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Dublin

 
Dictionary: Dub·lin   (dŭb'lĭn) pronunciation

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.

 

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City and county borough (pop., 2002 prelim.: city, 495,101; county borough, 1,122,600), capital of Ireland. On the River Liffey, it was settled by Danish Vikings arriving in the area in the 9th century AD; they held it until it was taken by the Irish in the 11th century. Under English control in the 12th century, it was given a charter by Henry II, establishing it as a seat of government. It prospered in the 18th century as a centre of the cloth trade, and its harbour dates from this period. In the 19th and 20th centuries it was the site of bloody nationalist violence, including the 1867 Fenian movement and the 1916 Easter Rising. It is the country's chief port, centre of finance and commerce, and seat of culture. Its Guinness Brewery is the country's largest private employer. Educational and cultural institutions include the University of Dublin; the National Library and National Museum are housed on the grounds of Leinster House (1748), now the seat of the Irish parliament.

For more information on Dublin, visit Britannica.com.

British History: Dublin
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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.

Celtic Mythology: Dublin
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[Irish dub(h)-linn, dark pool]

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.

 
Dublin, Irish Baile Átha Cliath, county borough (1991 pop. 915,516), Leinster, capital of the Republic of Ireland, on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the Liffey River. Its harbor, with shipyards, docks, and quays, dates from 1714. It is the center of the Irish railway network. It has an international airport and regular ferry service to Holyhead, Wales. The old Royal and Grand canals, connecting Dublin with the interior, have been superseded by railroads for most commercial traffic. Agricultural products, whiskey, and stout are the chief exports. Dublin's chief industries are brewing, textile manufacturing (silk making was introduced by Huguenot refugees in the 16th cent.), distilling, shipbuilding, food processing, and the manufacture of foundry products, glass, and cigarettes. Microprocessors are produced in the suburb of Leixlip. The Irish legislature, the Dáil Éireann, is in Leinster House.

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).


History 1450-1789: Dublin
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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

Geography: Dublin
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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.

  • As the intellectual and cultural center of Ireland, Dublin was a stronghold of Irish nationalism, the birthplace of renewed interest in the Irish language and Irish literature, and home to writers such as James Joyce, Jonathan Swift, and William Butler Yeats.

Weather: Dublin, Ireland
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AccuWeather® 5-Day Forecast for

Saturday HI:  49°F / 9°C
LO: 39°F / 3°C
Sunday HI:  50°F / 10°C
LO: 37°F / 2°C
Monday HI:  51°F / 10°C
LO: 49°F / 9°C
Tuesday HI:  53°F / 11°C
LO: 41°F / 5°C
Wednesday HI:  50°F / 10°C
LO: 45°F / 7°C
Last updated November 07, 2009 21:49 (EST)

Dialing Code: The telephone dialing code for: Dublin, Ireland
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The country code is: 353
The city code is: 1


Local Time: Dublin, Ireland
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It is 4:14 AM, November 8, in Dublin (Ireland).

Maps: Dublin
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Wikipedia: Dublin
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Dublin
Baile Átha Cliath
Top: Dublin Custom House, Middle: O'Connell Street, Bottom left: Temple Bar, Bottom right: Phoenix Park.

Flag

Coat of arms
Motto: 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])
Location of Dublin
Coordinates: 53°20′52″N 6°15′35″W / 53.34778°N 6.25972°W / 53.34778; -6.25972Coordinates: 53°20′52″N 6°15′35″W / 53.34778°N 6.25972°W / 53.34778; -6.25972
Country Ireland
Province Leinster
Government
 - Type City
 - Lord Mayor Emer Costello (Labour)
Area
 - City 114.99 km2 (44.4 sq mi)
 - Urban 921 km2 (355.6 sq mi)
Population
 - City 505,739
 - Density 4,398.1/km2 (11,391/sq mi)
 - Urban 1,045,769
 - Metro 1,661,185
 - Demonym Dubliner, Dub, Jackeen
Time zone WET (UTC+0)
 - Summer (DST) IST (UTC+1)
Postal districts D1-18, 20, 22, 24, D6W
Area code(s) 01
Website www.dublincity.ie

Dublin (pronounced /ˈdʌblɨn/, /ˈdʊblɨn/ or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/) is the largest city (being a primate city [2][3]) and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath [bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh] or Áth Cliath [aːh cliə(ɸ)]; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". 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. Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island's primary city following the Norman invasion. Today, it is ranked 10th (up from 13th in 2008) in the Global Financial Centres Index,[4][5] has one of the fastest growing populations of any European capital city,[6][7] and is listed by the GaWC as a global city,[8][9] with a ranking of Alpha - which places Dublin amongst the top 25 cities in the world.[10] Dublin is a historical and contemporary cultural centre for the island of Ireland as well as a modern centre of education, the arts, administrative function, economy and industry.

Contents

Name

The name Dublin is derived from the Irish name Dubh Linn (meaning "black pool"). In Irish, Dubh is correctly pronounced as Duv or Duf. The city's original pronunciation is preserved in Old Norse as Dyflin, Old English as Difelin, and modern Manx as Divlyn. Historically, in the traditional Gaelic script used for the Irish language, bh was written with a dot over the b, rendering 'Du Linn' or 'Dulinn'. Those without a knowledge of Irish omitted the dot and spelled the name as Dublin.

The common name for the city in Modern Irish is Baile Átha Cliath (meaning "town of the hurdled ford"). An early mention is the Táin Bó Cuailgne also known as The Cattle Raid of Cooley (with an incorrect etymology) Go Dublind rissa ratter Áth Cliath, or to Dublin, which is called Ath Cliath. Áth Cliath is a place-name referring to a fording point of the Liffey in the vicinity of Heuston Station. Dubh Linn was an early Christian monastery which is believed to have been situated in the area of Aungier Street currently occupied by Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church.

The subsequent Viking settlement was on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey, to the East of Christchurch, in the area known as Wood Quay. The Dubh Linn was a lake used by the Vikings to moor their ships and was connected to the Liffey by the Poddle. The Dubh Linn and Poddle were covered during the early 1700s, and as the city expanded they were largely forgotten about. The Dubh Linn was situated where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle.

History

Dublin by night

The writings of the Greek astronomer and cartographer Ptolemy provide perhaps the earliest reference to human habitation 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[11] by the Norse. The modern city retains the Anglicised Irish name of the former and the original Irish name of the latter.

Dublin was ruled by the Norse for most of the time between 841 and 999, when it was sacked by Brian Boru, the King of Cashel[12]. Although Dublin still had a Norse king after the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, Norse influence waned under a growing Celtic supremacy until the conquest of Ireland which was launched from Britain in 1169-1172[12]. The last high king (Ard Rí) of Ireland was crowned in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral in 1166[12].

In Ireland under Anglo-Norman rule, 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, English crown control over Ireland was limited to a section of territory, known as the Pale, which included Dublin at its southern end, and Dundalk at its northern extremity. The Parliament was located in Drogheda for several centuries, but was switched permanently to Dublin after Henry VII conquered the County Kildare in 1504. The sacking of Drogheda, and massacre of her citizens, by Oliver Cromwell in 1649, resulted in Dublin becoming the dominant port city in Ireland.

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.

The Custom House on the north bank of the River Liffey

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 and the fifth largest European city. Much of Dublin's most notable architecture dates from this time and is considered a golden era for the city. In 1759, the founding of the Guinness brewery at St. James's Gate resulted in a considerable economic impact for the city. For much of the time since its foundation, the Guinness brewery was the largest employer in the city but Catholics were confined to the lower echelons of employment at Guinness and only entered management level in the 1960s. After Irish independence the Guinness Corporate headquarters were moved to London in the 1930s to avoid Irish taxation and a rival brewery to Dublin was opened in London at Park Royal to supply the UK. In 1742 Handel's "Messiah" was performed for the first time in New Musick Hall in Fishamble Street with 26 boys and five men from the combined choirs of St.Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals participating.

After 1800, with the seat of government moving to Westminster, Dublin entered a period of decline. Dublin was still the centre of administration and a transport hub for much of Ireland. Dublin played no major role in the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: Ireland had no native source of coal, the fuel of the time, and Dublin was not a centre of ship manufacture, the other main driver of industrial development in Britain and Ireland[12]. Belfast developed much faster than Dublin during this period on a mixture of international trade, factory-based linen cloth production and shipbuilding[13].

The Easter Rising of 1916 took place in several parts of the city, bringing much physical destruction to the city centre. The Anglo-Irish War and Irish Civil War contributed even more destruction, leaving some of its finest buildings in ruins. The Irish Free State government rebuilt the city centre and located the Dáil (parliament) in Leinster House.

Carlisle Bridge c. 1840, showing the extent of the Wide Streets Commission interventions, with unified commercial terraces marching from the river towards the GPO.

The formation of the new state resulted in changed fortunes for Dublin. It benefitted more from independence than any Irish city, though it took a long time to become obvious. 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, even nicknamed the last 19th Century City of Europe. This made the city ideal for historical film production, with many productions including The Blue Max and My Left Foot capturing the cityscape in this period. 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 1997, the landscape of Dublin has changed immensely, with enormous private sector 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 Anglo-Norman rule in the 12th century, the city has functioned as the capital of the island of Ireland in the varying geopolitical entities:

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. One of the memorials to commemorate that time is the Garden of Remembrance.

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.[15]

A person from either the city or county of Dublin is often referred to as a "Dub".

Culture

Literature, theatre and the arts

The city has a world-famous literary history, having produced many prominent literary figures, including Nobel laureates William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett. 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. His most celebrated work, Ulysses, is set in Dublin and full of topical detail. 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. 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, Colm Meaney 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 Avant Garde 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 branches of the National Museum of Ireland are located in Dublin: Archaeology in Kildare Street, Decorative Arts and History in Collins Barracks and Natural History in Merrion Street.[16]

Nightlife and entertainment

Temple Bar, the city's centre for nightlife and entertainment.

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.[6][7] Furthermore in 2007, and again in 2009, Dublin was voted the friendliest city in Europe.[17][18] Like the rest of Ireland, there are pubs right across the city centre. 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 internationally best-known 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.[19] 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, photographic and artists' studios, and 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 musicians and groups of international success, including U2, The Dubliners, Horslips, The Boomtown Rats, Thin Lizzy, Paddy Casey, Sinéad O'Connor, The Script and My Bloody Valentine. The two best known cinemas in the city centre are the Savoy Cinema and the Cineworld Cinema, both north of the Liffey. Alternative and special-interest cinema can be found in the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar, in the Screen Cinema on d'Olier Street and in the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield. Across suburban Dublin are located large modern multiscreen cinemas. Situated on the Liffey at the Eastlink tollbridge, The O2, Dublin (originally called, and still often known as, the Point Theatre) has housed world renowned performers in all fields of music.

Sports

Croke Park, Europe's fourth-largest stadium and home to the Gaelic Athletic Association.

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 union and hurling. It is also the headquarters of the world governing body for Rugby Union the International Rugby Board (IRB).[20] Dublin has been selected as the European Capital of Sport in 2010.[21]

The city is host to the 4th largest stadium in Europe,[22] Croke Park, the 82,500 [23] 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 U2 and Robbie Williams having played there in recent years. The Dublin board of the Gaelic Athletic Association play their league games at Parnell Park. The nickname for the Dublin Gaelic football team is "The Dubs". Lansdowne Road stadium (owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union) was the venue for home games of both the Irish Rugby Union Team and the Republic's national soccer team. Until recently, it had a mixed standing and seating capacity of 49,000. As part of a joint venture between the IRFU, the FAI and the Government, it is being redeveloped and is expected to be replaced with a 50,000 all-seater stadium by 2009. On 29 January 2009, Uefa confirmed Lansdowne Road will host the 2011 Europa League Final (UEFA Cup).[24] During the redevelopment, rugby union and soccer home internationals are played at Croke Park.

Donnybrook Rugby Ground is the traditional home of the Leinster Rugby team though due to its inferior capacity they now play all Magners League and Heineken Cup games across Dublin 4 in the R.D.S.

Dublin is home to six FAI League of Ireland clubs, Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne, St Patrick's Athletic, University College Dublin and Sporting Fingal. Dalymount Park in Phibsboro, the traditional Home of Irish Soccer, is now used only for home games of local club Bohemians. Shamrock Rovers play in the Tallaght Stadium, while St Patrick's Athletic play at Richmond Park in Inchicore on the south west edge of the city. The other senior clubs, who play in the First Division, are Shelbourne who play at Tolka Park in Drumcondra, University College Dublin, based at the UCD Bowl, Belfield, and newly-formed Sporting Fingal, who play at Morton Stadium, Santry.

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 The National Stadium on the South Circular Road, 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.

Rugby League as a sport in Dublin has attained popularity in recent years.[citation needed] The North Dublin Eagles play in Ireland's Carnegie League. Recent popularity has been increased with the Irish Wolfhound's success in the Rugby League World Cup which was held in Australia in 2008.

The Dublin Marathon has been run since 1980, and the Women's Mini Marathon has been run since 1983 and is said to be the largest all female event of its kind in the world.[25]

Shopping

Clerys' department store on O'Connell Street.
Moore Street market.

Dublin is a popular shopping spot for both Irish people and tourists. Dublin city centre has several shopping districts, including Grafton Street, Henry Street, Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, Jervis Shopping Centre, and the newly refurbished Ilac Shopping Centre. On Grafton Street, the most famous shops include Brown Thomas and its sister shop BT2. Brown Thomas also contains "mini-stores" such as Hermès, Chanel and Louis Vuitton on its Wicklow Street frontage.

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. Grafton Street is nearly as renowned for its buskers and street-performers as for its fine shopping.

A major €750m 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. Following appeals to An Bord Pleanála, the scale of the development, which was to have included a sixteen-storey tower, was reduced. The redevelopment will also include 14 new cafes along with a 149-bed hotel. Prince's Street, which runs off O'Connell Street, will become a full urban street and pedestrian thoroughfare.[26] Construction, which began in November 2008, led to the loss of 580 retail jobs.[27][28] It is hoped that the Northern Quarter will open for business in 2013.[29]

Since the mid 1990s, suburban Dublin has seen the completion of several modern retail centres. These include Dundrum Town Centre, the largest commercial centre in Europe (on the Luas Green Line), Blanchardstown Centre, The Square, which has recently undergone a major refurbishment, in Tallaght (on the Luas Red Line), Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in Clondalkin, Northside Shopping Centre in Coolock, and Pavilions Shopping Centre in Swords.

Northside and Southside

The River Liffey divides the city into Northside and Southside.

A north-south division has traditionally existed in Dublin for some time, with the dividing line being the River Liffey. The Northside is traditionally seen by some as working-class (with the exception of a few suburbs) while the Southside is seen as middle and upper middle class (again, with the exception of a few suburbs). One theory[who?] explaining this is that since much trade came in by ship on the river Liffey and docked on the North bank, this resulted in dockers and associated labourers making their homes on the Northside while the wealthier merchants and other professionals tended to make their offices and homes on the Southside.[citation needed]

A noted theory on the 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.[30]

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 and Ringsend both have postal code D4 (Dublin 4). An exception to the rule is Dublin 8, which straddles the river.

Education and research

Dublin is the primary centre of education in Ireland, with three universities and many other higher education institutions. There are 20 third-level institutes in the city. Dublin will be European Capital of Science in 2012.[21]

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 in 1592 under Elizabeth I and was closed to Roman Catholics until Catholic Emancipation; the Catholic hierarchy then banned Roman Catholics from attending it until 1970. It is situated in the city centre, on College Green, and has 15,000 students.

The National University of Ireland (NUI) 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 with over 22,000 students.

Dublin City University (DCU) is the most recent university and specialises in business, engineering, and science courses, particularly with relevance to industry. It has around 10,000 students.

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 25 km (16 mi) from the city centre.

The Irish public administration and management training centre has its base in Dublin, the Institute of Public Administration provides a range of undergraduate and post graduate awards via the National University of Ireland and in some instances, Queen's University Belfast.

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 be relocated 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. Portobello College has its degrees conferred through the University of Wales.[31]

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.

Dublin Business School (DBS) is Ireland's largest private third level institution with over 9,000 students. The college is located on Aungier Street.

The National College of Ireland (NCI) is also based in Dublin.

There are also various other smaller specialised colleges, including private ones, such as Griffith College Dublin, The Gaiety School of Acting and the New Media Technology College

The Economic and Social Research Institute, a social science research institute, is based on Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2. The Institute of European Affairs is also in Dublin.

Population

The City of Dublin is the area administered by Dublin City Council, but the term normally refers to the contiguous urban area which includes the adjacent local authority areas of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. Together the four areas form the traditional County Dublin. This area is sometimes known as 'Urban Dublin' or the 'Dublin Metropolitan Area'.

The population of the administrative area controlled by the City Council was 505,739 at the census of 2006. At the same census, the County Dublin population was 1,186,159, and that of the Greater Dublin Area 1,661,185. The city's population is expanding rapidly, and it is estimated by the CSO that it will reach 2.1 million by 2021.[32] Today, approximately 40% of the population of the Republic of Ireland live within a 100 km (62 mi) radius of the city centre.[citation needed]

Demographics

Dublin has a long history of emigration that continued into the early 1990s. Since then there has been net immigration and Dublin now has a significant[quantify] population of immigrants. Foreign nationals in the city are primarily young and single[33] and the greatest numbers come from the European Union, especially the United Kingdom, Poland and Lithuania.[citation needed] There is also a considerable number from outside Europe, particularly China, Nigeria, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand.[citation needed] 10% of the Republic of Ireland's population is now made up of foreign nationals, and Dublin is home to a greater proportion of new arrivals than other parts of 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.[34]

According to the Central Statistics Office, the ethnic breakdown of Dublin City and County at the 2006 census was:[35]

Ethnic group Percent
White (Irish) 83.1%
White (Other) 8.06%
Asian 2.63% (0.9% Chinese)
Black 1.81%
Mixed Race and Other 1.46%
Irish Traveller 0.4%

Economy and infrastructure

Dublin panoramic view from the Guinness Storehouse

Industry, employment and standard of living

Dublin has been at the centre of Ireland's phenomenal economic growth and subsequent current economic contraction 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.[citation needed] In 2009, Dublin was listed as the fourth-richest city in the world.[36] According to one source, Dublin is now the world's 25th most expensive city.[37] It is also listed as the tenth most expensive city in the world in which to live.[38] However, it had the second highest wages for a city in the world, ahead of both New York City and London, though behind Zürich but as of 2009 has dropped to tenth highest.[39]

Historically, brewing has probably been the industry most often associated with the city[citation needed]: Guinness has been brewed at the St. James's Gate Brewery since 1759. Since the advent of the Celtic Tiger years, however, a large number of global pharmaceutical, information and communications technology companies have located in Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area. For example, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, PayPal, Yahoo!, Facebook and Pfizer (among others) now have European headquarters and/or operational bases in the city and its suburbs[citation needed]. Intel and Hewlett-Packard have large manufacturing plants in Leixlip, County Kildare, 15 km (9 mi) to the west.[citation needed]

Banking, finance and commerce are also important in the city - the IFSC alone handles over €1 trillion a year[citation needed]. Many international firms have established major headquarters in the city (eg. Citibank, Commerzbank). Also located in Dublin is the Irish Stock Exchange (ISEQ), Internet Neutral Exchange (INEX) and Irish Enterprise Exchange (IEX).

The economic boom years have led to a sharp increase in construction, which is now also a major employer, though, as of 2007, unemployment is on the rise as the housing market has begun to see supply outstrip demand.[citation needed] Redevelopment is taking place in large projects such as Dublin Docklands, Spencer Dock and others, transforming once run-down industrial areas in the city centre. Dublin City Council seems to now have loosened the former restrictions on "high-rise" structures. The tallest building, Liberty Hall, is only 59.4 m (194.9 ft) tall; already under construction in the city is Heuston Gate, a 117 m (384 ft) building (134 m including spire). The 120 m (394 ft) Britain Quay Tower and the 120 m (394 ft) Point Village Watchtower have been approved. Construction has started on the latter. Also the U2 Tower will be the tallest building on the Island of Ireland when it is finished.[citation needed]

In 2005, around 800,000 people were employed in the Greater Dublin Area, of whom around 600,000 were employed in the services sector and 200,000 in the industrial sector.[40] Dublin is one of the constituent cities in the Dublin-Belfast corridor region which has a population of just under 3 million.

Economic growth is expected to slow in the coming years, while the Irish central bank predicted medium-term growth rates of around 3–5% last year.[41]

Transport

The Luas tram system.

Dublin is also the main hub of the country's road network. The M50 motorway (the busiest road in Ireland), a semi-ring road runs around the south, west and north of the city, connecting the most important national primary routes in the state that fan out from the capital to the regions. As of 2008, a toll of €2 applies on what is called the West-Link, two adjacent concrete bridges that tower high above the River Liffey near the village of Lucan. The West-Link Toll Bridge was replaced by the eFlow barrier-free tolling system in August 2008, with a three-tiered charge system based on electronic tags and car pre-registration.[42]

To complete the ring road, an eastern bypass is also proposed for the city of Dublin. The first half of this project is the Dublin Port Tunnel which opened in late 2006 and mainly caters to heavy vehicles. The plan to build the eastern bypass around Dublin has been effectively shelved by the Department of Transport as there are no funds available for the expected €1 billion project. The capital is also surrounded by an inner and outer orbital route. The inner orbital route runs roughly around the heart of the Georgian city and the outer orbital route runs largely along the natural circle formed by Dublin's two canals, the Grand Canal and the Royal Canal, as well as the North and South Circular Roads.

Dublin is served by an extensive network of nearly 200 bus routes which serve all areas of the city and suburbs. The majority of these are controlled by Dublin Bus (Bus Átha Cliath) which was established in 1987, but a number of smaller companies have begun operating in recent years. Dublin Bus had 3408 staff and 1067 buses providing over half a million journeys per weekday in 2004. Fares are generally calculated on a stage system based on distance travelled. There are several different levels of fares, which apply on most services. Certain routes (particularly Xpresso) use a different fare system.

The Dublin Suburban Rail network is a system of five rail lines serving mainly commuters in the Greater Dublin Area, though some trains go even further to commuter towns such as Drogheda and Dundalk. One of these is an electrified line that runs along Dublin Bay and is known as the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) line. A two-line light rail/tram network called the Luas opened in 2004 and has proved popular in the (limited) areas it serves, although the lack of a link between the two lines is widely criticised. Five new luas lines are planned, the last of which will be opened in 2014, with the two existing lines set to be joined up by 2012.[43]

The typical blue and yellow double Dublin Bus.

There are plans to begin building work on the Dublin Metro (subway / underground) system set out in the Irish government's 2005 Transport 21 plan within the next few years. Although not confirmed, it is believed that the metro will be fully segregated from all traffic which will mean it will not disrupt traffic when in operation, unlike an on-street Luas Tram or the DART. The Metro North will bring rail access to areas and institutions currently lacking it, such as the Mater Hospital, Drumcondra (Croke Park, inter-city and suburban rail stop), Dublin City University, Ballymun, Swords and Dublin Airport. The Metro West will serve the large suburbs of Tallaght, Clondalkin and Blanchardstown.

Dublin is at the centre of Ireland's transport system. Dublin Port is the country's busiest sea port and Dublin Airport is the busiest airport on the island.

Communications and media

Dublin is the centre of both media and communications in Ireland, with many newspapers, radio stations, television stations and telephone companies having their headquarters there. Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) is Ireland's national state broadcaster, and has its main offices and studios in Donnybrook, Dublin. Fair City is the broadcaster's capital-based soap, located in the fictional Dublin suburb of Carraigstown. TV3, City Channel and Setanta Sports are also based in Dublin. Dublin is home to national commercial radio networks Today FM and Newstalk, as well as numerous local stations. The main infrastructure and offices of An Post and telecommunications companies, such as the former state telephone company Eircom, as well as mobile/cellular operators Meteor, Vodafone and O2 are all located in the capital. Dublin is also the headquarters of important national newspapers such as The Irish Times and Irish Independent, as well as local newspapers such as The Evening Herald.

The most popular radio stations in Dublin, by adult (15+) listenership share, are RTÉ Radio 1 (30.3%), FM104 (13.3%), Dublin's 98 (11.9%), RTÉ 2fm (10.4%), Q102 (7%), Spin 1038 (7%), Newstalk (6.8%), Today FM (5.7%), RTÉ lyric fm (2.7%), Dublin's Country Mix 106.8 (2.6%) and Phantom FM (1.8%). Among the under 35s, this figures are very different with FM104 (24.9%), Spin 1038 (17.3%) and Dublin's 98 (15.6%) being by far the most popular stations in this age group.[44] There are two Irish language radio stations which can be picked up in the Dublin area: RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, and Raidió na Life 106.4fm, both of which have studios in Dublin.

Government

City

The City is governed by Dublin City Council (formerly called Dublin Corporation), which is presided over by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, who is elected for a yearly term and resides in the Mansion House. Dublin City Council is based in two major buildings. Council meetings take place in the headquarters at Dublin City Hall, the former Royal Exchange taken over for city government use in the 1850s. Many of its administrative staff are based in the Civic Offices on Wood Quay.

The City Council is a unicameral assembly of 52 members, elected every five years from Local Election Areas. The party with the majority of seats (or a coalition of parties who form a majority) decides who sits on what committee, what policies are followed, and who becomes Lord Mayor. Chaired by the Lord Mayor, the Council passes an annual budget for spending on housing, traffic management, refuse, drainage, planning, etc. The Dublin City Manager is responsible for the implementation of decisions of the City Council.

The current ruling coalition, after the 2009 local elections, is the Democratic Alliance, made up of Labour and Fine Gael. Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Greens and non-party councillors act as opposition. The current Lord Mayor is Emer Costello, who was elected in June 2009.

In 2008, the national government announced plans for local government reform, with the biggest change being plans for an elected Mayor of Dublin with executive powers. The plan also includes local plebiscites, petition rights, participatory budgeting and city meetings.[45]

National

The national parliament of Ireland, the Oireachtas, consists of the President of Ireland and two houses, Dáil Éireann (Chamber of Deputies) and Seanad Éireann (Senate). All three are based in Dublin. The President of Ireland lives in Áras an Uachtaráin, the former residence of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State in the city's largest park, Phoenix Park. Both houses of the Oireachtas meet in Leinster House, a former ducal palace on the south side. The building has been the home of Irish parliaments since the creation of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922.

Government Buildings house the Department of the Taoiseach, the Council Chamber (used for the weekly Cabinet meetings), the Department of Finance and the Office of the Attorney General. It consists of a main building (completed 1911) with two wings (completed 1921) and was designed by Thomas Manley Dean and Sir Aston Webb as the Royal College of Science. In 1921 the House of Commons of Southern Ireland met here. Given its location next to Leinster House, the Irish Free State government took over the two wings of the building to serve as a temporary home for some ministries, while the central building became the College of Technology (part of UCD) until 1989.[46] Both it and Leinster House, meant to be a temporary home of parliament, became permanent homes.

The old Irish Houses of Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland are in College Green.

Climate

Dublin enjoys a maritime temperate climate characterised by mild winters, cool summers, and a lack of temperature extremes with moderate rainfall. However, contrary to popular belief, Dublin does not experience as high rainfall as the west of Ireland, which receives over twice that of the capital city. Dublin has fewer rainy days, on average, than London. Measured at Dublin Airport, the average maximum January temperature is 7.6 °C, the average maximum July temperature is 18.9 °C.[47] The sunniest months, on average, are May and June. The wettest months, on average, is December with 76 mm of rain. The driest month is February, with 50 mm. The total average annual rainfall (and other forms of precipitation) is 732.7 mm,[47] lower than Sydney, New York City and even Dallas.

Due to Dublin's northerly latitude, it experiences long summer days, around 17 hours of daylight between official sunrise and sunset times for the longest day of the year in June and short winter days, as short as 7 and a half hours between official sunrise and sunset times for the shortest day of the year in December. These are lengthened slightly when dawn and dusk are taken into consideration. In summer, dawn can come as early as 04:00 before the official sunrise time of 04:56 on the longest day of the year. Dusk is lengthened also, sometimes up to 23:00 after the sun has set just before 22:00 on the longest day of the year.

Like the rest of Ireland it is relatively safe from common natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis.

Strong winds from Atlantic storm systems ("windstorms") can affect Dublin, though usually less severe than other parts of Ireland. Severe winds are most likely during mid-winter, but can occur anytime, especially between October and February. During one of the stormiest periods of recent times, a gust of 151 km/h (94 mph) was recorded at Casement Aerodrome on 24 December 1997.

The city is not noted for its temperature extremes due to its mild climate. Typically, the coldest months are December, January and February. Temperatures in summer in recent years have been rising to substantially above average figures, e.g. 31 °C in July 2006, over 12 °C higher than the average maximum. Recent heat waves include the European heat wave of 2003 and European heat wave of 2006.

The main precipitation in winter is rain. The city can experience some snow showers during the months from October to May, but lying snow is uncommon (on average, only 4.5 days). Hail occurs more often than snow (on average, around 9.5 days), and is most likely during the winter and spring months. Another rare type of weather is thunder and lightning, most common in late summer - though still only averages 4.1 days per year.

Weather data for Dublin Airport 1961-1990
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 16.6
(62)
15.3
(60)
21.3
(70)
20.5
(69)
23.4
(74)
25.1
(77)
27.6
(82)
28.7
(84)
23.9
(75)
21.2
(70)
18.0
(64)
16.2
(61)
28.7
(84)
Average high °C (°F) 7.6
(46)
7.5
(46)
9.5
(49)
11.4
(53)
14.2
(58)
17.2
(63)
18.9
(66)
18.6
(65)
16.6
(62)
13.7
(57)
9.8
(50)
8.4
(47)
12.8
(55)
Daily mean °C (°F) 5.0
(41)
5.0
(41)
6.3
(43)
7.9
(46)
10.5
(51)
13.4
(56)
15.1
(59)
14.9
(59)
13.1
(56)
10.6
(51)
7.0
(45)
5.9
(43)
9.6
(49)
Average low °C (°F) 2.5
(37)
2.5
(37)
3.1
(38)
4.4
(40)
6.8
(44)
9.6
(49)
11.4
(53)
11.1
(52)
9.6
(49)
7.6
(46)
4.2
(40)
3.4
(38)
6.4
(44)
Record low °C (°F) -9.4
(15)
-6.2
(21)
-6.7
(20)
-3.7
(25)
-1.0
(30)
1.5
(35)
4.8
(41)
4.1
(39)
1.7
(35)
-0.6
(31)
-3.4
(26)
-10.1
(14)
-10.1
(14)
Precipitation mm (inches) 69.4
(2.73)
50.4
(1.98)
53.8
(2.12)
50.7
(2)
55.1
(2.17)
56.0
(2.2)
49.9
(1.96)
70.5
(2.78)
66.7
(2.63)
69.7
(2.74)
64.7
(2.55)
75.6
(2.98)
732.7
(28.85)
Sunshine hours 56 71 112 156 183 180 167 158 129 96 72 53 1,433
% Humidity 86 84 82 79 76 76 78 81 82 85 86 86 82
Avg. precipitation days 18 14 16 14 16 14 13 15 15 16 16 18 185
Source: Met Éireann {{{accessdate}}}

Crime

Official statistics from An Garda Síochána for 2004-2007[48] show that the overall headline crime rate for the metropolitan area per 1,000 of population is the highest in the country. During the 1980s and 1990s, a heroin epidemic swept through working class areas of the inner city and outlying suburbs. In 2008 there were 20 homicides in which 16 were gang-related gun murders.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Dublin has the following sister cities:[49]

See also

References

  1. ^ Dublin City Council Dublin City Coat of Arms (retrieved 15 February 2009
  2. ^ "The Growth and Development of Dublin" (PDF). http://geography.ie/geography/junior_senior/social/docs/dublin.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 
  3. ^ "Primate City Definition and Examples". http://everything2.com/title/primate+city. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 
  4. ^ "GFCI5_3covers.qxd" (PDF). http://www.lefigaro.fr/assets/pdf/bourse-patrimoine/financial.pdf. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  5. ^ GFCI Index 2008
  6. ^ a b TalkingCities
  7. ^ a b The Irish Experience
  8. ^ "GaWC - The World According to GaWC 2008". Lboro.ac.uk. 2009-06-03. http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2008t.html. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  9. ^ "The 2008 Global Cities Index". Foreign Policy. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4509. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  10. ^ "GaWC - The World According to GaWC 2008". Globalization and World Cities Research Network: Loughborough University. 2009-06-03. http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2008t.html. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
  11. ^ A Popular History of Ireland - Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825-1868)
  12. ^ a b c d Davies, Norman (1999). The Isles: a history. London: Macmillan. pp. 1222. ISBN 0-333-76370. 
  13. ^ Lyons, F.S.L. (1973). Ireland since the famine. Suffolk: Collins / Fontana. pp. 880. ISBN 0-00-633200-5. 
  14. ^ It should be noted that this state was unilaterally declared and was not recognised by any other country apart from Russia. The control did not extend to all of the island, particularly Unionist areas in the north east.
  15. ^ BBC record of Survey
  16. ^ National Museum of Ireland
  17. ^ BreakingNews.ie - Dublin voted friendliest European city (13 March 2007)
  18. ^ Irish Times - Dublin voted friendliest city (4 May 2009)
  19. ^ Article on stag/hen parties in Edinburgh, Scotland (which mentions their popularity in Dublin), mentioning Dublin, Accessed Feb 15 2009.
  20. ^ "International Rugby Board Organisation: About Us". International Rugby Board. http://www.irb.com/aboutirb/organisation/index.html. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
  21. ^ a b Dublin City Council - 2011 UEFA Cup Final comes to new Dublin stadium
  22. ^ Croke Park Fixtures - UEFA European Championship Listings 2006
  23. ^ "10 things that the GAA's new director-general Paraic Duffy should do". http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/10-things-that-the-gaas-new-directorgeneral-paraic-duffy-should-do-1229596.html. Retrieved 2007-11-28. 
  24. ^ LRSDC.ie - Homepage of Lansdowne Road Development Company (IRFU and FAI JV)
  25. ^ - Facts and Figures 16th February 2009
  26. ^ McDonald, Frank (29 July 2008). "Arnotts granted planning permission for scaled-down city centre scheme". The Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0729/1217279096592.html. Retrieved 18 January 2009. 
  27. ^ Anderson, Paul (15 February 2008). "Around 600 jobs to go at Arnotts and Boyers". The Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0215/breaking54.html?via=rel. Retrieved 18 January 2009. 
  28. ^ Hancock, Ciaran (28 November 2008). "Low-key launch of new Arnotts store amid gloom". The Irish Times. 
  29. ^ Fagan, Jack (19 November 2008). "Sombre mood at shopping centre conference". The Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/commercialproperty/2008/1119/1227026403989.html. Retrieved 18 January 2009. 
  30. ^ History of Dublin Neighbourhoods
  31. ^ "Portobello College Dublin". Portobello.ie. http://www.portobello.ie/about_us/portobello_college.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-23. 
  32. ^ Call for improved infrastructure for Dublin 2 April 2007
  33. ^ Most new immigrants young and single 15 February 2009
  34. ^ Foreign nationals now 10% of Irish population 26 July 2007
  35. ^ Central Statistics Office Ireland data from 2006 census for Ireland
  36. ^ City Mayors - The world's richest cities by purchasing power in 2008
  37. ^ Global/Worldwide Cost of Living Survey Rankings 2007/2008, Cities, International, Europe 2007
  38. ^ City Mayors - The world's most expensive cities in 2008
  39. ^ London is the most expensive city in the world, while Swiss cities are home to highest earners
  40. ^ Dublin employmentPDF (256 KB)
  41. ^ Central Bank predicts less growth
  42. ^ "E-Flow Website". eFlow. http://eflow.ie/. Retrieved 2009-02-15. 
  43. ^ "Dublin Metro North and Metro West, Republic of Ireland". Railway-technology.com. http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/dublin-metro/. Retrieved 2008-02-22. 
  44. ^ Mediaworks - Radio Listenership Up-Date Republic of Ireland
  45. ^ RTÉ News - Elected mayors in plans for local govt
  46. ^ Department of the Taoiseach: Guide to Government Buildings (2005)
  47. ^ a b "30 Year Averages". Met Éireann. http://www.met.ie/climate/dublinairport.asp. Retrieved 2009-09-30. 
  48. ^ Garda Annual Reports 2004-2007 Accessed 15 February 2009
  49. ^ "Dublin City Council: Facts about Dublin City". © 2006-2009 Dublin City Council. http://www.dublincity.ie/Press/FactsAboutDublin/Pages/FactsAboutDublin.aspx. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
  50. ^ "Ciutats agermanades | Relacions bilaterals | L'acció exterior | Barcelona internacional | El web de la ciutat de Barcelona". W3.bcn.es. 2009-06-18. http://w3.bcn.es/XMLServeis/XMLHomeLinkPl/0,4022,229724149_257345983_1,00.html. Retrieved 2009-06-23. 
  51. ^ "Barcelona internacional - Ciutats agermanades" (in Spanish). © 2006-2009 Ajuntament de Barcelona. http://w3.bcn.es/XMLServeis/XMLHomeLinkPl/0,4022,229724149_257215678_1,00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-13. 
  52. ^ Neil Peterson (2008-11-17). "Liverpool City Council twinning". Liverpool.gov.uk. http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Community_and_living/Twinning/index.asp. Retrieved 2009-06-23. 
  53. ^ "City of San José - Economic Development - Dublin, Ireland Sister City". Sjeconomy.com. 2009-06-19. http://www.sjeconomy.com/sistercities/dublin.asp. Retrieved 2009-06-23. 

Further reading

  • John Flynn and Jerry Kelleher, Dublin Journeys in America (High Table Publishing, 2003) ISBN 0-9544694-1-0
  • Hanne Hem, Dubliners, An Anthropologist's Account, Oslo, 1994
  • Pat Liddy, Dublin A Celebration - From the 1st to the 21st century (Dublin City Council, 2000) ISBN 0-946841-50-0
  • Maurice Craig, The Architecture of Ireland from the Earliest Times to 1880 (Batsford, Paperback edition 1989) ISBN 0-7134-2587-3
  • Frank McDonald, Saving the City: How to Halt the Destruction of Dublin (Tomar Publishing, 1989) ISBN 1-871793-03-3
  • Edward McParland, Public Architecture in Ireland 1680–1760 (Yale University Press, 2001) ISBN 0-300-09064-1

External links

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Translations: Dublin
Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - Dublin

Français (French)
n. - Dublin

Deutsch (German)
n. - Dublin

Português (Portuguese)
n. - Dublin

Español (Spanish)
n. - Dublín

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
都柏林

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 都柏林

한국어 (Korean)
더블린 (아일랜드 공화국의 수도; (약) Dub.)

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮דבלין‬


 
 

 

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