St Michan's mummified remains destroyed by fire

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122249338#Comment_122249338

Ah sure look, it might not be as disastrous as the burning of the custom's house for sure, but it's still an important piece of our city that's been there for hundreds of years that's now potentially lost to future generations.

In typical fashion, I only live around the corner myself and never visited. Did want to go after the last incident but I thought it was still all closed up to visitors! 😥

silverharp

"A man" oh that guy again, if he isnt that dodgy taxi guy again or that arsonist lol

Hamsterchops

On answer to #26, Yes indeed, as I mentioned in #17 the water possibly did more damage than the fire itself?

Yakov P. Golyadkin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122249346#Comment_122249346

Keep fighting the good fight, brother.

miamee

I have lived in Dublin for most of my life and would say I have been to most historical sights and buildings in the city thanks to things like Culture Night, Open House and just an interest in it between myself and some friends. St. Michan's was one of those places I had never gotten around to visiting but it has always been on my "I must do that some day" list. A lesson for us all is not to leave these things on the long finger. Just because something has been around for hundreds or thousands of years, doesn't mean that some gombeen in 2024 or beyond isn't going to ruin it all for the rest of us. There's also the possibility of accidental destruction like Notre Dame in Paris.

Go and see the sights and do the things on your doorstep, plan one for this weekend!

Dial Hard

It won't surprise me in the least if this turns out to be that absolute head the ball who put his fist through the Monet in the National Gallery or the guy who rammed the front gates of Trinity.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122249757#Comment_122249757

Did you know some lunatic walked into The National Gallery London with a shotgun in 1988 and blasted Da Vinci's Virgin and Child with Saint Anne drawing?

I've looked at it so many times in person and never knew. The work restorers can do is amazing.

Doubt you can do much for a soggy mummy though 😥

8mv

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122249203#Comment_122249203

Very sad and infuriating. Done by someone who has nothing constructive to offer society.

I visited as part of a school trip many years ago - back in the early seventies - as far as I can remember, we were encouraged to shake hands with The Crusader - it was considered to bring good luck.

Grayson

One thing to remember is that the place is full of addicts. I used to work next door and the graveyard out back is somewhere they go to shoot up. It wasn't unusual to see ambulances called because someone had overdosed.

magicbastarder

There's graffiti in Newgrange that's 150 years old. It's not as if we're in a new age of philistinism.

Strumms

I’d imagine it’s going to mean that jobs are lost too, that can’t be overlooked…tour guides etc…

Quitelife

people can do what they want these days - no prison space

donaghs

Very sad news, I saw them years ago. I guess we need more protection for heritage in future.
Blaming the water is silly, as the water wouldn’t be there if the fire hadn’t been started. The Fire Brigade are obliged to put out the fire to stop it spreading.

hustlenbustle

im so sad this has happened, I visited there first as a child of 9 with my aunt and found it to be amazing. At the time you could touch the finger of the corpse. I’ve visited many times since as and adult. It’s horrible to think some even thinks of doing this! I mean why??????

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122249863#Comment_122249863

dehumidifier? pity that it has happened.. something 800 years old just ruined in an instant

Nermal

Sentence the perpetrator to be turned into a mummy and displayed for the next 800 years, to educate visitors of the consequences of vandalism.

Cluedo Monopoly

The vaults were ransacked and set on fire in 1996 too.

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/0709/800660-desecration-of-st-michans-church/

Vandals destroy mummified human remains in the vault of the oldest church in Dublin’s north city.

Founded in 1095 St Michan’s is home to around 80 mummified bodies. The human remains are preserved by dry-cold air in vaults underneath the church. On the night of 8 July 1996 smoke was seen billowing from one of the vaults.

techman1

Im surprised the far right have not jumped on this, trying to say it was an offended muslim refugee.

Although i doubt they have the IQ to know about the crusades.

Well who ever done it Muslim or not has a very low iq

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122250068#Comment_122250068

Graffiti isn't quite setting the place on fire and then drowning the contents in water though. 😅

There Turks did blow up the Parthenon in 1687 though I suppose…

interlocked

I was there just over a month ago. I hadn't been since I was a kid.

I had always wanted to go back and I happened to be in Dublin, and on the Luas at the Four Courts. So I called in on spec. A lovely woman was on duty and she said that the next tour was in half a hour, so I waited. Our guide was a Kerryman, a fountain of knowledge and as enthusiastic as a Kerry captain lifting the Sam Maguire , most of the rest of the group were tourists, apart from a young Dublin couple. The vaults were padlocked and had to be unlocked by the guide, who also locked the open doors with a bicycle lock whilst we were in there. To stop anyone from locking us in whilst we were down there, he explained. He also replaced the padlocks after exiting. He also explained the story of the previous attack on the vaults.

We entered two separate vaults. It was a brilliant little tour, with a huge amount of knowledge imparted, from Bram Stoker, to the crusades, the vault of the Earl of Leitrim, so despised that dozens of police had to be employed to stop his coffin being dispatched into the Liffey, by Leitrim people, following his funeral. None of the rest of his family would agree to share his resting place following his death.

The mummies weren't actually originally buried in the vaults, they were discovered under the floor of the church and relocated. All the vaults are owned by different families, many, possibly extinct, which is why they remain untouched by the church.

Then there was the coffins of the Shears brothers, executed following the 1798 rebellion. Resting behind them was the death mask of Robert Emmett, On the wall was the remains of a wreath, laid on the centenary. The moisture from this wreath caused such decay that the bodies of the brothers had to be placed in sealed coffins. And much, much more.

Such a loss of history, at least the second vault containing the Shears should be intact.

Hamsterchops

There are two vaults (crypts), the mummy vault which was the main attraction now destroyed by fire, smoke & water, with all five mummies including the Crusader lost. The second vault (without mummies) wasn't vandalised.

ednwireland

Glad i got to see it before this happened. Absolute shame.

And the church supposedly where Handel practised the messiah.

Manach

Given the high historical signifcance that these artifacts represent, a significant cultural loss for the country.

Lofidelity

Im sorry i never visited despite living in the area for a time. The Capuchian centre attracts a dodgy crowd to the area. They should have upgraded security after the last incident.

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122249601#Comment_122249601

Calling operation Yew Tree!

Hamsterchops

Wish the Media would settle on one name for the Church, as it seems to fluctuate between several pronunciations.

What a disaster, all that history just gone (in a flash) because of one nutter :(

ozmo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122249519#Comment_122249519

The firebrigade need some training in preservation of sensitive areas like meuseums. What did they think would happen if they flooded the place. Dont they have Co2 extinguishers there?

I remember the fire brigade destroyed a large wall of the lucan heritage site bridge a while back just to let some flood water out. That took years to replace.

Anyway - everyone knew how important these relics were and sadly they should have been under glass after the last two attacks in them.

DJB030244

Was fuming when I heard this , My Dad was a great dub and historian, in a Cliff Clavin Cheers kind of way! He brought me there as a kid , as did a school tour . Love our history .
When they said who was charged I googled him, and his girlfriend had put a post on Facebook saying he had gone missing overnight and not like him … Well we know where he was and what he was upto !!😡

Greyjoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122251760#Comment_122251760

Growing up I knew it as St "mick-anns" thanks to Eamon mac Thomais's Dublin history programme "Dublin : A personal view" (which my dad loved even though he wasn't from Dublin) . Here's the episode

https://youtu.be/wPHh-mRtxpw?list=PL8qMfwyfqEzA2JirA1rjwzqShxL3-Ljgt&t=123

Even back in the 70s when this was made there were different pronunciations of the Church's name depending on where you were from.

Goodigal

Oh great memories there @Greyjoy He was my grandad's cousin! Love the Dubbilin accent 😍