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I went to to Dublin, Ireland to visit my friend. The flight was from Salzburg and lasts a little bit more than 2 hours. The flights to Dublin are normally cheap if you travel with Rainair. My friend worked in Dublin for his internship and I could live in his flat. During his work I visited the sightseeings of Dublin. Most of them could be done by walk.
The most interesting Tourist Attractions are:
* Dublin Castle
* Guinness Storehouse
* National Museum
* Temple Bar
* Trinity College (including Book of Kells and Long Room)
* Phoenix Park
* The Chimney Viewing Tower
* Custom House
* St Patricks Cathedral
* St. Stephen's Green
* Grafton Street
* Dublinia
Panorama Panorama View: Guiness Storehouse

Gerneral Information

Facts about the Travel
location Dublin
date 30.08.2006 - 03.09.2006
country Ireland flag
traveled by plane
average temperature about 14°C to 20°C
currency Euro
Inhabitants 505.000
language english
Picturegallery go to the gallery
in combination with Dublin (Edinburgh)
Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and forms the centre of the Dublin Region. Originally founded as a centre of Viking settlement, the city has been Ireland's capital city since mediæval times. The city of Dublin is the entire area administered by Dublin City Council. However, when most people talk about 'Dublin', they also refer to the contiguous suburban areas that run into the adjacent counties of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. This area is sometimes known as 'Urban Dublin' or the 'Dublin Metropolitan Area'. The population within the city (that is the administrative area controlled by Dublin City Council) was 505,739 at the census of 2006. Beyond this, at the same census the Dublin Region population was 1,186,159, whilst the Greater Dublin Area had a figure of 1,661,185. A person from Dublin is known as a Dubliner or colloquially as a Dub. They can also be mildly pejoratively called a Jackeen. In a 2003 European wide survey by the BBC, questioning 11,200 residents of 112 urban and rural areas, Dublin was found to be the best capital city in Europe to live in, and the Republic of Ireland was judged to be the most content country in Europe.

Name

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Panoramic View of Dublins Croke Park
The name Dublin is an Anglicisation of 'Dubh Linn' (Irish, meaning 'black pool'), though some doubt this derivation. Historically, in the old script used for the Irish language, 'bh' was written with a dot placed over the 'b' — thus appearing to be 'Dub Linn' or 'Dublinn'. The Norman-speaking English who arrived in Irish-speaking Ireland, omitted the 'dot' (or buailte in Irish), and spelled the town's name variously as 'Develyn' or 'Dublin'. Meanwhile, the city's name in Modern Irish — 'Baile Átha Cliath' ('The Town of the Ford of the Reed Hurdles') — actually refers to the settlement, founded in 988 by High King Mael Sechnaill II, which adjoined the town of Dubh Linn proper, at the Black Pool. Some sources have suggested that 'Dublin' is of Scandinavian origin, cf. Icelandic: 'djúp lind' ('deep pond'). However, the name 'Dubh Linn' pre-dates the arrival of the Vikings in Ireland, and the Old Norse (and modern Icelandic) name for Dublin is simply the words 'Dubh Linn' re-spelled as if they were Old Norse: 'Dyflinn' (correctly pronounced 'Duev-linn' — indeed, the letter 'y' is still pronounced like the vowel in 'ewe' in Modern Norwegian, Swedish, etc., just as it was in Old Norse; Icelandic, while keeping the spelling, has changed this sound to /i/).
Panorama Panorama View: River Liffey at night

History

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Dublin Castle - Seat of the Lord Lieutenant until 1922
The writings of the Greek astronomer and cartographer Ptolemy, provide perhaps the earliest reference to Dublin. In around the year 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; 'Baile Átha Cliath' or simply 'Áth Cliath' was founded in 988, and the two towns eventually became one. The modern city retains the Anglicised Irish name of the former and the original Irish name of the latter. After the Norman invasion of Ireland, Dublin became Ireland's capital, with much of the power centring on Dublin Castle until independence. From the 14th to late 16th centuries, Dublin and the surrounding area — known as the Pale — was the largest area of Ireland under government control. From the 17th century the city expanded rapidly, helped by the Wide Streets Commission. Georgian Dublin was, for a time, the second city of the British Empire after London. Much of Dublin's most notable architecture dates from this time. The Easter Rising of 1916 left the capital in an unstable situation and the Anglo-Irish War and Irish Civil War left the capital in ruins, with many of its finest buildings destroyed. The Irish Free State rebuilt much of the city's buildings and moved parliament to Leinster House, but took no bold tasks such as remodelling. After The Emergency (World War II), Dublin remained a capital out of time, modernisation was slow and finally the 1960s saw change begin. In recent years the infrastructure of Dublin has changed immensely, with enormous private 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 English rule in the 12th century, the city has served as the capital of the island of Ireland in the varying geopolitical entities:
* the Lordship of Ireland (1171–1541)
* the Kingdom of Ireland (1541–1800)
* the island as part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922)
* the Irish Republic (1919–1922)
From 1922, following the partition of Ireland, it served as the capital of the Irish Free State (1922–1937) and now as the capital of the Republic of Ireland. (Many of these states co-existed or competed within the same timeframe as rivals within either British or Irish constitutional theory.)

Culture

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The River Liffey divides the city

General Situation

Dublin is a major European cultural centre and the origin of many prominent literary figures including Jonathan Swift, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, J.M. Synge, George Bernard Shaw, Seán O'Casey, Samuel Beckett, Brendan Behan, and Roddy Doyle. Dubliners is a collection of short stories by James Joyce about incidents and characters typical of residents of the city in the early part of the 20th century. Ulysses, also by Joyce, is a novel set in Dublin, full of topographical detail and is both acclaimed and controversial. The National Print Museum of Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, both the National Gallery and the National Library of Ireland, the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, the Chester Beatty Library and three centres of the National Museum of Ireland are located in Dublin. While there are a number of galleries and art centres located in the city centre, such as The City Arts Centre, Four, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, The Project Arts Centre and The Royal Hibernian Academy. Temple Bar is a popular night life location and attracts many people from Great Britain and beyond for weekend visits. The city is one of the most youthful in the world — an estimated 50% of inhabitants are younger than 25.

Multicultural Dublin

Despite having a long tradition of emigration that continued up until the early 1990s, Dublin now has a sizeable number of immigrants especially from Poland, China, the United Kingdom, Nigeria and Romania. There are also considerable numbers from other fellow EU member states, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Russia, while over the last decade a large number of Irish who previously emigrated have returned to settle in the city.

Education

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(click on the image)
Dublin is the primary centre of education in Ireland, with three universities and several other higher education institutions. Altogether, there are twenty third-level institutes in the city. [6] 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 under Elizabeth I and was closed to Roman Catholics until Catholic Emancipation; the Catholic hierarchy then banned Roman Catholics from attending it until 1970. The National University of Ireland 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; although it is located in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, just outside the city of Dublin boundary. Dublin City University (DCU) is the most recent university created in Dublin and specialises in business, engineering, and science courses, particularly with relevance to industry. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is an independent medical school located on St. Stephen's Green in the city centre. The National University of Ireland, Maynooth, another constituent university of the NUI, is located in neighbouring Co. Kildare, about 25 km from Dublin's city centre. 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 move to a new campus at Grangegorman. Two suburbs of Dublin, Tallaght and Blanchardstown have respective Institutes of Technology (Institute of Technology, Tallaght) (Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown). 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. There are also various other smaller specialised colleges, including private ones, in the city. Examples include The Gaiety School of Acting which hosts a two year intensive degree in acting, and Griffith College Dublin, which is the largest independent institute of third level education in the country, and located in the old Griffith Barracks.

Northside and Southside

Traditionally, a north south division has existed in Dublin with the dividing line provided by the River Liffey. The Northside is seen by some as working-class, while the Southside is seen as middle and upper middle class. Dublin postal districts generally reflect the North/South divide, with odd numbers being used for districts on the Northside — for example, Phibsboro is in Dublin 7 — and even numbers for ones on the Southside — for example, Sandymount is in Dublin 4. An exception to the rule is Dublin 8, which straddles the river. This division dates back 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 South Side, he replied 'Where I go, fashion follows me', and indeed he was promptly followed by most other Irish peers. The Northside/Southside 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 (but not exclusive to) the Dublin 4 postcode on the Southside (see Dublin 4, Ross O'Carroll-Kelly), and working-class Dubliners seen as tending towards accents and demeanour associated with (but not exclusive to) Northside and inner-city Dublin neighbourhoods. This simplification of economic and social communities in Dublin ('Southside rich, liberal and snobby'/'Northside poor, industrial and common') does not survive more than a few real-world examples however. For example, the President of Ireland's residence, Áras an Uachtaráin, is on the Northside, although its postal district is Dublin 8, a Southside number. Similarly, some of Dublin's working-class suburbs such as Tallaght, Dolphin's Barn, Crumlin, Inchicore, Ringsend, Irishtown, Clondalkin and Ballyfermot, are in fact located south of the river and eight wealthy suburbs, Castleknock, Clontarf, Glasnevin, Howth, Malahide, Portmarnock and Sutton are found on the Northside. Areas of the north inner city such as Smithfield, the IFSC and Spencer Dock are also associated with affluence. The north-south divide has mellowed considerably in the past number of years. This is primarily due to the favourable economic conditions currently in Ireland and the emergence of the Celtic Tiger economy in Ireland. Correspondingly, Dublin has progressed to become one of the wealthiest cities in Europe. The economic divide in Dublin is east-west as well as north-south (the east side of the city generally being wealthier than the west side, although this too is only a rough guide). There are significant 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. In reality, however, colloquial usage by natives of Dublin has the River Liffey constitute the socio-economic boundary. In 2006, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Dublin as the 16th most expensive city in the world, and the Mercer World-wide quality of living survey rated Dublin as the city with the 24th best quality of life in the world.
Panorama Panorama View: City Dublin

Industry and economy

Probably the most famous industry in Dublin is brewing: Guinness has been brewed at the St. James's Gate Brewery since 1759. During the Celtic Tiger years of the mid to late nineties a large number of pharmaceutical and information technology companies have located in Dublin and its suburbs and there are many Information and Communications Technology companies operating in and around the city. Microsoft's EMEA Operations Centre is located in Sandyford Industrial Estate to the south of the city and Google and Amazon have established operational bases in the city. Intel and Hewlett-Packard have large manufacturing plants in Leixlip, County Kildare, a suburb to the west of Dublin. Google, Yahoo! and PayPal (among others) also have their European headquarters in Dublin. Dublin is internationally recognised for its large amount of high-tech industrial estates, business centres and financial centres — which have led it to be known as the 'Silicon Valley of Europe'. Dublin is at the centre of Ireland's economy, and the Greater Dublin Area contributes over €69.6 billion (US$92 billion) to the total Irish GDP, or around 45% (as of 2004). Banking, finance and commerce are also important in the city — the IFSC alone handles over €1 trillion ($1.2 trillion) a year. And 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). In 2005, around 800,000 people were employed in the Greater Dublin Area, of which around 600,000 were employed in the services sector and 200,000 were employed in the industrial sector. [8] The Celtic Tiger boom has led to a sharp increase in construction, which is now also a major employer, especially for immigrants. Redevelopment is taking place in large projects such as Dublin Docklands, Spencer Dock, 'A New Heart for Dublin' and others, transforming once run-down industrial areas in the city centre. Dublin City Council seems to now have loosened the former limits on 'high-rise' structures. The current tallest building, Liberty Hall, is only 59.4m tall; already under construction in the city is Heuston Gate, a 117m building (134m including spire). The 120m Britain Quay Tower and the 120m Point village tower have been approved. Construction has now started on the latter.