Christ Church cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in a catholic country. Musical and archival sources (the most extensive for any Irish cathedral) provide a unique perspective on the history of music in Ireland. Christ Church has had a complex and varied history as the cathedral church of Dublin, one of two Anglican cathedrals in the capital of a predominantly Catholic country and the church of the British administration in Ireland before1922. An Irish cathedral within the English tradition, yet through much of its history it was essentially an English cathedral in a foreign land. With close musical links to cathedrals in England, to St Patrick's cathedral in Dublin, and to the city's wider political and cultural life, Christ Church has the longest documented music history of any Irish institution, providing a unique perspective on the history of music in Ireland. Barra Boydell, a leading authority on Irish music history, has written a detailed study drawing on the most extensive musical and archival sources existing for any Irish cathedral. The choir, its composers and musicians, repertoire and organs are discussed within the wider context of city and state, and of the religious and political dynamics which have shaped Anglo-Irish relationships since medieval times. More than just a history of music at one cathedral, this book makesan important contribution to English cathedral music studies as well as to Irish musical and cultural history. BARRA BOYDELL is Senior Lecturer in Music, National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

This volume gathers together for the first time the deeds, chapter acts and other documents relating to the choir, the organ and organists, and the provision of music, from the deed providing for choir boys to sing in the cathedral in 1480, up to 1800.

The cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Dublin - commonly called Christ Church - is, by Irish standards, rich in archival and architectural remains, and so it comes as something of a surprise to learn that this book - now in paperback - is the first full-scale history of the cathedral to be written. That the time has now come for the situation to be redressed owes much to the attention that has been paid in recent years to the records and the architecture of Christ Church. The painstaking work of scholars - from the different academic disciplines of history, music, literature, and art - have distilled from the evidence much that had previously been hidden. Christ Church has reflected the changing face of Ireland, in its architecture, administration, worship, and in the people who made those things possible. It has experienced the trauma of the Reformation, and, centuries later, of disestablishment and of political independence. Whether pre-Reformation as an Augustinian priory, or post-Reformation as the monarch's Chapel Royal in Ireland, 'where the government came to church, ' or indeed from the late 19th Century as metropolitan cathedral for the Church of Ireland dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, Christ Church has played a prominent part in national and civic life. Furthermore, the cathedral archives throw intriguing light on many aspects of everyday life in Dublin

The first investigation into the choral foundation of the Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle. The Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle, was the place of worship of the British monarch's representative in Ireland from 1814 until the inception of the Irish Free State in 1922. It was founded and maintained by the joint efforts of church and state, and thus its history provides valuable insights into how the relationship between religion and politics shaped Irish society and identity. The Dublin Chapel was established in imitation of the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace, London, and was served by a staff of clergy and musicians. Its musical foundation was a formal and independent entity, with its own personnel and performance traditions. Its distinctive repertoire included music from the English and Irish cathedral traditions, as well as works written by composers associated directly with the Chapel. This study investigates the Chapel's constitution, liturgy and music through an examination of previously unexplored primary material. Discussion of the circumstances of the Chapel's founding and its governance structures situates the institution in the context of the church-state relationship that existed following the Union of 1800. Further, by exploring architecture, churchmanship and musical style, O'Shea demonstrates how the Chapel was part of a wider aesthetic and liturgical tradition. The choral foundation is brought to life with accounts of the Chapel's clergy, organists, boy choristers and gentleman singers, which provide insights into Dublin's social history during a period of significant change. This book reflects on the Dublin Chapel Royal's legacy a century after its closure and offers a new perspective into a forgotten corner of Irish cultural, religious and political history.

This title was first published in 2002: Until relatively recently, musicologists' account of church music in post-Restoration and early Georgian England has been substantially incomplete due to an almost exclusive preoccupation with the music and musicians of the Chapel Royal. The balance is now being redressed and this book begins the task of filling one of the remaining gaps in our understanding of the field. The volume represents a detailed examination of the practical workings of a choral foundation during the later 17th and early 18th centuries, placing the musicians within their wider historical and social contexts, and based on a comprehensive survey of extant archival material.