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St Michans Church

Named after a Danish bishop, St Michans Church in Dublin is one of the most Unusual visitor attractions in the whole of Ireland. Founded around 1095 by the Danish Colony in Oxmanstown and located near the Four Courts, the pres ent building dates from about 1 685. The church is thought to be constructed above burial vaults built upon the site of an ancient oakforest.The main appeal of the church lies in these vaults — and for good reason!

In the vaults of St Michan’s you will find one of the most atmospheric and macabre locations in Ireland. Once you descend down a steep flight of stairs to the vault the air is strangely fresh and not stale as you might expect in a place where the only living creatures are spiders. In many of the chambers coffins have been stacked on top of one another. In some places the weight of the dead is so strong that the coffins have collapsed into each other causing limbs and even heads to stick out as if posing for some ghastly sculp ture. Even more incredible is that although some of the corpses have lain there for five hundred years they have not disintegrated but have been preserved like mummies.

There are open coffins on display revealing the remarkable preservation of people who died hundreds of years ago. Some of them look as if they have just fallen asleep with hair and even nails intact. Experts believe the remarkable preservation is the result of chemicals impreg nated by the remains of the oak forest that stood on the site in ancient times and as long as there is no moisture in the vaults decay stops. Not surprisingly, many visitors to the vaults have heard mysterious disembodied voices and others have felt ice-cold fingers run down their neck as they bend to inspect the corpses. Carlton-in-Lindrick | England | Exeter | Godshill | Lincoinshire | Lincolnshire | Norton | Old Lady | Whiston | Whiston |