The crypt at St Michan’s Church in Dublin has been closed to the public since an arson attack in June 2024, but there is hope it will reopen soon.
“The Irish Times are the first people actually to come down and be part of this grotesque scene,” says David Pierpoint, Archdeacon of Dublin and vicar at the church in Smithfield.
The attack damaged the remains of a crusader, which have in the crypt for around 800 years, alongside the remains of a man buried alive at least 150 years ago.
“We know he was buried alive because the lid of his coffin was all scratched and there were splinters in his nails,” Pierpoint says. “Because the crusader and the man who was buried alive are pretty much beyond redemption at this stage, there’s no way we can now expose these to public viewing.”
The remains of a nun and a thief were not damaged.
Last month, Cristian Topiter (39) was sentenced to six years in prison after he pleaded guilty to arson.
Pierpoint says the parish is now in “dire straits” after losing tens of thousands of euro in income from visitors. He hopes to exhume the “desecrated” remains and move them to a separate sealed crypt.
“The bodies do not decompose because the air in the crypt stays at 14 degrees and the tannin from the bog oak, mixed with the limestone, has created this almost unnatural preservation of human remains.”
