Dublin (city, Ireland) - geography.

Dublin (city, Ireland) - geography. I INTRODUCTION Dublin (city, Ireland) (Gaelic Baile Átha Cliath, "Town of the Ford of the Hurdles"), capital, county borough, and seaport of Ireland, county town of county Dublin, in Leinster Province. It is at the mouth of the Liffey River, on Dublin Bay, an inlet of the Irish Sea. The city is linked by ship services with Cork, Ireland; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and various ports in England, Scotland, and France. It is also served by railroads that provide connections with important points in Ireland. II ECONOMY Predominantly a commercial city, Dublin is also the principal port and trading center of Ireland. Chief industrial establishments include breweries, distilleries, and plants producing electrical and electronic equipment, footwear, glass, pharmaceuticals, and processed foods. Some shipbuilding is carried on, and a number of foundries and automobile assembly plants are located here. Livestock, agricultural products, and local industrial manufactures constitute the principal exports. III THE URBAN LANDSCAPE The city occupies a generally flat site, which is bisected in an eastern and western direction by the Liffey. The river is spanned by ten bridges, notably O'Connell's Bridge, which links the main thoroughfares of the city. Except in its southwestern portion, where the streets are narrow and crooked, Dublin is well laid out, with broad avenues and spacious squares. These are especially numerous in the southeastern and northeastern quarters, which also contain many stately old mansions. Circular Drive, a boulevard 14 km (9 mi) long, extends along what was the periphery of the city at the end of the 19th century. Since then, the city limits have been considerably extended. The port area, confined to the lower reaches of the Liffey, has quays and basins open to larger vessels. Two canals, the Royal (154 km/96 mi) and the Grand (335 km/208 mi), provide connections between the port area and the northern and southern branches of the Shannon River. Dublin contains several notable suburbs, including Rathmines and Rathgar, where the homes of many wealthy businesspeople of Dublin are located; and Glasnevin, where the noted writers Joseph Addison, Jonathan Swift, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and other well-known personalities once resided. In the cemetery of Glasnevin lie the remains of the Irish patriots Daniel O'Connell and John Philpot Curran. IV POINTS OF INTEREST Many of Dublin's historic edifices are in the old section of the city, south of the Liffey. Dublin Castle, the nucleus around which the modern town developed, formerly housed the offices of the British viceroy of Ireland. Most of this structure, which occupies a ridge overlooking the river, was completed in the 16th century and later, but parts of it date from early in the 13th century. In the vicinity of the castle is the Protestant cathedral of Christ Church, founded in 1038 and rebuilt from 1870 to 1877 according to the original design. Saint Patrick's Cathedral, a Gothic structure not far from Christ Church, is the largest of the many churches in Dublin and the center of the Protestant faith in the country. Sometimes called the Westminster of Ireland, the cathedral was founded in 1190 and rebuilt between 1220 and 1260. The remains of Jonathan Swift, once dean of St. Patrick's, are interred in the cathedral. The University of Dublin and the Bank of Ireland building are in the old section of Dublin. Among other public buildings of the city are the Customs House, an 18th-century structure; the Four Courts, seat of the high courts of Ireland; and Leinster House, seat of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the bicameral national Parliament. Dublin also has a number of notable statues commemorating such famous Irish citizens as Daniel O'Connell, the statesman and orator Edmund Burke, and the writer Oliver Goldsmith. The principal unit of the Dublin park system is Phoenix Park, in the western environs of the city. About 11 km (7 mi) in circumference, the site of this park encompasses part of the Liffey River valley. Besides recreational facilities, Phoenix Park contains zoos, several conservatories, an arboretum, and the residence of the president of the republic. V EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS Educational institutions in Dublin include the University of Dublin (Trinity College) and University College, a campus of the National University of Ireland. Among the excellent libraries of the city are the library of the University of Dublin, the Royal Dublin Society Library, and the National Library. Other cultural centers include the National Museum, which contains numerous Irish antiquities; the National Gallery, with valuable collections of painting and sculpture; and the Abbey Theatre. VI HISTORY The first known settlement on the site of Dublin was called Eblana, a name found in the writings of the 2nd-century Alexandrian geographer Ptolemy. The town later appears in history as Dubh-linn (Gaelic for "Black Pool"), the inhabitants of which won (AD291) a military victory over the armed forces of the kingdom of Leinster. Baile Átha Cliath, the present official name, is believed to have been applied to the settlement at a subsequent date. Dublin has often figured prominently in Irish history. Its inhabitants were converted to Christianity about 450 by Saint Patrick, later the patron saint of Ireland. The town was captured in the 9th century by the Danes. The rebellious Irish wrested control of Dublin from the Danes on a number of occasions during the next three centuries, notably in 1052, 1075, and 1124. In 1171 the Danes were expelled by the Anglo-Normans, led by Henry II, king of England. He held his court in Dublin in 1172 and later made the town a dependency of the English city of Bristol. English overlordship in Dublin remained unchallenged until 1534, when the Irish patriot Thomas Fitzgerald laid brief siege to the city in the course of a rebellion. In the 17th century, during the English civil wars known as the Great Rebellion, Dublin was surrendered to English parliamentary forces to prevent the city from falling to the Irish. Dublin remained under British control until the Irish insurrection of 1798, during which an attempt to seize the city ended in failure. A second attempt in 1803, led by Robert Emmet, also ended disastrously. Further abortive insurrections occurred in Dublin in 1847 and in 1867. Dublin was the scene of some of the most severe fighting of the Irish rebellion of 1916 and of the revolution of 1919 to 1921, which resulted in the establishment of the Irish Free State. Population 506,211 (2006). Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.