Dublin City
Dublin City has an ancient history. Two thousand years ago Celtic warlords of Ireland built five great military highways across the length and breadth of the island. A small hamlet rose where the roads converged on a ford across the River Liffey.
This site was to directly lead to what became Dublin. In the 9th century, the Vikings built their town close to this ford and within the next three hundred and fifty years the English proclaimed this town as their conquered capital of Ireland. Dublin was to remain the stronghold of the English for 750 years until Dublin became capital of the Free State in 1922.
Today, medieval cathedrals and ancient city walls, Georgian squares and Victorian masterpieces, military installations and grim prisons, spacious parks and crowded streets bear witness to a chequered past. Every corner is alive with history, heritage and tales of bygone years.
As a result of unprecedented investment, the modern city of Dublin is adding its own delights to the layers of history. Among other things, The Spire, Smithfield Village, the Liffey Boardwalk and the redevelopment of O'Connell Street and Docklands all combine to make Dublin a truly vibrant city.
Waves of settlers, from Celts to Vikings, from Normans to Huguenots, all added to the multi-cultural tapestry of the city as does today's huge influx of new residents from the EU, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Far East.
