre. On exiting ontoHigh Street, turn right towards the western boundary of themedieval walled city. Looking across the road, note themodern La Rochelle apartments at Back Lane, a narrowmedieval lane originally called Rochelle Street. Observe, fromthis side of the street, the standing section of the Anglo-Norman wall at Lamb Alley, which originally extended to themain western gate, known as Newgate, whose southerntower served as a prison in the late Middle Ages. Bertram’sCourt, to the rear, lay outside the city wall, but was part of anindustrial quarter in the medieval period. Turn back and leftinto St Audoen’s Park, viewing the doorway and belfry ofthe church. St Audoen’s Church is the only surviving medievalparish church within the walls and is still in use for services(usually Sundays 10.15am). Standing in the park, part ofwhich may have been the graveyard attached to the church,you are now at the original height of the battlements, fromwhich the Dubliners would have defended their city. Look leftdown the impressive length of the wall to where the RiverLiffey originally flowed at high tide. Cook Street, at the baseof the wall, was first built on in the 13th century and was sonamed because of the concentration of food vendors, whoseovens were placed outside the walls to reduce the risk of fire.Walk down the narrow passageway and steps along the sideof the nave and view St Audoen’s Arch, which was insertedthrough the Hiberno-Norse wall in the 13th century. Look leftalong the attractive length of the wall. Turning right, followthe remainder of the wall as far as the junction withSchoolhouse Lane, originally Picot’s Lane, where there was acity school in the late medieval period. Turn right up StMichael’s Close, a steep medieval lane named after thechurch of St Michael the Archangel, the tower of which nowforms part of Dublinia. At the top look left towards the site ofthe market cross, which stood in the middle of the junction.Turn right into High Street, the meat market of the medievalcity, and return to St Audoen’s Church.

Map of WalksLine of the city wallSurviving city wall

Gate Main gates

35 mins approx. (excluding exhibition) 1 hour approx. (excluding exhibition)45 mins approx. (excluding exhibition)

See Introduction for an explanation of Areas A, B and C.

1. Cork Tower2. Castle Gate3. Powder Tower4. Record Tower5. Middle Tower6. Bermingham Tower7. Tower8. Stanihurst’s Tower9. Pool Gate10. Genevel’s Tower11. St Nicholas’s Gate12. Sarsfield’s Tower13. Sedgrave’s Tower14. Fagan’s Tower15. Newgate16. Fitzsimon’s Tower17. Gormond’s Gate18. Harbard’s Tower19. Usher’s House20. Bridge Gate21. Pricket’s Tower22. Fyan’s Castle23. Casey’s Tower24. Isolde’s Tower25. Buttevant Tower26. Bysse’s Tower27. Dam Gate28. St Audoen’s Arch29. Mac Gilla Mo-Cholmóc’s

Gate30. Winetavern Gate31. Gate

ol

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Key to CityDefences

START in Dublinia Interpretative Centre, go to Christ ChurchCathedral, visiting crypt. On leaving, note remains of thechapter-house of the medieval priory. Continue ontoChristchurch Place. Look across the road to the Peace Gardenat the junction of Nicholas Street and Christchurch Place wherethe Tholsel, the headquarters of the merchants’ guild, oncestood. Note the bronze plaque in the footpath representingartefacts found during excavations at Wood Quay. Turn rightat St Michael’s Hill and go down Winetavern Street, notingthe outline of Viking houses in the paving to the right. Turnright into the Civic Offices complex and follow the path,viewing the extant section of the Hiberno-Norse town wall inthe basement through the window. Found during the WoodQuay excavations, this was numbered for reconstructionpurposes but was not demolished. Walk northwards throughthe grounds, originally the Wood Quay waterfront, noting theview of Christ Church to the south. Turn right onto the quays,noting bronze plaques. Turn right at Fishamble Street then leftat Exchange Street Lower. The curving street pattern followsthe line of the Anglo-Norman extension of the city wall built inthe 13th century. Look through the wrought-iron grill at thebase of the apartments on the left and see the foundations ofIsolde’s Tower, the circular tower at the north-eastern angle ofthe city wall. Continue up the street and turn right ontoEssex Street West. Excavations on the left under theapartment complex uncovered evidence of late 9th centuryViking settlement at the confluence of the Liffey and Poddlerivers. Turn left onto Fishamble Street, observing thewidened street, the original location of the medieval fishmarket that gave the street its name. Excavations on the rightrevealed a series of 10th century post-and-wattle houses thatfronted onto the street. Turn right at John’s Lane, at the topof the hill, where a medieval parish church once stood. Thegraveyard, originally attached to the church, now lies underpart of the landscaped grounds of the Civic Offices. Walkdown one of the few surviving medieval lanes alongside thecathedral and find yourself back at Dublinia.

START in City Hall Interpretative Centre, which houses anexhibition on the history of the city. On exiting, turn right intoPalace Street, walking through the gates into the lowercourtyard of Dublin Castle. You are following the line of theRiver Poddle, which originally formed the medieval city moatbut now flows in a culvert under your feet. Turn right towardsthe upper courtyard, which represents the original precinct ofthe medieval castle. Note the Record Tower on the left,which survives generally intact except for the 19th centurybattlement. Do the tour and visit the remains of the PowderTower in the underground chamber. Walk back towards thechapel and around the rear of the castle, turning left into thetranquil Dubh-linn Garden. This garden is all that remains ofthe historic ‘black pool’, which gave Dublin its name. Themonastery, probably suppressed by the Vikings in the 9thcentury, was located somewhere on the bank of this pool. Thiswas also the focus of early Viking activity as Viking warriorshave been found, buried with weapons, around its perimeter.Exiting from the garden, turn left towards the BerminghamTower, noting the tower’s defensive sloping base or batter.Leaving by the castle gate, stop at the junction with ShipStreet Great, where excavations revealed the remains of thechurch (dated to c.1100) and graveyard of St Michael le Poleon the right. Continue walking up Ship Street Little,following the refaced section of the city wall on your right.Note the projection in the wall, which was originally amedieval tower known as Stanihurst’s Tower. You are nowwalking along the line of the city moat formed by the RiverPoddle. Turn right at the junction and continue up WerburghStreet, named after a medieval church on the right-hand sidewhere an 18th century successor now stands. Excavations onthe left-hand side of the street uncovered the remains ofHiberno-Norse post-and-wattle houses confirming its earlyorigins. Continue up the hill to the junction where themedieval pillory (where public punishments took place) oncestood. Turn right into Castle Street, part of the main east-west thoroughfare of the medieval city, and return to City Hall.

3

3

1

1

2

2

Dublinia WalkCity Hall Walk St Audoen’s Walk

Dublinia (former Synod Hall)

Christ ChurchCathedral

Chapter-house in ruins

St Audoen’s Church St Audoen’sInterpretative Centre

St Audoen’s ArchCity HallInterpretative Centre

Record Tower Dubh-linn Garden

Fishamble St Site of Isolde’s Tower John’s LaneBermingham Tower,Dublin Castle

City wall, Ship Street Little

Werburgh St City wall, Lamb Alley

St Audoen’s Park City wall, Cook St

START in St Audoen’s Interpretative Centre. On exiting ontoHigh Street, turn right towards the western boundary of themedieval walled city. Looking across the road, note themodern La Rochelle apartments at Back Lane, a narrowmedieval lane originally called Rochelle Street. Observe, fromthis side of the street, the standing section of the Anglo-Norman wall at Lamb Alley, which originally extended to themain western gate, known as Newgate, whose southerntower served as a prison in the late Middle Ages. Bertram’sCourt, to the rear, lay outside the city wall, but was part of anindustrial quarter in the medieval period. Turn back and leftinto St Audoen’s Park, viewing the doorway and belfry ofthe church. St Audoen’s Church is the only surviving medievalparish church within the walls and is still in use for services(usually Sundays 10.15am). Standing in the park, part ofwhich may have been the graveyard attached to the church,you are now at the original height of the battlements, fromwhich the Dubliners would have defended their city. Look leftdown the impressive length of the wall to where the RiverLiffey originally flowed at high tide. Cook Street, at the baseof the wall, was first built on in the 13th century and was sonamed because of the concentration of food vendors, whoseovens were placed outside the walls to reduce the risk of fire.Walk down the narrow passageway and steps along the sideof the nave and view St Audoen’s Arch, which was insertedthrough the Hiberno-Norse wall in the 13th century. Look leftalong the attractive length of the wall. Turning right, followthe remainder of the wall as far as the junction withSchoolhouse Lane, originally Picot’s Lane, where there was acity school in the late medieval period. Turn right up StMichael’s Close, a steep medieval lane named after thechurch of St Michael the Archangel, the tower of which nowforms part of Dublinia. At the top look left towards the site ofthe market cross, which stood in the middle of the junction.Turn right into High Street, the meat market of the medievalcity, and return to St Audoen’s Church.

Map of WalksLine of the city wallSurviving city wall

Gate Main gates

35 mins approx. (excluding exhibition) 1 hour approx. (excluding exhibition)45 mins approx. (excluding exhibition)

See Introduction for an explanation of Areas A, B and C.

DUBLIN CITY COUNCILArchaeology Section,Block 4 Floor 3, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8.archaeology@dublincity.ie

FRIENDS OF MEDIEVALDUBLINDept. of Medieval History,Trinity College,Dublin 2.fmd@cccdub.ie

L-r: Isolde’s Tower, which can be seen on LrExchange St; Dublin wine jug dating to the13th century; St Audoen’s Church, High St(12th century); Genevel’s Tower, nowunderground at Ross Rd; bronze ring broochdating to the 13th century.

IntroductionFrom the early historic period to c.1500 AD, medieval Dublinwent through a number of distinct phases of development:first Gaelic, then Viking, then Hiberno-Norse, followed byAnglo-Norman and finally Anglo-Irish. These provide theframework for understanding the city's changing layout andthe significance of the standing remains that can be seen oneach of the three walks.

In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Viking settlers in Dublinneeded military defences to protect themselves from theirhostile Irish neighbours. These early defensive arrangementsconsisted of earthen banks, reinforced by timber fences orpalisades, and have been found on a number ofarchaeological excavations in the city. The first known earthand timber defences come from Area Aon the map, theeastern core of the medieval town. They date to the 10thand 11th centuries, when the kingdom of Dublin waspolitically important both in Ireland and abroad and the townwas a thriving and wealthy settlement.

By the early 11th century the Hiberno-Norse inhabitants ofDublin extended westwards the defensive enclosure or dún –which means stronghold in Irish – to include Area B. WhenChrist Church Cathedral was founded c.1030 it stood at thevery centre of the enlarged town. It was probably at the endof the same century (c.1100) that a massive stone curtain wallwas built to surround the town, an indication of both theDubliners' wealth and their sense of insecurity. They wereright to feel insecure because in 1170 Dublin was conqueredby the Anglo-Normans under the famous Strongbow. During

the Anglo-Norman phase, a castle was built inside the south-eastern angle of the walls, probably on the site of an earlierone. It was of a very advanced design, with high curtain wallsand four powerful angle-towers at the corners, one of whichsurvives almost complete.

This was a time of rapid economic growth for Dublin and inthe early 13th century new land was reclaimed from theLiffey so that Area Cbecame part of the city. Stone wallswere built around this new extension as well, but the quaysalong the river may have remained unprotected for a time. Inorder to enable people to move about freely and to gainaccess to the river – the lifeblood of the medieval city –gateways were opened up in the old north wall, one of whichsurvives today as St Audoen's Arch.

The medieval walls, with their towers and gateways,continued to protect the Anglo-Irish citizens of Dublin longafter 1500 and the entire circuit was still intact when adetailed survey was made in 1585. In the 18th century mostof the gateways were demolished, because they were nolonger needed for defence and were getting in the way oftraffic, but parts of the walls and towers are still preserved tobe enjoyed to this day by modern visitors and Dubliners alike.

Acknowledgements: Text by Howard Clarke, Ruth Johnson andLinzi Simpson. Images by Dublinia, Dublin City Council andFriends of Medieval Dublin. Prepared by Bríd Kelliher and TonyMolloy (DCC). © 2004

Designed by Environmental Publications.

Walks aroundMedieval Dublin

Friends of Medieval Dublin

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1. Augustinian friaryof Holy Trinity

2. Dam Mills3. King’s Hall4. Isolde’s Tower5. Merchant’s Quay6. Wood Quay7. Christ Church

Cathedral8. St Patrick’s

Cathedral9. St Sepulchre’s

Palace10. St Peter’s Church11. Carmelite

monastery12. Franciscan friary13. Fair Green14. Newgate15. St John the

Baptist’s Hospital16. St Audoen’s

Church17. St Saviour’s Priory18. Chapel19. St Audoen’s Arch20. St Michael the

Archangel’s Church

Scale model of Dublin,c.1500, viewed fromthe south with StPatrick’s Cathedral inthe foreground.(Copyright Dublinia)

L-r:City seal matrix (obverse), 13th century; city wall marker;entrance to the Lower Yard of Dublin Castle; Dublinia (formerSynod Hall); city wall, Cook Street; city seal matrix (reverse).

All walks are undertaken at your own risk and Dublin City Council accepts no responsibility for any hazards that may be encountered en route.