| Dublin in Bits By Malcolm Rogers
Malcolm Rogers visits the newly revamped medieval heritage centre
Dvblinia, and sees everything from rats to a 900-year-old Dublin woman.
Tons of sphagnum moss were brought into Viking Dublin every year. The
reason? For use as toilet paper. You can unearth fascinating facts such
as these, as well as gaining an insight into Dublin over the centuries,
at the newly revamped Dvblinia heritage centre — just beside Christchurch
Cathedral.
Originally opened in 1993 the centre, which is situated in the former
Synod Hall of the Church of Ireland, has undergone a complete makeover.
It is run by The Medieval Trust, a charitable organisation, and the influence
of this body has had the significant consequence of steering the place clear
of the worst excesses of crass commercialism.
Instead, an academic though entertaining exhibition takes you through
the various ages of what is one of Europe’s most historic cities.
Strangely enough, rats occupy a central place in the current exhibition.
The Black Death was the biggest disaster to be visited on the walled city
of Dublin during the Middle Ages. The first recorded case was at Howth in
1348 and by the end of the century the capital city had been devastated
by the disease, the entire area entering a steep decline.
A tableau at the exhibition records that every night during the pandemic
Dublin’s dead were conveyed from within the city by the cartload, and the
cadavers dumped unceremoniously outside the walls on the south side of the
city in an area still called Black Pitts.
Should you wish to remind yourself of one of Dublin’s earliest plagues
you can furnish yourself with a black rubber rat from the souvenir shop.
As well as the Black Death, the exhibition’s Journey Through Time will
guide you in graphic detail through several other famous episodes in Dublin’s
history — such as the crowning of Lambert Simnel, pretender to the English
throne.
The first floor houses life-size reconstructions of medieval interiors,
fully equipped with genuine artefacts from the Wood Quay excavations. Much
of what is now known about life in medieval Dublin has been gleaned from
these archaeological digs and the artefacts which were unearthed at Wood
Quay, Fishamble Street and Christchurch Place — all right beside Dvblinia.
There’s also a careful reconstruction of a 13th century dockside, a leather
worker outside his timber-frame house and a 15th century merchant’s kitchen.
Wine from Bordeaux, pottery from Saintongm and spices from the Orient demonstrate
that medieval Dubliners could also appreciate the finer things in life,
despite having to use moss on their bottoms.
One of the new centre’s most treasured exhibits is a fibre-glass construction
of the face of a middle-aged woman whose skull was excavated from Wood Quay.
The skull has been reconstructed at a forensic laboratory in Glasgow which
specialises in this science. With the aid of lasers to highlight reference
points, the curators at Dvblinia are totally confident that their head sculpture
is a perfect likeness of a local woman who lived in the area in the early
1100s.
Dvblinia highlights the turbulent history of medieval Dublin vividly
— tracing events from the arrival of Strongbow to the reign of Henry VIII
and of course looks at the life of high profile figures of the period.
However the exhibition also concentrates on the lot of the ordinary person
— the average Dublin merchant, artisan and jackeen. And the seamier side
of Dublin’s life is not totally ignored. The city’s thriving medieval prostitution
industry is filed under ‘ladies of ill repute.’
A tiny snatch of life long ago can be experienced by trying on parts
of a suit of armour, or dressing up in medieval robes — or if you really
want to experience the contrast between old Dublin 1001 and Dublin 2001,
you can climb the 96 steps to the top of the 17th century St. Michael’s
Tower, admire the view, and compare the old with the new.
Dublin, which for many years laboured under the unenviable label of “the
second city of the Empire”, is now one of the first cities of Europe.
Almost every day there are reports of a star jetting in to Dublin for
a bit of rest and recuperation . . . or for another celebrity launch; and
of course the modern day plague that is stag and hen parties from all over
Europe, which arrive hourly in Temple Bar.
But of course what makes Dublin a great city are the native people, and
Dvblinia is as good a review of the citizenry across the centuries as is
possible to come up with, short of visiting every other museum and exhibition
in the city. For an interesting, digestible and entertaining history of
our Capital, it is, as the Dubliners themselves would say: “Bleedin’ deadly,
whaaa!”
Bookings:
Dvblinia, St. Michael’s Hill, Christchurch, Dublin 8.
Telephone : 00 353 (0)1 679 46 11
Opening Times
Apr — Sept: Daily: 10.00-17.00
Oct — Mar: Mon-Sat: 11.00-16.00, Sun: 10.00-16.30
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