- published: 04 Nov 2009
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Dublin (/ˈdʌblᵻn/, Irish: Baile Átha Cliath [blʲaːˈklʲiəh]) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Dublin is in the province of Leinster on Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey. The city has an urban area population of 1,273,069. The population of the Greater Dublin Area, as of 2011, was 1,801,040 persons.
Founded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin became Ireland's principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland.
Dublin is administered by a 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 it among the top thirty cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy and industry.
Dublin Bay (Irish: Cuan Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south. North Bull Island is situated in the northwest part of the bay, where one of two major inshore sand banks lay, and features a 5 km long sandy beach, Dollymount Strand, fronting an internationally recognised wildfowl reserve. Many of the rivers of Dublin reach the Irish Sea at Dublin Bay: the River Liffey, with the River Dodder flow received less than 1 km inland, River Tolka, and various smaller rivers and streams.
The metropolitan area of the city of Dublin surrounds three sides of the bay (the north, west, and south), while the Irish Sea lies to the east. Dublin was founded by the Vikings at the point where they were able to ford the River Liffey with the first wattle bridge up from the estuary. The city spread from its birthplace, around what is now the James's Gate area, out along the coastline, northeast towards Howth and southeast towards Dalkey.
The landscape of an Irish heart
Is wild and strong and free
It’s brave and proud
And laughs right out loud
And is not as green as it seems
You can drink like the Irish
And dance like the Irish
And laugh with your eyes full of joy
But none can love with all of his heart
Like my Dublin boy
The stories of an Irish heart
Are long and misted with tears
They’re covered in blood
And sung at the pub
For nigh on hundreds of years
You can drink like the Irish
And dance like the Irish
And laugh with your eyes full of joy
But none can love with all of his heart
Like my Dublin boy
The roaming of an Irish heart
Will carry far and wide
With a yearning for home
And sorrow in song
Longing for the Green Isle
You can drink like the Irish
And dance like the Irish
And laugh with your eyes full of joy
But none can love with all of his heart