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The capital and largest city of Ireland, in the east-central part of the country on the Irish Sea. A Danish stronghold until 1014, Dublin was later captured by the English (1170) and made the center of the Pale. It was the scene of the Black Monday massacre of English residents in 1209 and the bloody Easter Rebellion of April 24, 1916. The Sinn Fein movement began here in the early 20th century. Population: 506,000.
Dubliner Dub'lin·er n.
For more information on Dublin, visit Britannica.com.
Dublin takes its name from the Irish Duibhlinn, ‘black pool’. Duibhlinn was an ecclesiastical centre seized by the Vikings in 841. It quickly became the main Viking military base and trading centre in Ireland and its Hiberno-Norse rulers exercised power over its hinterland. After the victory at Clontarf (1014), Irish rulers established themselves as kings of Dublin and by the time Ireland was invaded by the Anglo-Normansin 1169 Dublin was effectively the country's capital. It fell to Anglo-Normanarms in 1170 and remained the headquarters of the English colony in Ireland. Georgian Dublin flourished and the abolition of its parliament in 1800 did little to lessen the city's expansion. Opposition to the Union led to the Easter Rising in the city in 1916, followed by the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1921, with Dublin as capital and the home again of an Irish parliament.
The Irish capital was established by Norsemen, an outpost in 841 and a town perhaps in 988, but has always had Irish names. The story in the Dindshenchas ascribes the name dub(h)-linn to the druidess Dub(h), who on learning that her husband Énna has taken a second wife, Áíde, drowns Áíde and all her family. In revenge Margenn, a servant of Aíde, casts a sling at Dub, killing her. She falls into a pool near the mouth of the Liffey estuary, which is named for her.
While the pool once made the Liffey navigable to larger ships, modern dredging has eliminated it. Some commentators see allusions to the dark pool in Ptolemy's (2nd cent. AD) name for the harbour, Eblana, as well as in the Latin name, Nigratherma. A Norse name for their settlement was Dyflinarski. The name of a nearby smaller pool has also been associated with the city; Old Irish poll bec; Modern Irish poll beag [small hole], anglicized Poolbeg. The usual Irish language name for the city, Baile Átha Cliath [Irish, settlement/town of the hurdle ford], denotes the narrowest point on the Liffey, forded in pre-Norse times by the road between Tara and Wicklow, near the Wood Quay area, west of the modern commercial centre. It was a ‘hurdle ford’ because of a causeway built of woven wicker, boughs, or hurdles. The ford was known by different names in Irish tradition, including Áth Liag Mairgene [Ford of Margenn's Sling Stone], after the killer of Dub(h).
As a town established by invaders, Dublin does not figure largely in early Irish tradition, although several important sites lie within the environs of modern metropolitan Dublin, including Da Derga's Hostel on the River Dodder and Cnucha [Castle Knock], scene of a significant Fenian battle. James Joyce seized upon the little-known modern tradition that Fionn mac Cumhaill's body lay stretched beneath the city of Dublin from the Head of Howth in the east to Phoenix Park in the west. The Arthurian hero Tristan visits Dublin after traversing the Irish Sea in a rudderless boat. Extensive excavation of Viking Dublin followed the accidental discovery of buried ruins at Wood Quay during construction of an office building in the mid-1970s. See J. M. Flood, Dublin in Irish Legend (Dublin, 1919); G. A. Little, Dublin Before the Vikings (Dublin, 1957); Royal Irish Academy, Dublin (Dublin, 1988). See also MAG NELTA.
Points of Interest
The Univ. of Dublin, or Trinity College (founded 1591), has in its library the famous Book of Kells and a copy of every book published in the British Isles. University College (Roman Catholic) was incorporated in 1909 as part of the National Univ. of Ireland; mastery of the Gaelic language is a requirement for its students. Dublin Castle (c.1220 but much altered since) was the residence of the lords lieutenants of Ireland until 1922 and now houses government facilities and the Charles Beatty Library. The city's earliest church, Christ Church, was founded in 1038; in 1172 Strongbow built a new church (restored 1871–78) on this site, and his tomb is there. St. Patrick's is the national cathedral of the Protestant Church of Ireland; Jonathan Swift, buried there, was dean from 1713 to 1745. Kilmainham Hospital, a notable structure that is no longer a hospital, dates from 1679. The General Post Office (1818) is important primarily as a key site in the Easter Uprising (1916); nearby is the 394-ft (120-m) Spire of Dublin (2003). Dublin has a national museum, noted for its collection of Irish antiquities, and the National Gallery of Art, which has a good collection of old masters.
History
Dublin was a Danish town until 1014, when Brian Boru defeated the Danes at nearby Clontarf. The Danes established themselves again until Richard Strongbow, 2d earl of Pembroke, captured the city for the English in 1170. In 1172, Henry II of England came to Dublin and granted the city to the “men of Bristol”; it became the seat of English government and center of the Pale. In 1209 occurred the Black Monday massacre of English residents. Edward Bruce unsuccessfully assaulted the town in the early 14th cent.
In the English civil war the city surrendered (1647) to the parliamentarians, and Oliver Cromwell landed there in 1649. James II held (1689) his last Parliament in Dublin. After winning the battle of the Boyne, William III entered the city in 1690.
From 1782 to 1800, when the Irish Parliament (the so-called Grattan's Parliament) enjoyed temporary independence of England, Dublin experienced a prosperous and stimulating era; many of the city's buildings date from this period. After the Act of Union of 1800, which sent Irish representatives to the British Parliament, many wealthy aristocrats moved from their Dublin mansions to London, and the years of prosperity ended.
In the 19th cent. Dublin saw much bloodshed in connection with nationalist efforts to free Ireland from English rule—the insurrection led by Robert Emmet in 1803; the 1867 uprising of the Fenian movement; and the murder (1882) of Lord Frederick Cavendish, chief secretary for Ireland, and his undersecretary in Phoenix Park during terrorist activity and agitation by the Land League. Dublin also became the center of a Gaelic renaissance: the Gaelic League was founded there in 1893, and the Abbey Theatre began producing Irish plays. In 1913 the city was paralyzed by strikes, eventually culminating in the Easter Rebellion of 1916. The early troubles of the Irish Free State led to the worst period of bloodshed in Dublin's history (see Ireland, Republic of).
The rapid physical, economic, and demographic expansion of Dublin in the late Middle Ages came to an end in the mid-fourteenth century. The most striking feature of the long period of stagnation that ensued—which lasted until the early seventeenth century—was the cessation of the suburban growth previously promoted by the Anglo-Norman monastic foundations. As a result, the city's core remained within the old walled settlement, which was located on the south side of the River Liffey, nearly a mile from where the river met the sea at Dublin Bay. In keeping with its position as Ireland's main port and the administrative capital of the English lordship, the city was secure against contraction. Even disruptive changes such as were caused in the 1530s by the dissolution of religious houses as part of Henry VIII's efforts to promote a Protestant Reformation could be turned to at least partial advantage; it encouraged some redevelopment and contributed to the emergence of the wealthy Catholic Old English elite that exercised a dominant command of civic politics in the second half of the sixteenth century. By this time also, the city had recovered from the devastating effects of the Black Death (1348), though its population continued to suffer the effects of epidemic disease. According to contemporary estimates, 3,000 people, or one-third of the city's population, then reckoned at 9,000, succumbed to plague in 1575. Modern assessments, however, put the city's population around that time at a more modest 5,500 to 8,000.
The condition of the city improved greatly from the early seventeenth century as, following the decisive military defeat of the native Irish, a new ruling elite—the New English—comprising soldiers, officials, settlers, and artisans, who arrived in substantial numbers from England, displaced the previously dominant Catholic patrician families. Dublin grew rapidly as a commercial, administrative, and industrial center as a result. This was not without interruption, notably during the war-torn 1640s, but the setbacks experienced then were soon reversed, as the growth of the city's population from about 20,000 in the 1660s to 45,000 in 1685 attests. Propelled by the immigration of English and French Protestants (Huguenots), the population had doubled again by 1730 when it exceeded 90,000. The city continued to grow rapidly, but the main engine of demographic growth thereafter was the in-migration of Catholics from the countryside, which pushed the population to 182,000 in 1798. The denominational character of the city was transformed in the process; in 1715, the city's population was nearly 70 percent Protestant, whereas in 1798 it was 70 percent Catholic.
Rural dwellers were drawn to the city in large numbers by the prospects of employment. One of the most vibrant sectors was construction, as the wealthy aristocratic elite (which also sustained a network of fine craftsmen, luxury goods sellers, and aesthetic, cultural, and intellectual endeavors) stimulated a building boom that transformed much of the city. As a result, not only were graceful townhouses and elegant public buildings introduced into the much reconfigured old city (to which the Wide Street Commission [1757] made an important contribution) but extended suburban development flourished as well, promoted by ambitious developers who oversaw the construction of classical Georgian squares and long streets of imposing houses with distinctive red-brick fronts to the southeast of the old city and north of the River Liffey. The relocation of the Custom House closer to the mouth of Dublin Bay was no less critical since, in tandem with a new easterly bridge, it moved the center of the city out of its old walled town and half a mile closer to the sea. It also linked the various major developments of the eighteenth century, which was critical to Dublin's emergence by the end of the eighteenth century as the "second city" of the British Empire and one of the most improved cities in Europe.
Bibliography
Cosgrave, Art, ed. Dublin through the Ages. Dublin, 1988. An informed and informative collection of essays.
Dickson, David. "The Demographic Implications of the Growth of Dublin 1650–1850." In Urban Population Development in Western Europe from the Late-Eighteenth to the Early-Twentieth Century, edited by R. Lawton and R. Lee, pp. 178–189. Liverpool, 1989.
Mc Parland, Edward. "Strategy in the Planning of Dublin 1750–1800." In Cities and Merchants: French and Irish Perspectives on Urban Development, 1500–1900, edited by L. M. Cullen and Paul Butel, pp. 97–108. Dublin, 1986.
—JAMES KELLY
Capital and major port of the Republic of Ireland and the largest city in the country; located on the Irish Sea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.
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17°C LO: 45°F / 7°C |
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17°C LO: 49°F / 9°C |
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18°C LO: 54°F / 12°C |
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20°C LO: 55°F / 12°C |
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20°C LO: 53°F / 11°C |
The country code is: 353
The city code is: 1
Local Time: Jul 20, 4:54 PM
| Dublin Baile Átha Cliath |
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| Obedientia Civium Urbis Felicitas Latin: literally, "The citizens' obedience is the city's happiness" (rendered more loosely as "Happy the city where citizens obey" by the council itself [1]) |
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| Province: | Leinster | |
| County: | County Dublin | |
| Dáil Éireann: | Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East | |
| European Parliament: | Dublin | |
| Dialling Code: | +353 1 | |
| Postal District(s): | D1-24, D6W | |
| Area: | km² ( sq mi) | |
| Population (2006) | Dublin City: 505,739 Dublin Urban Area: 1,045,769 Dublin Region: 1,186,821 Greater Dublin Area: 1,661,185 |
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| Website: www.dublincity.ie | ||
Dublin (IPA: /ˈdʌblɨn, ˈdʊblɨn/, or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/) (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath,[2] IPA: [bˠalʲə a:ha klʲiəh] or [bˠɫaː cliə(ɸ)]) is the largest city in Ireland and the capital of the Republic of Ireland. It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. Founded as a Viking settlement, the city has been Ireland's primary city for most of the island's history since medieval times. Today, it is an economic, administrative and cultural centre for the island of Ireland, and has one of the fastest growing populations of any European capital city.[3][4]
In a 2003 European-wide survey by the BBC, questioning 11,200 residents of 112 urban and rural areas, Dublin was the best capital city in Europe to live in, and Ireland the most content country in Europe.[5]
The name Dublin is a Hiberno-English derivative of 'Dubh Linn' (Irish, dubh -> black, and linn -> pool). Historically, in the traditional Gaelic script used for the Irish language, 'bh' was written with a dot over the 'b', viz 'Duḃ Linn' or 'Duḃlinn'. The French-speaking Normans omitted the dot and spelled the name variously as 'Develyn' or 'Dublin'.
Some sources doubt this derivation, and suggest that 'Dublin' is of Scandinavian origin, cf. Icelandic: djúp lind ('deep pond'). However, the name 'Dubh Linn' pre-dates the arrival of the Vikings in Ireland, and the Old Norse (and modern Icelandic) name for Dublin is simply the words 'Dubh Linn' re-spelled as if they were Old Norse: 'Dyflinn' (correctly pronounced "Duev-linn" — the letter 'y' is still pronounced like the vowel in 'ewe' in Modern Norwegian, Swedish, etc., just as it was in Old Norse; Icelandic, while keeping the spelling, has changed this sound to /i/).
The common name for the city in Modern Irish is 'Baile Átha Cliath' ('The Settlement of the Ford of the Reed Hurdles'), which refers to the settlement founded in 988 by High King Mael Sechnaill II, that adjoined the town of Dubh Linn proper at the Black Pool. It seems also that the seafaring Vikings and Normans thought of the place in terms of a pool deep enough for harbouring ships, while the Gaelic speakers saw the place in terms of a ford over a major river.
The first settlement was on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey, to the East of Christchurch, in the area known as Wood Quay. The Vikings chose this for defensive purposes, as the High King was always expected to attack from North of the Liffey. The Poddle was covered during the early 1800s, and as the city expanded it was forgotten about.
The writings of the Greek astronomer and cartographer Ptolemy provide perhaps the earliest reference to human habitat in the area now known as Dublin. In around A.D. 140 he referred to a settlement he called Eblana Civitas. The settlement 'Dubh Linn' dates perhaps as far back as the first century BC and later a monastery was built there, though the town was established in about 841[6] by the Norse. 'Baile Átha Cliath' or simply 'Áth Cliath' was founded in 988, and the two towns eventually became one.
The modern city retains the Anglicised Irish name of the former and the original Irish name of the latter. After the Norman invasion of Ireland, Dublin became the key centre of military and judicial power, with much of the power centering on Dublin Castle until independence. From the 14th to late 16th centuries Dublin and the surrounding area, known as the Pale, formed the largest area of Ireland under government control. The Parliament was located in Drogheda for several centuries, but was switched permanently to Dublin after Henry VII conquered the County Kildare in 1504.
Dublin also had local city administration via its Corporation from the Middle Ages. This represented the city's guild-based oligarchy until it was reformed in the 1840s on increasingly democratic lines.
From the 17th century the city expanded rapidly, helped by the Wide Streets Commission. Georgian Dublin was, for a short time, the second city of the British Empire after London. Much of Dublin's most notable architecture dates from this time. The Guinness brewery was also established at this time. The 1800s were a period of decline relative to the industrial growth of Belfast; by 1900 the population of Belfast was nearly twice as large. Whereas Belfast was prosperous and industrial, Dublin had become a city of squalor and class division, built on the remains of lost grandeur, as best described in the novel 'Strumpet City', by James Plunkett, and in the works of Sean O'Casey. Dublin was still the primary centre of administration and transport for much of Ireland, though completely bypassed by the Industrial revolution. The Easter Rising of 1916 occurred in the city centre, bringing much physical destruction. The Anglo-Irish War and Irish Civil War contributed even more destruction, leaving many of its finest buildings in ruins. The Irish Free State rebuilt many of the buildings and moved parliament to Leinster House. Through The Emergency (World War II), until the 1960s, Dublin remained a capital out of time: the city centre in particular remained at an architectural standstill. Interestingly enough, this made the city perfect ideal for historical film production, with many productions including The Blue Max, and My Left Foot, capturing the cityscape at this time. This became the foundation of later successes in cinematography and film-making. With increasing prosperity, modern architecture was introduced to the city, though a vigorous campaign started in parallel to restore the Georgian greatness of Dublin's streets, rather than lose the grandeur forever. Since 1995, the landscape of Dublin has changed immensely, with enormous private and state development of housing, transport, and business. (See also Development and Preservation in Dublin). Some well-known Dublin street corners are still named for the pub or business which used to occupy the site before closure or redevelopment.
Since the beginning of
From 1922, following the partition of Ireland, it became the capital of the Irish Free State (1922–1949) and now is the capital of the Republic of Ireland. (Many of these states co-existed or competed within the same timeframe as rivals within either British or Irish constitutional theory.) One of the memorials to commemorate that time is the Garden of Remembrance.
The city has a world-famous literary history, having produced many prominent literary figures. Indeed, as birthplace of William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett, Dublin has produced three winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature - more than any other city in the world.[8] Other, influential writers and playwrights from Dublin include Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift and the creator of Dracula, Bram Stoker. It is arguably most famous, however, as the location of the greatest works of James Joyce. Dubliners is a collection of short stories by Joyce about incidents and characters typical of residents of the city in the early part of the 20th century. His most celebrated work, Ulysses, is also set in Dublin and full of topographical detail. Additional widely celebrated writers from the city include J.M. Synge, Seán O'Casey, Brendan Behan, Maeve Binchy, and Roddy Doyle. Ireland's biggest libraries and literary museums are found in Dublin, including the National Print Museum of Ireland and National Library of Ireland.
There are several theatres within the city centre, and various world-famous actors have emerged from the Dublin theatrical scene, including Noel Purcell, Brendan Gleeson, Stephen Rea, Colin Farrell and Gabriel Byrne. The best known theatres include the Gaiety, the Abbey, the Olympia and the Gate. The Gaiety specialises in musical and operatic productions, and is popular for opening its doors after the evening theatre production to host a variety of live music, dancing, and films. The Abbey was founded in 1904 by a group that included Yeats with the aim of promoting indigenous literary talent. It went on to provide a breakthrough for some of the city's most famous writers, such as Synge, Yeats himself and George Bernard Shaw. The Gate was founded in 1928 to promote European and American Avante Guarde works. The largest theatre is the Mahony Hall in The Helix at Dublin City University in Glasnevin.
Dublin is also the focal point for much of Irish Art and the Irish artistic scene. The Book of Kells, a world-famous manuscript produced by Celtic Monks in A.D. 800 and an example of Insular art, is on display in Trinity College. The Chester Beatty Library houses the famous collection of manuscripts, miniature paintings, prints, drawings, rare books and decorative arts assembled by American mining millionaire (and honorary Irish citizen) Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (1875-1968). The collections date from 2700 B.C. onwards and are drawn from Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Work by local artists is often put on public display around St. Stephen's Green, the main public park in the city centre. In addition large art galleries are found across the city, including the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery, the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, The City Arts Centre, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, The Project Arts Centre and The Royal Hibernian Academy.
Three centres of the National Museum of Ireland are in Dublin.
There is a vibrant nightlife in Dublin and it is reputedly one of the most youthful cities in Europe - with estimates of 50% of inhabitants being younger than 25.[9][10] Furthermore in 2007, it was voted the friendliest city in Europe.[11] Like the rest of Ireland, there are pubs right across the city centre, on almost every street. The area around St. Stephen's Green - especially Harcourt Street, Camden Street, Wexford Street and Leeson Street - is a centre for some of the most popular nightclubs and pubs in Dublin.
The most internationally notorious area for nightlife is the Temple Bar area just south of the River Liffey. To some extent, the area has become a hot spot for tourists, including stag and hen parties from Britain, causing some (though by no means all) locals to steer clear at night. Nonetheless, it was developed as Dublin's cultural quarter (an idea proposed by local politician Charlie Haughey), and does retain this spirit as a centre for small arts productions, in the form of street performers and intimate small music venues.
Live music is popularly played on streets and at venues throughout Dublin in general and the city has produced several rock
bands of international success, including Thin Lizzy,
The headquarters of almost all of Ireland's sporting organisations are in Dublin, and the most popular sports in Dublin are those that are most popular throughout Ireland: Gaelic football, Soccer, Rugby and Hurling.
The city is host to the 4th largest stadium in the European Union, and 6th largest in Europe as a whole,[12] Croke Park, the 82,500-capacity
headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association. It traditionally hosts
Gaelic football and Hurling games during the summer
months, as well as International rules football in alternating years. It
also hosts concerts, with acts such as
Lansdowne Road stadium (previously owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union) was the venue for home games of both the Irish Rugby Team and the Republic's national soccer team. Until recently, it had a mixed standing and seating capacity of 49,000. However, as part of a joint venture between the IRFU and the FAI, it is currently being demolished and is expected to be replaced with a 50,000 all-seated stadium by 2009.[13] Accordingly, rugby and soccer home internationals have been temporarily moved to Croke Park.
Donnybrook Rugby Ground is the home of the Leinster Rugby team, which plays in the Magners League. They also play some important league and Heineken Cup matches at Lansdowne Road and have recently played these matches in the RDS.
Dalymount Park, in Phibsboro and the traditional Home of Irish Soccer, is now used only for home games of local club Bohemian FC. Rivals Shelbourne FC play at Tolka Park, in Drumcondra, while St Patrick's Athletic play in Richmond Park in Inchicore on the south west edge of the city. Shamrock Rovers, Ireland's most successful club, are originally from Milltown but have spent the last two decades in search of a home, and hope to complete a new stadium in Tallaght in 2007. The other senior soccer clubs are University College Dublin F.C., based in Belfield, and the now defunct Dublin City F.C. (formerly Home Farm F.C.).
The National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown is the first building to open in the Sports Campus Ireland. There are several race courses in the Dublin area including Shelbourne Park (Greyhound racing) and Leopardstown (Horse racing). The world famous Dublin Horse Show takes place at the RDS, Ballsbridge, which hosted the Show Jumping World Championships in 1982. The national boxing arena is located in Harold's Cross, though larger fights take place in the Point Depot in the docklands area. There are also Basketball, Handball, Hockey and Athletics stadia — most notably Morton Stadium in Santry, which held the athletics events of the 2003 Special Olympics.
The Dublin Marathon has been run since 1980.
Dublin is a popular shopping spot for both Irish people and tourists. Dublin city centre has several shopping districts,
including Grafton Street and Henry
Street and the adjacent Stephen's Green Shopping Centre,
Jervis Shopping Centre and newly refurbished Ilac Shopping Centre (all popular meet-up spots for decades). On Grafton street, the most famous
shops include Brown Thomas and its sister shop
Dublin city is the location of large department stores, such as Clerys on O'Connell Street, Arnotts on Henry Street, Brown Thomas on Grafton Street and Debenhams (formerly Roches Stores) on Henry Street.
A major €750 m development for Dublin city centre has been given the green light. The development of the so-called Northern Quarter will see the construction of 47 new shops, 175 apartments and a four-star hotel. Dublin City Council gave Arnotts planning permission for the plans to change the area bounded by Henry Street, O'Connell Street, Abbey Street and Liffey Street. The redevelopment will also include 14 new cafes along with a 149-bed hotel. It is expected that work on the new area will start in the second half of 2008. Prince's Street, which runs off O'Connell Street, will become a full urban street and pedestrian thoroughfare.
Since the mid 1990s, suburban Dublin has seen the completion of several modern retail centres. These include Blanchardstown Centre, The Square in Tallaght (Luas Red Line), Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in Clondalkin, OmniPark in Santry, Northside Shopping Centre in Coolock, and Pavilions Shopping Centre in Swords.
Despite having a long tradition of emigration that continued up until the early 1990s, Dublin now has a sizeable number of immigrants. Foreign nationals in Dublin are primarily young and single[14] and the biggest numbers come from across the European Union, particularly The United Kingdom, Poland and Lithuania but also from right across the European continent. There are also considerable and growing numbers from outside Europe, particularly China, Nigeria, the Philippines, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and Russia. This immigration has stimulated a new diversity in Dublin that, while still relatively moderate when compared to other European capital cities such as Paris and London, has brought a new dimension to life in the city and looks set to grow considerably in the future. 10% of the Republic of Ireland's population is now made up of foreign nationals, and Dublin is home to a disproportionate number of new arrivals to the country - for example, 60% of Ireland's Asian population lives in Dublin even though less than 40% of the overall population live in the Greater Dublin Area.[15] One tangible manifestation of this multiculturalism is in the spread of new ethnic food stores, notably on Parnell Street and Moore Street.
A north-south division has traditionally existed in Dublin for some time, with the dividing line being the River Liffey. The Northside is seen by some as working-class, while the Southside is seen as middle and upper middle class. But this is not a clear divide in reality by any means. Dublin postal districts have odd numbers for districts on the Northside — for example, Phibsboro is in Dublin 7 — and even numbers for the Southside — for example, Sandymount is in Dublin 4. An exception to the rule is Dublin 8, which straddles the river.
This division dates back some centuries, certainly to the point when the Earl of Kildare built his residence on the then less-regarded Southside. When asked why he was building on the Southside, he replied "Where I go, fashion follows me", and he was promptly followed by most other Irish peers.
The Northside/Southside divide is punctuated by examples of Dublin "sub-culture" stereotypes, with upper-middle class constituents seen as tending towards an accent and demeanour synonymous with (but not exclusive to) the Dublin 4 postcode on the Southside (see Dublin 4, Ross O'Carroll-Kelly), and working-class Dubliners seen as tending towards accents and demeanour associated with (but not exclusive to) Northside and inner-city Dublin neighbourhoods often exemplified by the works of modern writer Roddy Doyle.
This simplification of economic and social communities in Dublin ("Southside rich, liberal and snobby"/"Northside poor, industrial and common") does not survive more than a few real-world examples however. For example, the President of Ireland's residence, Áras an Uachtaráin, is on the Northside, although its postal district is Dublin 8, a "Southside" number. Similarly, some of Dublin's majority working-class suburbs such as Tallaght, Dolphin's Barn, Crumlin, Inchicore, Ringsend, Irishtown, Clondalkin and Ballyfermot, are south of the river while wealthier suburbs such as Castleknock, Clontarf, Glasnevin, Howth, Malahide, Portmarnock and Sutton are on the Northside. Areas of the north inner city such as Smithfield, the IFSC and Spencer Dock are also associated with affluence in recent times.
The north-south divide has mellowed considerably in the past number of years. This is primarily due to the favourable economic conditions currently in Ireland and the emergence of the Celtic Tiger economy in Ireland, and to pressure on housing stock. Correspondingly, Dublin has progressed to become one of the wealthiest cities in Europe.
The economic divide in Dublin is east-west as well as north-south, the east side generally being wealthier than the west. There are significant social divisions between the coastal suburbs in the east of the city, including those on the Northside, and the newer developments further to the west.
Dublin is the primary centre of education in Ireland, with three universities and several other higher education institutions. There are 20 third-level institutes in the city.[16] The University of Dublin is the oldest university in Ireland dating from the 16th century. Its sole constituent college, Trinity College, was established by Royal Charter under Elizabeth I and was closed to Roman Catholics until Catholic Emancipation; the Catholic hierarchy then banned Roman Catholics from attending it until 1970. The National University of Ireland has its seat in Dublin, which is also the location of the associated constituent university of University College Dublin (UCD), the largest university in Ireland; although it is located in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, just outside the city boundary. Dublin City University (DCU) is the most recent university and specialises in business, engineering, and science courses, particularly with relevance to industry. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a medical school which is a recognised college of the NUI, it is situated at St. Stephen's Green in the city centre. The National University of Ireland, Maynooth, another constituent university of the NUI, is in neighbouring Co. Kildare, about km ( mi) from the city centre.
Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) is a modern technical college and is the country's largest non-university third-level institution; it specialises in technical subjects but also offers many arts and humanities courses. It is soon to move to a new campus at Grangegorman. Two suburbs of Dublin, Tallaght and Blanchardstown have Institutes of Technology: Institute of Technology, Tallaght, and Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown.
The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) and Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (DLIADT) support training and research in art, design and media technology.
There are also various other smaller specialised colleges, including private ones:
The city of Dublin is the entire area administered by Dublin City Council, but can also refer to the contiguous suburban areas that run into the adjacent counties of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. This area is sometimes known as 'Urban Dublin' or the 'Dublin Metropolitan Area'.
The population of the administrative area controlled by Dublin City Council was 505,739 at the census of 2006. At the same census, the Dublin Region population was 1,186,159, and the Greater Dublin Area 1,661,185. The city's population is expanding rapidly, and the Greater Dublin Area is estimated by the CSO to reach 2.1 million by 2021. Today, approximately 40% of the population of Ireland live within a km ( mi) fan radius of this east coast city.[17]
Dublin has been at the centre of Ireland's phenomenal economic growth over the last 10-15 years, a period (often of double-digit growth) referred to as the Celtic Tiger years. Living standards in the city have risen dramatically, although the cost of living has also soared. Dublin is now the planet's 16th most expensive city (8th most expensive city in Europe, excluding Russian cities).
