📰 Dublin · page 2

Large parts of Georgian Dublin were demolished or substantially redeveloped in the mid-20th century during a boom in office buildings.81 After this boom, the recessions of the 1970s and 1980s slowed construction.82 Cumulatively, this led to a significant decline in the number of people living in the centre of the city, and by 1985 the town had approximately 150 acres of derelict land which had been earmarked for development and 10 e6sqft of office space.[55]83

Since 1997, Dublin's landscape has changed.84 The city was at the forefront of Ireland's economic expansion during the Celtic Tiger period, with private-sector and state-led development of housing, transport, and business.85 Following an economic decline during the Great Recession, Dublin has rebounded and as of 2017 has close to full employment,[56] but has a significant problem with housing supply in both the city and surrounds.[57]86

Government

Local

Further information: Local government in Dublin

Dublin City Council is a unicameral assembly of 63 members elected every five years from local electoral areas.[58]87 It is presided over by the Lord Mayor, who is elected for a yearly term and resides in Dublin's Mansion House.88 Council meetings occur at Dublin City Hall, while most of its administrative activities are based in the Civic Offices on Wood Quay.89 The party or coalition of parties with the majority of seats assigns committee members, introduces policies, and proposes the Lord Mayor.90 The Council passes an annual budget for spending on areas such as housing, traffic management, refuse, drainage, and planning.91 The Dublin City Manager is responsible for implementing City Council decisions, but also has considerable executive power.92 Neighbouring local authorities in County Dublin are South Dublin County Council, Fingal County Council, and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, and parts of the wider city and its suburbs lie in the functional areas of all three.[59]93

National

As the capital city, Dublin is the seat of the Irish parliament, the Oireachtas.94 It is composed of the President of Ireland, Dáil Éireann as the house of representatives, and Seanad Éireann as the upper house.95 The President resides in Áras an Uachtaráin in Phoenix Park, while both houses of the Oireachtas meet in Leinster House, a former ducal residence on Kildare Street.96 It has been the home of the Irish parliament since the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922.97 The old Irish Houses of Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland, which dissolved in 1801, are located in College Green.98

Government Buildings house the Department of the Taoiseach, the Council Chamber, the Department of Finance, and the Office of the Attorney General.99 It consists of a main building (completed 1911) with two wings (completed 1921).100 It was designed by Thomas Manley Dean and Sir Aston Webb as the Royal College of Science.101 The First Dáil originally met in the Mansion House in 1919.102 The Irish Free State government took over the two wings of the building to serve as a temporary home for some ministries.103 In contrast, the central building became the College of Technology until 1989.[60]104 Although both it and Leinster House were intended to be temporary locations, they became the permanent homes of parliament from then on.105

For elections to Dáil Éireann, five constituencies are wholly or predominantly in the Dublin City area: Dublin Central (4 seats), Dublin Bay North (5 seats), Dublin North-West (3 seats), Dublin South-Central (4 seats) and Dublin Bay South (4 seats).106 Twenty TDs are elected in total.[61]107 The constituency of Dublin West (4 seats) is partially in Dublin City, but predominantly in Fingal.108

At the 2024 general election, the Dublin city area elected 5 Sinn Féin, 4 Fianna Fáil, 4 Social Democrats, 3 Fine Gael, 2 Labour and 2 Independents.[62]109

Geography

Landscape

Dublin is situated at the mouth of the River Liffey and its urban area encompasses approximately 345 km2 in east-central Ireland.110 It is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range and sub-range of the Wicklow Mountains, to the south, and surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west.[63]111

Watercourses

See also: List of rivers of County Dublin

The River Liffey divides the city into two, between the Northside and the Southside.112 The Liffey bends at Leixlip from a northeasterly route to a predominantly eastward direction.113 This point also marks the transition from more agricultural land to urban development.[64]114 The city itself was founded where the River Poddle met the Liffey.115 The early Viking settlement was also facilitated by the small Steine or Steyne River, the larger Camac[65] and the Bradogue,[66] in particular.116

Two secondary rivers further divide the city: the River Tolka, running southeast into Dublin Bay, and the River Dodder, running northeast to near the mouth of the Liffey.117 These, along with the Liffey, have multiple tributaries.118 Many lesser rivers and streams also flow to the sea within the suburban parts of the city.[67]119

Two canals – the Grand Canal on the southside and the Royal Canal on the northside – ring the inner city on their way from the west, both connecting with the River Shannon.120

Climate

Similar to much of the rest of northwestern Europe, Dublin has a maritime climate (Cfb) with mild-warm summers, cool winters, and little temperature extremes.121 At Merrion Square, the coldest month is February, with an average minimum temperature of 4.1 C. The warmest month is July, with an average maximum temperature of 20.1 C. Due to the urban heat island effect, Dublin city has the warmest summertime nights in Ireland.122 The average minimum temperature at Merrion Square in July is 13.5 C. The lowest July temperature ever recorded at the station was 7.8 C on 3 July 1974.[68]123

The highest temperature officially recorded in Dublin is 33.1 C on 18 July 2022, at the Phoenix Park.124 A non-official record of 33.5 C was recorded at Phoenix Park in July 1876.[69]125

Dublin's sheltered location on the east coast makes it the driest place in Ireland, receiving only about half the rainfall of the west coast.126 Ringsend in the south of the city records the lowest rainfall in the country, with an average annual precipitation of 683 mm.[70]127 The average annual precipitation in the city centre is 726 mm.128 At Merrion Square, the wettest year and driest year on record occurred within 5 years of each other.129 1953 receiving just 463.1 mm of rainfall, while 1958 recorded 1022.5 mm.[68]130 The main precipitation in winter is rain.131 Snow showers occur between November and March.132 Hail is more common than snow.133 Strong Atlantic winds are most common in autumn.134 These winds can affect Dublin, but because of its easterly location, it is the least affected part of the country.135 In winter, easterly winds render the city colder and more prone to snow showers.136

Dublin has long summer days and short winter days.137 Based on satellite observations, Met Éireann estimates that Dublin's coastal areas typically receive over 1,600 hours of sunshine per year,[71] with the climate getting progressively duller inland.138 Dublin airport, located north of the city and about 10 km from the coast, records an average of 1,485 hours of sunshine per year.139 The station at Dublin airport has been maintaining climate records since November 1941.140 The sunniest year on record was 1,740 hours in 1959.141 The dullest year was 1987 with 1,240 hours of sunshine.142 The lowest monthly total of sunshine on record was 16.4 hours in January 1996.143 The highest was 305.9 hours in July 1955.[72]144

In the 20th century, smog and air-pollution were an issue in the city, precipitating a ban on bituminous fuels across Dublin.[73][74]145 The ban was implemented in 1990 to address black smoke concentrations, that had been linked to cardiovascular and respiratory deaths in residents.146 Since the ban, non-trauma death rates, respiratory death rates, and cardiovascular death rates have declined by an estimated 350 deaths annually.[75][74]147

Cityscape

Areas

City centre

The historic city centre of Dublin is encircled by the Royal Canal and Grand Canal, bounded to the west by Heuston railway station and Phoenix Park, and to the east by the IFSC and the Docklands.148 O'Connell Street is the main thoroughfare of the inner city, and many Dublin Bus routes, as well as the Green line of the Luas, have a stop at O'Connell Street.149 The main shopping streets of the inner city include Henry Street on the Northside, and Grafton Street on the Southside.[76][77]150

In some tourism and real-estate marketing contexts, inner Dublin is sometimes divided into a number of quarters.[78][79]151 These include the Medieval Quarter (in the area of Dublin Castle, Christ Church and St Patrick's Cathedral and the old city walls),[80] the Georgian Quarter (including the area around St Stephen's Green, Trinity College, and Merrion Square), the Docklands Quarter (around the Dublin Docklands and Silicon Docks), the Cultural Quarter (around Temple Bar), and Creative Quarter (between South William Street and George's Street).[81]152

Suburbs

Dublin has dozens of suburbs; northside suburbs include Blanchardstown, Finglas, Ballymun, Clontarf, Raheny, Malahide and Howth, while southside suburbs include Tallaght, Sandyford, Templeogue, Drimnagh, Rathmines, Dún Laoghaire and Dalkey.153

Starting in the late 2010s, there was a significant amount of high density residential developments in the suburbs of Dublin,[82] with mid to high-rise apartments being built in Sandyford,[83] Ashtown,[84] and Tallaght.[85]154

Cultural divide

A north–south division once, to some extent, traditionally existed, with the River Liffey as the divider.[86]155 The southside was, in recent times, generally seen as being more affluent and genteel than the northside.[86]156 There have also been some social divisions evident between the coastal suburbs in the east of the city, and the newer developments further to the west.[87][88]157

Landmarks

Further information: List of public art in Dublin

Dublin has many landmarks and monuments dating back hundreds of years.158 One of the oldest is Dublin Castle, which was first founded as a major defensive work on the orders of England's King John in 1204, shortly after the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169, when it was commanded that a castle be built with strong walls and good ditches for the defence of the city, the administration of justice, and the protection of the King's treasure.[89]159 Largely complete by 1230, the castle was of typical Norman courtyard design, with a central square without a keep, bounded on all sides by tall defensive walls and protected at each corner by a circular tower.160 Sited to the south-east of Norman Dublin, the castle formed one corner of the outer perimeter of the city, using the River Poddle as a natural means of defence.161

One of Dublin's most prominent landmarks is the Spire of Dublin, officially entitled the "Monument of Light".[90]162 It is a 121.2 m conical spire made of stainless steel, completed in 2003 and located on O'Connell Street, where it meets Henry Street and North Earl Street.163 It replaced Nelson's Pillar and is intended to mark Dublin's place in the 21st century.164 The spire was designed by Ian Ritchie Architects,[91] who sought an "Elegant and dynamic simplicity bridging art and technology".165 The base of the monument is lit, and its top is illuminated to serve as a beacon in the night sky across the city.166

The Old Library of Trinity College Dublin, holding the Book of Kells, is one of the city's most visited sites.[92]167 The Book of Kells is an illustrated manuscript created by Irish monks circa 800 AD.168 The Ha'penny Bridge, an iron footbridge over the River Liffey, is one of the most photographed sights in Dublin and is considered to be one of Dublin's most iconic landmarks.[93]169

Other landmarks and monuments include Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick's Cathedral, the Mansion House, the Molly Malone statue, the complex of buildings around Leinster House, including part of the National Museum of Ireland and the National Library of Ireland, The Custom House and Áras an Uachtaráin.170 Other sights include the Anna Livia monument.171 The Poolbeg Towers are also landmark features of Dublin, and visible from various spots around the city.172

Parks

There are 302 parks and 66 green spaces within the Dublin City Council area as of 2018, with the council managing over 1500 ha of parks.[94]173 Public parks include the Phoenix Park, Herbert Park, St Stephen's Green, Saint Anne's Park and Bull Island.174 The Phoenix Park is about 3 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey.175 Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses 707 ha, making it one of the largest walled city parks in Europe.[95]176 It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the 17th century has been home to a herd of wild fallow deer.177 The residence of the President of Ireland (Áras an Uachtaráin), which was built in 1751,[96] is located in the park.178 The park is also home to Dublin Zoo, Ashtown Castle, and the official residence of the United States Ambassador.179 Music concerts are also sometimes held in the park.180