The Mummies of St. Michan's Church in Dublin
Tour Includes Visit to Vaults in Ireland's Capital
Undoubtedly, the largest draw to St. Michan’s Church, on the north side of the River Liffey on Church Street, just by the Four Courts, are the well preserved mummies in the crypts. The climate in the narrow vaults, accessed through iron doors in the church’s graveyard, is responsible for the mummies.
Methane gas emanating from the ground and the limestone from which the vaults are built have seeped moisture out of the crypts’ contents, so coffins have dried up, fallen apart at the seams, so to speak, and exposed the remains. Four brown and leathery bodies, including those of a reputed nun, thief and crusader, lie shrivelled beneath a film of dust.
The bodies have all been mummified without the aid of embalming fluid. Fingernails and skin folds on fingers are visible. A couple of the bodies, up to 400 years old, have tales to tell. The thief’s right forearm is missing. Is this the result of punishment for a crime, or disease, perhaps? No one knows for sure. His feet are missing, too, reportedly removed so his body could fit into the coffin.
The crusader lies against a wall, with his legs crossed at the thighs — one bone is broken — and an exceptionally long middle finger on his right hand. Visitors may rub this finger for luck, as legend has it, and the squeamish will finds it just feels like rubbing a wooden tabletop.
Famous People Buried in St. Michan’s Vaults
In another vault lie the crypts containing the closed coffins of the Earls of Leinster and the Sheares brothers. The earls’ coffins are stacked one on top of another, but are visibly ornate, with a crown emblem on its ends. Closer to the entrance of the crypt is a plain and simple coffin, also belonging to the family, but its lack of décor is reportedly because no one was fond of this particular character!
John and Henry Sheares were brothers who took part in the 1798 rebellion and were executed for their efforts. Their coffins lie side by side, with brief biographies of them on a stand at the entrance to the crypt. A copy of the execution warrant is also on display in the crypt, where it instructs the condemned be “respectfully” quartered after being hung and drawn.
Tours of St. Michan’s Church and Crypts
Tours of the church and crypts are conducted Mondays to Saturdays, at a cost of four euro for adults, and 3.50 euro for students. Photographers should note they are not permitted to take pictures inside the vaults. The church is still used as a place for worship and ceremonies, so it may be closed to tourists on occasion. It is recommended that potential visitors check online for opening times.
The preservative qualities of the climate in the vaults of St. Michan’s Church in Dublin, Ireland, has caused the mummification of bodies, now centuries old, that visitors can view along with the final resting places of Earls of Leinster and the Sheares brothers. It’s science and history all in one.
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