DUBLIN CITY OF IRELAND

 

Dublin City is the Capital of the Republic of Ireland. It’s also the largest city of Ireland. Dublin city’s heart is divided north-south by the River Liffey, with O’Connell’s Bridge connecting the two parts. The City of Dublin can trace its origin back more than 1,000 years, and for much of this time it has been Ireland's principal city and the cultural, educational and industrial centre of the island.

 

Dublin City is located on the east coast in the province of Leinster. Situated at the head of Dublin Bay of the Irish Sea, Dublin is the country’s chief port, centre of financial and commercial power, and seat of culture. Dublin City is also a city of contrasts, maintaining an uneasy relationship between reminders of earlier political and economic conditions and symbols of present-day life and prosperity. Area city, 45.5 square miles (118 square km). Pop. (2006) 506,211; Greater Dublin, 1,187,126; (2011) 527,612; Greater Dublin, 1,273,069.

 

Dublin City has an urban area population of 1,173,179 while the population of the Dublin Region (formerly County Dublin) as of 2016 was 1,347,359. The population of the Greater Dublin Area was 1,904,806 per the 2016 census.

 

Dublin City is divided into 5 administrative areas that together form the boundary of Dublin City Council. These are called Local Areas and are used to co-ordinate the delivery of community services. Dublin City Council Local Area Offices provide information about services in that area, local councillors and other Council developments. These area boundaries were created after the Local Government Act, 2000 and are generally used in conjunction with the local electoral areas (LEAs) and Electoral Divisions (EDs). They are updated as changes are made to the electoral areas and were last revised in 2011. The 5 administrative areas are: The Central Area, the North Central area, the North West Area, the South Central Area and the South East Area

 

Dublin City is a warm and welcoming city, known for the friendliness of its people and famous for its craic (“crack”)—that mixture of repartee, humour, intelligence, and acerbic and deflating insight that has attracted writers, intellectuals, and visitors for centuries.

 

Dublin City’s historic buildings include Dublin Castle, dating to the 13th century, and imposing St Patrick’s Cathedral, founded in 1191. Dublin City parks include landscaped St Stephen’s Green and huge Phoenix Park, containing Dublin Zoo. The National Museum of Ireland explores Irish heritage and culture.

 

Dublin City is an historical and contemporary centre for Irish education, arts and culture, administration and industry. As of 2018 the city was listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) as a global city, with a ranking of "Alpha minus", which places it as one of the top thirty cities in the world.

 

As the capital city, Dublin City is the seat of 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. 

 

Dublin City enjoys a maritime temperate climate. The average temperature is lowest in January–February, 42 °F (6 °C), and highest in July–August, peaking at about 68 °F (20 °C). Most sunshine is in May and June and averages four hours a day. The mean annual rainfall of Dublin City is 30–40 inches (760–1,000 mm), although more falls in the surrounding mountains. There are fewer than 10 days of snow per year.

 

Apart from the port area and the docks, Dublin City is a low-built, steepled city, with few buildings dating from before the 17th century. The Roman Catholic churches are 19th- and 20th-century structures. The 17-story Liberty Hall (built 1961–65 as a trade-union headquarters), long Dublin City’s tallest building, has been joined by a spate of new high-rise offices and apartments. The three elements that constitute the architectural legacy of Dublin City—Norse, Norman, and Georgian—all meet in Dublin Castle. In the first two decades of the 13th century, the Normans obliterated the Norse stronghold and raised a château-fort. When the Georgians built the present red-brick castle, they left two towers of the old structure standing. The castle—the seat of British authority in Ireland until 1922—is now used for ceremonial occasions, especially the inauguration of the republic’s presidents, who reside at Áras an Uachtaráin (“the President’s House,” formerly the Viceregal Lodge) in Phoenix Park, and for local and international conferences. The castle also is the home of a number of cultural organizations, notably the Chester Beatty Library.