Thursday, January 21, 2016

Dublin

Dublin got its name from the place where the river Poodle met the river Liffey creating a pool of water made dark by the copious amount of sediment carried by the two rivers. In Gaelic, dub means dark and lind means pool.  Thus the name of Ireland's largest and capitol city was born.

The first Viking settlement on the site of present day Dublin came to be in 841 and the area remained under Viking control until the Norman invasion of  1169.  Dublin Castle, a popular tourist attraction, was constructed by the Normans and it was from there they maintained their sovereignty over Ireland.

In 1592 Queen Elizabeth I established Trinity College in Dublin as part of plan to establish the Protestant religion in Ireland.  Only Protestants were allowed to attend.  Today Trinity is known for housing the Book of Kells, a beautifully illustrated manuscript done by Irish monks around 800 A.D.

During the Georgian period Dublin was a large and prosperous city and it is from this period that many of the city's great buildings date. In fact, Dublin is home to some of the world's finest examples of Georgian architecture.

For those of us who are aficionados, 1759 is an important date in Dublin's history. It was in this year that Arthur Guinness first opened his now world famous brewery.
The Guinness family has done much to improve the city over the centuries including the restoration of churches, the establishment of parks and the rebuilding of slums.

In 1916 and again in 1921 Dublin was at the center of Ireland's fight to become a country separate from the United Kingdom. Several buildings and statues still wear the scars from bullets fired during that time.

If you enjoy literature it is important to note the names of authors such as Jonathon Swift, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeates, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, James Joyce and Maeve Binchey.  All are associated with Dublin.

Approximately half of the population of the city is under the age of 25. Therefore, as expected, the nightlife abounds.  However, this I can not personally attest to since I am well past the age for such nightlife.

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