A Busy City
Approaching Dublin we arrived into the
world of traffic lights and where motorists were nowhere as pleasant as in the
country. Approaching the city we noted a McDonalds—the first we’d seen in
nearly two weeks.
Dublin started as a Norse trading post in the
8th century and is an older Viking settlement than Stockholm, Sweden
or Oslo, Norway. Dublin, a city of
Georgian elegance, gets its name from the Black Pool—Dubh Linn that was on the site of Dublin Castle. Dublin, the Fair City with over a million people, is
thought to be the friendliest capital on earth. It is a large city but lacks
the high rises of most metropolitan areas and might be referred to as low
high-rise city. By the late 17th century Dublin was the second city
of the British Empire.
The River Liffey runs through the city and many bridges
link the north and south parts of the city.
Starting at Sally Gap in County Wicklow the river travels 125 kilometers
through the center of Dublin, into Dublin Bay and finally into the Irish Sea.
The bar is a walkway along the River
Liffey. Compact and easy to get around, Dublin
is a walking city with interesting alleys, nooks and crannies.
The 18th century was Dublin’s
golden age. Colorful doors grace lovely Georgian homes. The city has many
graceful squares. Now a boomtown, half of the country’s population lives in the
capital city. The city is 10 miles north to south and 6 miles east to west.
There are over 10,000 pubs n the city.
In 1728 the corner stone for the
Parliament building (Leinster House) was laid and then in 1801 the Act of Union
put Ireland under English rule until its independence in 1921. In 1970 an old Viking village was found and
excavated. The city’s largest private home, built in 1745 by the Duke of
Leinster is a rather unusual building as it has a different façade on the front
and rear sides. On the Merrion St. side the style is of a country home, on the
Kildare St. side it resembles a town house.
Temple Bar is considered Dublin’s cultural
center. Developed in the 19th century and situated in the heart of
the city, its narrow cobbled streets run close to the banks of River Liffey.
After years of neglect a massive redevelopment took place in 1991-92. The
streets now are pedestrian walkways meant for strolling. Artists, designers, and young entrepreneurs
with creative ideas have set up small art galleries, cafés, theaters and
colorful shops.
Government Buildings are the last buildings in Dublin
built by the British. In 1904 they were the College of Science, then the
College of Engineers and later British headquarters. By the 1940s the buildings
had become blackened and in disrepair. In the 1990s a huge restoration took
place using Irish craftsmen and all Irish materials.
The
Ha’Penny Bridge is Dublin’s oldest pedestrian bridge crossing the River
Liffey and is a symbol of the city. Built in 1816 as the Wellington Bridge, it
acquired its nickname because of the halfpenny levied on all users of the
bridge until 1919. It is one of the earliest cast iron bridges of its
kind. A 2001 restoration returned the
Victorian Bridge to its original sparkling white. It was the only pedestrian
bridge until 2000 when the new Millennium Bridge opened. Temple Bar is on the
south side of the bridge and Mary and Henry Street on the north side. The
bridge is very pretty and to me much more attractive than the modern Millennium
Bridge. There are several bridges across the River Liffey that handle motor
traffic.
The Molly Malone statue, located at the end of Grafton
Street opposite Trinity College, always drew a crowd and often a fellow who
played the bodhran drum. It was very difficult to get a good picture of Molly
Malone, the semi-historical-legendary figure who was commemorated in the song Cockles and Mussels. The
fishmonger-working girl died in one of the cholera epidemics, which regularly
sweep through Dublin.
The statue is affectionately nick named ‘The tart with the cart’, ‘Trollop with
the scallops’ or the ‘Dish with the fish’.
POSTS: Trinity College & Book of Kells 2-5-14
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