IRELAND : The capital DUBLIN
Dublin is Ireland’s capital as well as the capital of the county
Dublin in the province of Leinster. Dublin is situated almost in the
middle of the east coast of Ireland. Through the city passes the river
Liffey. The beauty of the surrounding country, combined with its
maritime position, give to the metropolis of Ireland a charm possessed
by few cities.
Dublin was founded by the Vikings around 988. It is now a metropolis
with more than 1 million inhabitants. The name “Dubh Linn” means black
water or black pond. According to the Greek astronomer Ptolemy, a city
with the name “Eblana” stood on this spot.
The town later appears in history as Dubh-linn (Gaelic for “Black
Pool”), the inhabitants of which won (AD291) a military victory over the
armed forces of the kingdom of Leinster. Baile Átha Cliath, the present
official name, is believed to have been applied to the settlement at a
subsequent date. In Irish, the city is called “Baile Átha Cliath”. Baile
means “city”, Atha is a wadable area and Cliath is the name of a system
of wickerwork that was used to fortify the bottom of the wadable river.
The city occupies a generally flat site, which is bisected in an
eastern and western direction by the Liffey. The river is spanned by ten
bridges, notably O'Connell's Bridge, which links the main thoroughfares
of the city. Many of Dublin's historic edifices are in the old section
of the city, south of the Liffey. Dublin Castle, the nucleus around
which the modern town developed, formerly housed the offices of the
British viceroy of Ireland. Most of this structure, which occupies a
ridge overlooking the river, was completed in the 16th century and
later, but parts of it date from early in the 13th century.
The cultural centers include the National Museum, which contains
numerous Irish antiquities; the National Gallery, with valuable
collections of painting and sculpture; and the Abbey Theatre.
Even though it has shown recent signs of slowing down, "the Celtic
Tiger" -- the nickname given to the roaring Irish economy -- has turned
Dublin into a boomtown. Elegant shops and hotels, galleries, art-house
cinemas, coffeehouses, and a stunning variety of restaurants have sprung
up on almost every street in the capital.
Roughly half of the Irish Republic's population of 3.6 million
people live in Dublin and its suburbs. It's a city of young people --
astonishingly so. Students from all over Ireland attend Trinity College
and the city's dozen other universities and colleges.