County Dublin Contae Bhaile Átha Cliath
Coat of arms
Motto: Beart do réir ár mbriathar  (Irish) "Action to match our speech"
Country	Ireland
Province	Leinster
County seat	Dublin
Government
• Teachta Dála	19 Labour Party TDs 17 Fine Gael TDs 4 Sinn Féin TDs 4 ULA TDs 3 Independent TDs
Area
• Total	921 km2 (356 sq mi)
Area rank	30th
Population (2011)	1,270,603
• Rank	1st
Car plates	D

Three Rock Mountain, Dublin, Ireland looking towards Bray Head

County Dublin (Irish: Contae Bhaile Átha Cliath or Contae Átha Cliath) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin, which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the Norman invasion of Ireland. The area of the county no longer has a single local authority; local government is now split between three authorities. The population of the county at large, which includes Dublin city, was 1,270,603 according to the census of 2011.^[1]

Dissolution[link]

It is no longer used for local government purposes in Ireland. In 1994, the administrative county (which did not include the county borough of Dublin) was dissolved and the area divided among the administrative counties of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin each with its county seat. To these areas may be added the area of Dublin city which collectively comprise the Dublin Region^[2] (Réigiúin Átha Cliath) and come under the remit of the Dublin Regional Authority.

The area lost its administrative county status in 1994, with Section 9 Part 1(a) of the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1993 stating that "the county shall cease to exist."^[3][4] At that time, and in response to a European Council report highlighting Ireland as the most centralised^{[citation needed]} country in the European Union, it was decided that a single County Dublin was unmanageable and undemocratic from a local government perspective. In discussing the legislation to dissolve Dublin County Council, Avril Doyle TD said, "The Bill before us today effectively abolishes County Dublin, and as one born and bred in these parts of Ireland I find it rather strange that we in this House are abolishing County Dublin. I am not sure whether Dubliners realise that that is what we are about today, but in effect that is the case."^[5]

Despite the legal status of the Dublin Region, the term "County Dublin" is still in common usage. Many organisations and sporting teams continue to organise on a "County Dublin" or "Dublin Region" basis. The area formerly known as "County Dublin" is now defined in legislation solely as the "Dublin Region" under the Local Government Act, 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order, 1993,^[2] and this is the terminology officially used by the four Dublin administrative councils in press releases concerning the former county area. The term Greater Dublin Area, which might consist of some or all of the Dublin Region along with counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, has no legal standing.

The latest Ordnance Survey Ireland "Discovery Series" (Third Edition 2005) 1:50,000 map of the Dublin Region, Sheet 50, shows the boundaries of the city and three surrounding counties of the region. Extremities of the Dublin Region, in the north and south of the region, appear in other sheets of the series, 43 and 56 respectively.

Irish language[link]

There are 10,469 Irish speakers in County Dublin attending the 31 Gaelscoils (Irish language primary schools) and 8 Gaelcholáiste (Irish language secondary schools).^[6] There may be up to another 10,000 Irish speakers from the Gaeltacht living and working in Dublin also.

Local government and politics[link]

Dublin Region

There are four local authorities whose remit collectively encompasses the geographic area of the county and city of Dublin.

Prior to the enactment of the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1993, the county was a unified whole even though its was administered by two local authorities - Dublin County Council and Dublin Corporation.^{[citation needed]} Since the enactment of the Local Government Act 2001 in particular, the geographic area of the county has been divided between three entities at the level of "county" and a further entity at the level of "city". They rank equally as first level local administrative units of the NUTS 3 Dublin Region for Eurostat purposes. There are 34 LAU 1 entities in the Republic of Ireland. Each local authority is responsible for certain local services such as sanitation, planning and development, libraries, the collection of motor taxation, local roads and social housing.

The county is part of the Dublin constituency for the purposes of European elections. For elections to Dáil Éireann, the area of the county is today divided into twelve constituencies: Dublin Central, Dublin Mid–West, Dublin North, Dublin North–Central, Dublin North–East, Dublin North–West, Dublin South, Dublin South–Central, Dublin South–East, Dublin South–West, Dublin West and Dún Laoghaire. Together they return 47 deputies (TDs) to the Dáil.

Media[link]

• The local radio stations include 98FM, FM104, 103.2 Dublin City FM, Dublin's Q102, Spin 1038, Dublin's Country Mix 106.8, Phantom 105.2 and Radio Nova.

• The local newspapers include Dublin Penny Journal, The Echo, The Northside People, The Southside People, Liffey Champion and The Metro Herald.

Most of the area can receive the five main UK television channels on analogue television as well as the main Irish channels, along with Sky TV and UPC cable television.

Transport[link]

• Road: The major roads are the N2, N3, N4 and N7 national primary roads, and the M1, M11 and M50 motorways.

• Heavy rail: The InterCity and Commuter rail services (Iarnród Éireann).

• Light rail: The Luas tram system serving Dublin City and its suburbs.

• Rapid transit: The DART and the proposed Dublin Metro line.

• Port: Dublin Port and Dún Laoghaire Harbour.

• Air: Dublin International Airport.

Towns and suburbs[link]

See also[link]

Ireland portal

• For the baronial sub-divisions of the old county
• List of abbeys and priories in the Republic of Ireland (County Dublin)
• List of mountains and hills of County Dublin
• List of rivers in County Dublin
• List of subdivisions of County Dublin
• List of townlands of County Dublin

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: County Dublin

• Dublin Regional Authority
• Architecture of County Dublin
• Civil parishes of County Dublin, from Ireland.com
• Score for 'Quality of Life' in County Dublin
• Gaelscoil stats
• Que ver en Dublín

v t e Counties of Ireland The counties are listed per province Connacht Galway Leitrim Mayo Roscommon Sligo Munster Clare Cork Kerry Limerick Tipperary (North Tipperary · South Tipperary) Waterford Leinster Carlow Dublin (Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown · Fingal · South Dublin) Kildare Kilkenny Laois Longford Louth Meath Offaly Westmeath Wexford Wicklow Ulster Antrim† Armagh† Cavan Donegal Down† Fermanagh† Londonderry† Monaghan Tyrone† Italics denote non-administrative counties. Brackets denote non-traditional counties. †denotes non-administrative counties of Northern Ireland

v t e Divisions of County Dublin County seats: Dublin Dún Laoghaire Tallaght Swords Cities Dublin Counties Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Fingal South Dublin Districts Northside Southside See also Dublin Regional Authority Dublin Metropolitan Area Greater Dublin Area List of townlands in County Dublin

v t e Baronies of County Dublin Balrothery East · Balrothery West · Castleknock · Coolock · Dublin · Dublin City · Nethercross · Newcastle · Rathdown · Uppercross · Other baronies of Ireland: complete list · by county

Coordinates: 53°25′N 6°15′W / 53.417°N 6.25°W / 53.417; -6.25

Dublin Baile Átha Cliath
Clockwise from top: Samuel Beckett Bridge, Trinity College, Custom House, Dublin Castle, O'Connell Bridge, and Convention Centre Dublin.
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Obedientia Civium Urbis Felicitas "The citizens' obedience is the city's happiness"[1]
Dublin Location of Dublin in Ireland
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 Council
• Headquarters	Dublin City Hall
• Lord Mayor	Andrew Montague (Lab)
• Dáil Éireann	Dublin Central Dublin North–Central Dublin North–East Dublin North–West Dublin South–Central Dublin South–East
• European Parliament	Dublin constituency
Area
• City	114.99 km2 (44.40 sq mi)
Population
• City	527,612
• Density	4,588/km2 (11,880/sq mi)
• Urban	1,110,627
• Metro	1,804,156
• Demonym	Dubliner, Dub
• Ethnicity (2006 Census)	Ethnic groups 90.85% White 81.25% White Irish 9.23% White Other 0.37% Irish Traveller   3.34% Asian/Asian Irish   1.12% Black/Black Irish   1.47% Bi-Racial/Other   3.22% Not Stated
Time zone	WET (UTC0)
• Summer (DST)	IST (UTC+1)
Postal districts	D1-18, 20, 22, 24, D6W
Area code(s)	01
Website	www.dublincity.ie

Dublin ( /ˈdʌblɨn/; locally /ˈdʊbᵊlən/; Irish: Baile Átha Cliath, meaning "town of the hurdled ford", pronounced [blʲaˈklʲiə] or Áth Cliath, [aː klʲiə], occasionally Duibhlinn) is the capital and most populous city of Ireland.^[2][3] The English name for the city is derived from the Irish name Dubhlinn, meaning "black pool". Dublin is situated near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and the centre of the Dublin Region.

Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island's principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century; it was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire and the fifth largest in Europe. Dublin entered a period of stagnation following the Act of Union of 1800, but it remained the economic centre for most of the island. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, the new parliament, the Oireachtas, was located in Leinster House. Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State and later the Republic of Ireland.

Similar to the cities of Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Waterford—Dublin is administered separately from its respective County with its own City Council. The city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) as a global city, with a ranking of "Alpha-", placing Dublin among the top 30 cities in the world.^[4][5] It is a historical and contemporary cultural centre for the country, as well as a modern centre of education, the arts, administration, economy, and industry.

History[link]

Toponymy[link]

Although the area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times, the writings of Ptolemy (the Egyptian astronomer and cartographer) in about 140 AD provide possibly the earliest reference to a settlement there. He called the settlement Eblana Civitas.

The name Dublin comes from the Irish name Dubhlinn or Duibhlinn, meaning "black pool". This is made up of the elements dubh (black) and linn (pool). In most Irish dialects, dubh is pronounced [ˈd̪ˠʊvˠ] (usually [ˈdʊw] in Ulster Irish). The original pronunciation is preserved in the names for the city in other languages such as Old English Difelin, Old Norse Dyflin, modern Icelandic Dyflinn and modern Manx Divlyn. Duibhlinn is the name of a few other places in Ireland, whose names have been anglicized as Devlin,^[6] Divlin^[7] and Difflin.^[8] Historically, in the Gaelic script, bh was written with a dot over the b, rendering Duḃlinn or Duiḃlinn. Those without knowledge of Irish omitted the dot, spelling the name as Dublin.

Baile Átha Cliath, meaning "town of the hurdled ford", is the common name for the city in modern Irish. Áth Cliath is a place name referring to a fording point of the River Liffey near Father Mathew Bridge. Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery which is believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street, currently occupied by Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church.

Father Mathew Bridge is understood to be near the ancient "Ford of the Hurdles" (Baile Átha Cliath), the original crossing point on the River Liffey.

The subsequent Scandinavian settlement was on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey in an area now known as Wood Quay. The Dubhlinn was a small lake used to moor ships and was connected to the Liffey by the Poddle. This lake was covered during the early 18th century as the city grew. The Dubhlinn was situated where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle. Táin Bó Cuailgne ("The Cattle Raid of Cooley") refers to Dublind rissa ratter Áth Cliath, meaning "Dublin, which is called Ath Cliath".

Middle Ages[link]

Dublin was established as a Viking settlement in the 9th century and, despite a number of rebellions by the native Irish, it remained largely under Viking control until the Norman invasion of Ireland was launched from Wales in 1169.^[9] The King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, enlisted the help of Strongbow, the Earl of Pembroke, to conquer Dublin. Following Mac Murrough’s death, Strongbow declared himself King of Leinster after gaining control of the city. In response to Strongbow's successful invasion, King Henry II of England reaffirmed his sovereignty by mounting a larger invasion in 1171 and pronouncing himself Lord of Ireland.^[10]

Dublin Castle was the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland until 1922.

Dublin Castle, which became the centre of English power in Ireland, was founded in 1204 as a major defensive work on the orders of King John of England.^[11] Following the appointment of the first Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1229, the city expanded and had a population of 8,000 by the end of the 13th century. Dublin prospered as a trade centre, despite an attempt by King Robert I of Scotland to capture the city in 1317.^[10] It remained a relatively small walled medieval town during the 14th century and was under constant threat from the surrounding native clans. In 1348, the Black Death, a lethal plague which had ravaged Europe, took hold in Dublin and killed thousands over the following decade.^[12][13]

Dublin was incorporated into the English Crown as The Pale, which was a narrow strip of English settlement along the eastern seaboard. The Tudor conquest of Ireland in the 16th century spelt a new era for Dublin, with the city enjoying a renewed prominence as the centre of administrative rule in Ireland. Determined to make Dublin a Protestant city, Queen Elizabeth I of England established Trinity College in 1592 as a solely Protestant university and ordered that the Catholic St. Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals be converted to Protestant.^[14]

The city had a population of 21,000 in 1640 before a plague in 1649–51 wiped out almost half of the city's inhabitants. However, the city prospered again soon after as a result of the wool and linen trade with England, reaching a population of over 50,000 in 1700.^[15]

Early modern[link]

Henrietta Street, developed in the 1720s, is the earliest Georgian Street in Dublin.

As the city continued to prosper during the 18th century, Georgian Dublin became, for a short period, the second largest city of the British Empire and the fifth largest city in Europe, with the population exceeding 130,000. The vast majority of Dublin's most notable architecture dates from this period, such as the Four Courts and the Custom House. Temple Bar and Grafton Street are two of the few remaining areas that were not affected by the wave of Georgian reconstruction and maintained their medieval character.^[14]

Dublin grew even more dramatically during the 18th century, with the construction of many famous districts and buildings, such as Merrion Square, Parliament House and the Royal Exchange.^[14] The Wide Streets Commission was established in 1757 at the request of Dublin Corporation to govern architectural standards on the layout of streets, bridges and buildings. In 1759, the founding of the Guinness brewery resulted in a considerable economic gain for the city. For much of the time since its foundation, the brewery was Dublin's largest employer.

Late modern and contemporary[link]

The GPO on O'Connell Street was at the centre of the 1916 Easter Rising.

Dublin suffered a period of political and economic decline during the 19th century following the Act of Union of 1800, under which the seat of government was transferred to the Westminster Parliament in London. The city played no major role in the Industrial Revolution, but remained the centre of administration and a transport hub for most of the island. Ireland had no significant sources of coal, the fuel of the time, and Dublin was not a centre of ship manufacturing, the other main driver of industrial development in Britain and Ireland.^[9] Belfast developed faster than Dublin during this period on a mixture of international trade, factory-based linen cloth production and shipbuilding.^[16]

The Easter Rising of 1916, the Irish War of Independence, and the subsequent Irish Civil War resulted in a significant amount of physical destruction in central Dublin. The Government of the Irish Free State rebuilt the city centre and located the new parliament, the Oireachtas, in Leinster House. Since the beginning of Anglo-Norman rule in the 12th century, the city has functioned as the capital in varying geopolitical entities: Lordship of Ireland (1171–1541), Kingdom of Ireland (1541–1800), island as part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922), and the Irish Republic (1919–1922).^[17] Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, 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.

Since 1997, the landscape of Dublin has changed immensely. The city was at the forefront of Ireland's rapid economic expansion during the Celtic Tiger period, with enormous private sector and state development of housing, transport and business.

Government[link]

Local[link]

Civic Offices of Dublin City Council.

Dublin City Council is a unicameral assembly of 52 members elected every five years from Local Election Areas. It is presided over by the Lord Mayor, who is elected for a yearly term and resides in Mansion House. Council meetings occur at Dublin City Hall, while most of its administrative activities are based in the Civic Offices on Wood Quay. The party or coalition of parties, with the majority of seats adjudicates committee members, introduces policies, and appoints the Lord Mayor. The Council passes an annual budget for spending on areas such as housing, traffic management, refuse, drainage, and planning. The Dublin City Manager is responsible for implementing City Council decisions.

National[link]

Leinster House on Kildare Street houses the Oireachtas.

As the capital city, Dublin seats the national parliament of Ireland, the Oireachtas. It is composed of the President of Ireland, Seanad Éireann as the upper house, and Dáil Éireann as the lower house. The President resides in Áras an Uachtaráin in the Phoenix Park, while both houses of the Oireachtas meet in Leinster House, a former ducal palace on Kildare Street. It has been the home of the Irish parliament since the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. The old Irish Houses of Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland were located in College Green.

Government Buildings house the Department of the Taoiseach, the Council Chamber, the Department of Finance and the Office of the Attorney General. It consists of a main building (completed 1911) with two wings (completed 1921). It was designed by Thomas Manley Dean and Sir Aston Webb as the Royal College of Science. The First Dáil originally met in the Mansion House in 1919. 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 until 1989.^[18] Although both it and Leinster House were intended to be temporary, they became the permanent homes of parliament from then on.

For elections to Dáil Éireann the city is divided into five constituencies: Dublin Central (4 seats), Dublin North–Central (3 seats), Dublin North-East (3 seats), Dublin North–West (3 seats), Dublin South–Central (5 seats) and Dublin South–East (4 seats). 22 TD's are elected in total. Dublin North–East, Dublin North–West and Dublin South–Central also take in parts of Fingal and South Dublin.

Politics[link]

In the past Dublin city was regarded as a stronghold for Fianna Fáil, however following the Irish local elections, 2004 the party was eclipsed by the centre-left Labour Party.^[19] Fianna Fáil currently do not hold any seats in the Dublin constituencies. Labour further increased its number of councillors at the 2009 local elections and currently has the largest number of TD's from the city (10 out of 22).

Geography[link]

Landscape[link]

Satellite image showing the River Liffey entering the Irish Sea as it divides Dublin into the Northside and the Southside.

Dublin is situated at the mouth of the River Liffey and encompasses a land area of approximately 115 km². It is bordered by a low mountain range to the south and surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west.^[20] The Liffey divides the city in two between the Northside and the Southside. Each of these is further divided by 2 lesser rivers, the River Tolka running northwest from Dubin Bay, and the River Dodder running southwest from the mouth of the Lifrey. Two further water bodies - the Grand Canal on the southside and the Royal Canal on the northside - ring the inner city on their way to the west and the River Shannon

The Liffey bends at Leixlip from a predominantly east-west direction to a southwesterly route, and this point also marks the change from urban development to a more agricultural land usage.^[21]

Cultural divide[link]

A north-south division has traditionally existed, with the River Liffey as the divider. The Northside is generally seen as working-class, while the Southside is seen as middle to upper middle class. The 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 the Southside, and working-class Dubliners seen as tending towards characteristics associated with Northside and inner-city areas. Dublin's economic divide is east-west as well as north-south. There are also social divisions evident between the coastal suburbs in the east of the city, including those on the northside, and the newer developments further to the west.^[22]

Climate[link]

Similar to much of northwest Europe, Dublin experiences a maritime climate with mild winters, cool summers, and a lack of temperature extremes. The average maximum January temperature is 8.3 °C (47 °F), while the average maximum July temperature is 19.6 °C (67 °F). On average, the sunniest months are May and June, while the wettest month is December with 73 mm (3 in) of rain, and the driest month is July with 43 mm (2 in). Rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year.

Dublin records the least amount of rainfall in Ireland, with the average annual precipitation in the city centre being 695 mm (27 in). The main precipitation in winter is rain; however snow showers do occur between November and March. Hail is more common than snow. The city experiences long summer days and short winter days. Strong Atlantic winds are most common in autumn. These winds can affect Dublin, but due to its easterly location it is least affected compared to other parts of the country. However conversely in winter, easterly winds render the city more prone to snow showers.

Places of interest[link]

Landmarks[link]

The Spire of Dublin rises behind the statue of Jim Larkin.

Dublin has many landmarks and monuments dating back hundreds of years. One of the oldest is Dublin Castle, which was first founded as a major defensive work on the orders of King John of England in 1204, shortly after the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169, when it was commanded that a castle be built with strong walls and good ditches for the defence of the city, the administration of justice, and the protection of the King’s treasure.^[23] Largely complete by 1230, the castle was of typical Norman courtyard design, with a central square without a keep, bounded on all sides by tall defensive walls and protected at each corner by a circular tower. Sited to the south-east of Norman Dublin, the castle formed one corner of the outer perimeter of the city, using the River Poddle as a natural means of defence.

The Molly Malone statue near Grafton Street.

One of Dublin's newest monuments is the Spire of Dublin, or officially titled "Monument of Light".^[24] It is a 121.2 metres (398 ft) conical spire made of stainless steel and is located on O'Connell Street. It replaces Nelson's Pillar and is intended to mark Dublin's place in the 21st century. The spire was designed by Ian Ritchie Architects,^[25] who sought an "Elegant and dynamic simplicity bridging art and technology". During the day it maintains its steel look, but at dusk the monument appears to merge into the sky. The base of the monument is lit and the top is illuminated to provide a beacon in the night sky across the city.

Many people visit Trinity College, Dublin to see the Book of Kells in the library there. The Book of Kells is an illustrated manuscript created by Irish monks circa. 800 AD. The Ha'penny Bridge; an old iron footbridge over the River Liffey is one of the most photographed sights in Dublin and is considered to be one of Dublin's most iconic landmarks.^[26]

Other popular landmarks and monuments include the Mansion House, the Anna Livia monument, the Molly Malone statue, Christ Church Cathedral, St Patrick's Cathedral, Saint Francis Xavier Church on Upper Gardiner Street near Mountjoy Square, The Custom House, and Áras an Uachtaráin. The Poolbeg Towers are also iconic features of Dublin and are visible in many spots around the city.

Parks[link]

Dublin has more green spaces per square kilometre than any other European capital city, with 97% of city residents living within 300 metres of a park area. The city council provides 2.96 hectares (7.3 acres) of public green space per 1,000 people and 255 playing fields. The council also plants approximately 5,000 trees annually and manages over 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of parks.^[27]

St Stephen's Green

There are many park areas around the city, including the Phoenix Park, Herbert Park and St Stephen's Green. The Phoenix Park is 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses 707 hectares (1,750 acres) one of the largest walled city parks in Europe.^[28][29] It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the 17th century has been home to a herd of wild Fallow deer. The residence of the President of Ireland (Áras an Uachtaráin), which was built in 1754, is located in the park. The park is also home to Dublin Zoo, the official residence of the United States Ambassador, and Ashtown Castle. Music concerts have also been performed in the park by many singers and musicians.

St Stephen's Green is adjacent to one of Dublin's main shopping streets, Grafton Street, and to a shopping centre named for it, while on its surrounding streets are the offices of a number of public bodies and the city terminus of one of Dublin's Luas tram lines. St Anne's Park is a public park and recreational facility, shared between Raheny and Clontarf, both suburbs on the North Side of Dublin. The park, the second largest municipal park in Dublin, is part of a former 2 km² (500 acre) estate assembled by members of the Guinness family, beginning with Benjamin Lee Guinness in 1835 (the largest municipal park is nearby (North) Bull Island, also shared between Clontarf and Raheny).