Timeline

915-922 Viking settlers establish trading community on what is now South Main Street

 

c. 1050 Foundation of Christchurch by Hiberno-Norse. First church in the city of Cork

 

1081 Christchurch mentioned in Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland

 

1177 Anglo-Normans take the city of Cork

 

1185 Possible date of construction of Anglo-Norman Christchurch

 

1199 Christchurch listed among possessions of diocese of Cork by Pope Innocent III

 

1291 Christchurch rated in the taxation of Pope Nicholas at 15 Marks

 

1306 Evidence of oldest bequest to Christchurch made by John Wynchedon

 

1382 Evidence of Christchurch under royal patronage during reign of Richard II

 

c. 1450 Landgable Roll refers to Lady Chapel in Christchurch

 

1482 Philip Goold founds Chantry College on Christchurch Lane

 

1497 Perkin Warbeck arrives in Cork. Legend of his coronation as King Richard IV   in Christchurch by Irish opponents of Henry VII

 

1545 Christchurch marked on earliest surviving map of Cork – ‘The Tower of London’ map

 

1548 Chantry College dissolved

 

1555 Possible date for carving of ‘Modest Man’ 
1575 Elizabeth I grants lands, tenements and tithes to the value of £20 to pay for the maintenance of Christchurch

 

pre-1582 Chapel dedicated to St James in Christchurch

 

1587 Christchurch clearly marked on medieval map, Pacata Hibernia

 

1594 Edmund Spenser marries Elizabeth Boyle in Christchurch

 

1601 Hardiman Map depicts Christchurch with a nave, north and south aisles and a square tower at the west end

 

1621 Two bells cast for Christchurch. One inscribed with the name of ‘Andrew Skiddie, Mayor of Cork.’ Bell missing since 1931

 

1643-68 Christchurch Parish Register & Records. Earliest published records of burials in Cork

 

1644 Irish and Catholic population expelled from Cork city, including Old Catholic merchant classes, for conspiring rebellion. Cork put under military governance by Cromwell until 1656

 

1647 Soldiers killed in battle of Knockninoss between the forces of Lord Inchiquin and Lord Taafe interred at Christchurch

 

1649 Cromwell spends Christmas in Cork. Legend that Christchurch was used as stables and bells taken down to make cannons

 

1655 Cromwell grants new Municipal Charter to the Protestants of the city of Cork. John Hodder elected mayor

 

1690 Siege of Cork. Christchurch sustains damage. Protestants held captive in church released. Catholics in turn imprisoned

 

1691 Christchurch steeple contains ‘City Clock’

 

1716  Anglo-Norman Christchurch demolished

 

1718 Stone for the new Church put in place. John Coltsman is architect

 

1719 Parliamentary Coal Act. Taxes put on imported coal to rebuild Christchurch

 

1726 John Coltsman rebuild of Christchurch complete. £480 deficit. Coal Tax renewed

 

1747 Christchurch steeple continues to sink in marshy foundations. Deemed a public menace. Orders in place to take it down, though work not fully undertaken

 

1750 Mayor and Corporation Gallery erected on northern wall. Now non-existent

 

1787 A choir established in Christchurch by voluntary subscription to counter falling numbers and revenue

 

1810 Another 100ft of Christchurch tower removed due to subsidence

 

1815 ‘Modest Man’ slab found in crypt

 

1823 Architects deem Christchurch dangerous and close it

 

1825 Christchurch committee petitions parliament for funding of renovation

 

1827 Tenders put out for Christchurch renovations. George Richard Pain wins contract for £7000

 

1828 Pain remodels Christchurch interior

 

1829 Pain renovations complete. Records suggest every memorial was displaced and many destroyed during renovations

 

c.1830 Christchurch vaults and crypt no longer flood at high tide

 

1831 Soup houses set up by Christchurch Committee to safeguard against cholera

 

1840 Municipal Corporations Act. Marks the end of Protestant domination of Cork Corporation after nearly two centuries

 

1863 Human heart found enclosed in lead cyst in crypt. Now part of PittRiversMuseum collection, University of Oxford

 

1878 Renovations under W. H. Hill. Apse built. TC Lewis organ installed

 

1879 Pulpit and stained glass windows installed in apse

 

1885 Apse begins to subside

 

1891 Oak reredos panelling for the chancel put in place

 

1919 ‘Boys Brigade’ window erected in memory of parish casualties in World War I

 

1937 Apse repaired and reinforced

 

1974-77 Extensive archaeological excavation of Christchurch Lane by D C Twohig

 

1975 Archaeological excavations locate fragmentary remains of Chantry College

 

1978  Christchurch deconsecrated

 

1979 Cork Corporation purchase Christchurch. Cork Archives Institute opens

 

1997 Archaeological excavations of Tuckey Street reveal 11th century Hiberno-Norse structure and evidence of earliest settlement on the south island

 

2005 Cork City and County Archives move to Blackpool

 

2008 Refurbishment of Christchurch project initiated

 

2009 Pre-refurbishment works. Archaeological excavation – crypt and graveyard

 

2011 Renovations of Christchurch and integration into Triskel complete

 

April 2011 Christchurch reopens to the public