Dublin, Ireland

Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland and the country's economic, educational, and cultural center. The city was a major focal point of the Irish struggle for independence from Britain and has made contributions to a broader European culture, especially in literature and popular music. Since 1973, when Ireland joined the European Union, Dublin's economy has been transformed. International investment put it at the head of one of the world's fastest growing economies and diminished its isolation from trends affecting continental Europe. However, following the worldwide financial collapse, the Irish economy was in recession. After the country exited an international bailout in 2013, its economy continued to improve.

Landscape

Dublin is located midway along the eastern coast of Ireland at the mouth of the River Liffey. The city rises on a flat plain largely surrounded by hills. The Liffey flows eastward into Dublin Bay and the Irish Sea, and divides the city into a north and south side.

The city grew up around Dublin Castle, and its metropolitan area, including extensive suburbs, extends 26 kilometers (16 miles) from the center. In contrast, the compact city proper extends only 6.5 kilometers (4 miles). It is typified by wide streets, urban parks, large squares, and relatively low edifices. Some areas of the city center are reserved for pedestrian traffic.

The Dublin Port is the largest in Ireland and handles both freight and passenger traffic. It is connected to the Shannon River by the Royal Canal and the Grand Canal, which form a near circle of inner Dublin.

Dublin's position on the Irish Sea gives it a maritime climate. Winters are cool and summers are mild; the average temperature in January is 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit), and 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) in July. Most precipitation falls in the form of rain. With rain falling on an average of 130 days each year, Dublin receives an annual average of about 750 millimeters (30 inches), with December being the wettest month and February and July being the driest.

Dublin, like most other countries, has experienced weather changes because of climate change. The temperature in the city has risen inline with global trends. Dublin has also experienced extreme weather events. The number of warm days and heat waves is expected to increase.

People

According to the Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook, the population of Dublin was about 1.256 million in 2022, making it the most populous city in Ireland. According to Ireland's Central Statistics Office, the city and its suburbs had a population density of 3,677 people per square kilometer (9,523 per square mile) in 2016.

The Liffey divides Dublin into two major areas, the north side and the south side. The north side has a reputation for being industrial, Catholic, and working class, whereas the south side is home to many businesses and is generally richer and considered more cosmopolitan. The two sides are linked by ten bridges across the river.

Dublin is an overwhelmingly Catholic city. According to the Central Statistics Office, members of the Church of Ireland made up 2.1 percent of the population as of 2016; at the same time, by that year, the city had one of the highest numbers of people claiming not to belong to any religion at about 18 percent.

After the addition of countries from the former USSR and the Soviet bloc to the European Union, Dublin's ethnic makeup underwent a significant change. Though the population is still predominantly Irish, there are also small and growing populations from Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. Other minorities include Chinese, Russian, Nigerian, and Romanian. The majority of immigrants were attracted to the city by the booming economy, but some have sought asylum there.

The constitution of Ireland designates Irish as the first official language of the country, with English as the second official language. Irish is also a compulsory subject at public schools, though English remains the primary language of most native Dubliners.

Ireland is famous for its alcoholic beverages, particularly whiskey and Guinness, a type of stout first brewed in Dublin. More than five hundred pubs are located in the city, and those in the Temple Bar area are among the most popular with tourists.

Dublin honors its literary history on a variety of occasions. Devotees of James Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922) trace the path of its protagonists through the city every June 16, the day on which the events of the novel take place. This observance is named Bloomsday after the book's main character, Leopold Bloom.

Economy

After Ireland converted to the euro at the end of the twentieth century, Dublin's economic growth was staggering, and its importance to Ireland's overall economic progress could not be underestimated. According to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce in 2019, about 45 percent of the country's gross domestic product is generated in the city; however, concerns about economic welfare in Dublin and the country overall grew following the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union in 2016.

The economy was historically based on the industrial sector, with Dublin factories producing a range of products, among them alcoholic beverages, electronic equipment, glass, cigarettes, automobiles, and pharmaceuticalsand service sectors. Many multinational companies have relocated their headquarters to the metropolitan area. By early 2019, while the industrial sector remained important, the economy's biggest sector had become services, with finance being a significant leader. The information and communications technology (ICT) sector also proved a key part in diversifying and driving the economy, with the city being recognized as a crucial technology center. According to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, as of early 2019, 60 percent of people with jobs in the country's financial, ICT, and professional services sectors were based in the Greater Dublin area.

Tourism remains vital to the city's economy. Over five million overseas tourists visited Dublin in 2016, according to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. It has become a destination for the average tourist as well as the business traveler. A variety of transportation links makes the city and the rest of the country readily accessible, especially from Great Britain and the European continent.

As the country's hub for rail, road, air and shipping, Dublin is at the center of trade activity. Its primary exports are alcoholic beverages, agricultural products, and livestock.

Landmarks

Dublin is a city rich in historical and cultural monuments. Statues of Irish patriots and writers are common, as are more contemporary examples of public art such as the Dublin Spire, a spike standing 120 meters tall (394 feet) and tapering to 15 centimeters (6 inches). Erected between 2002 and 2003, it is the tallest structure in the city.

Among the important cathedrals are Christ Church and St. Patrick's, both Protestant and originally built in medieval times but renovated in the nineteenth century. St. Patrick's, the largest cathedral in Dublin, contains the tomb of satirist Jonathan Swift.

The National Gallery and the National Museum are two of the city's preeminent museums. Highlights of the National Gallery include paintings by Dutch and Italian masters as well as contemporary displays of Irish art. Exhibits in the National Museum trace the history of the country from ancient times, and many important archaeological artifacts of high craftsmanship are on display.

Dublin's literary pedigree is evident throughout the city. The life and writings of George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett, Joyce, and other Irish writers are detailed in the Writers Museum. Two of Joyce's works, Ulysses and the short-story collection Dubliners (1914), are set in Dublin, and both contain explicit references to sites in the city at the turn of the twentieth century. The Abbey Theater, founded by Yeats, remains an important venue for the dramatic arts.

Trinity College, also known as the University of Dublin, is located in the city center. Established in 1320, it is Ireland's oldest institute of higher education and has evolved into one of its most prestigious. The campus contains notable eighteenth-century architecture, and its library serves as a repository for a copy of every book published in Ireland and Great Britain. It is also home to illuminated manuscripts from the seventh and eighth centuries such as the Book of Kells.

The city's green areas include Phoenix Park, one of the largest parks in Europe; the National Botanic Gardens; and St. Stephen's Green.

History

The earliest identified settlement at the present site of Dublin belonged to the Danes, who recognized its ideal position at the mouth of the Liffey and developed it into a center for trade. Around 450 CE, under the influence of St. Patrick's missionary efforts, the native Irish throughout the island converted to Christianity.

The Irish resisted the encroachment of the Danes and at times succeeded in gaining control of Dublin, but the Danes were not decisively defeated until 1171 with the aid of Henry II.

For the next seven centuries, Dublin served as the seat of English power for the island. Its fortunes rose and declined during this period, but the country was largely neglected and became a backwater. Insurrections by the native Irish in Dublin and other parts of the island were regularly squashed. The situation in Ireland deteriorated in the mid-seventeenth century when civil war broke out in England. At that time, the Irish were prevented from taking Dublin by English parliamentary forces.

The fortunes of Dublin rebounded in the following century as the city's population grew and the economy branched out; some of its finest buildings date from this period. Still under the yoke of English rule, however, except for a brief period when Dublin had an independent parliament, the sustained development of the city (and Ireland as a whole) was hampered. Conditions in the city worsened when huge numbers of peasants fleeing the famine-stricken countryside settled there in the mid-nineteenth century.

The death of an estimated one million people and the emigration of another million during the Irish Potato Famine (also known as the Great Hunger) increased Irish antipathy toward English rule. Dublin became a seat of pro-independence activities. During the Easter Rebellion of 1916, when poorly armed and organized Irish rebels attempted to take the city, significant parts of it were destroyed by English artillery attacks. The harsh response further galvanized the movement for home rule. After the War of Independence (1919–21), Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State and later the capital of the Republic of Ireland after the partition of the country.

For the first half of the twentieth century, Dublin's economic progress was lackluster. It began improving in the 1960s and was given another boost when the Republic of Ireland joined the European Community in 1973. After the country became a full-fledged member of the European Union and part of the Eurozone, Dublin served as the center of Ireland's remarkable transformation. By the end of 2018, while employment numbers in the city were high once more, Dublin was facing an ongoing homelessness crisis due to spiked renting fees and a shortage of affordable housing.

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