DUBLIN

Places of interest & Monuments:

·Dublin Castle:

Dublin castle is one of the most important monuments of Ireland, the most of it dates from the 18^th century. The castle was built in the days of King John, during the Lordship of Ireland (1171-1541) and has been seat of the successive governments until 1922.

The castle was the first Royal Residence in Dublín, there lives the Vicerroy, whose rooms are  ,still today, one of the most splendid places of the city.

Inside the castle the most important rooms, apart of the Vi¡cerroy rooms, are: The Chapel Royal, Saint Patrick’s Hall and the Throne Room.

·Spire of Dublin

It’s the most important new monument of the city,

It was desing by Ian Ritchie Architects,.

The monument was a part of a redesigned O'Connell street layout, because since the explosion of the bomb in 1966, who destroyed the Nelson’s Pillar, the streetscape of the street was in decline.

The monument is an elongate cone constructed from eight hollow tubes of stainless steel that starts with 3m of base and ends in 15 cm at the top.

The monument appear is: steel durin the day and in the nigth the top of it is illuminated.

The Spire is a memorial of the destroyed Nelson’s Pillar.

 

·Trinity College:

Trinity College is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, that was founded by the queen Elizabeth I.

Originally established outside the city walls of Dublin in the buildings of a dissolved Augustinian monastery, the College have an extension of 200.000 m2

The Trinity was construc to consolidated the Tudor Legacy in Ireland and it was the university of the Protestant Ascendancy,  Catholics and Dissenters had been permitted to enter in 1793.

The Library of Trinity College is the largest library in Ireland. There is the Book of Kells, an iluminated Gospell book that contained the four gospells of the New Testament.

The Trinity is divided into three faculties , 24 schools, offering since degree until undergraduate and postgraduate levels

·Ha'penny Bridge (Liffey Bridge):

Originally called Wellington Bridge, in memorial of the Duke of Wellington.

It’s a pedestrian bridge made of cast iron and wood, built over Liffey river.

Now it’s called Ha'penny Bridge because it looks like the edge of a half-penny coin and because it was the pass by toll until 1919.

Parks:

Dublín is the European Capital with more parks and green spaces for km², inside the city there are around 2.96 hectares of plublic green spaces, and nearly 255 playing fields.

Around the city there are many parks too, for example the Phoenix Park.

The Phoenix Park, with 16 km of perimeter, enclosing 707 hectares, is the biggest park of Dublín, there are big areas of grassland and many tree-lined avenues inside it.

Culture

Arts in Dublin

Dublin was the natal city of many famous writers, amogst they: Oscar Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) who writes "The Selfish Giant", and  more short histories, and novels too, Wilde is the writer of the famous novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”.

Another famous writer born in Dublin is the creator of Drácula: Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847 – April 20, 1912).

Various world famous actors are from Dublin theatrical scene:

- Brendan Gleeson: Alastor Moody in Harry Potter films.

- Colin Farrell: Alejandro Magno.

- Gabriel Byrne: Professor Friedrich Bhaer in Little Women.

 

Many famous music groups are from Dublin too: U2, Boyzone, The Script...

Gastronomy

Dublin is the home of Guinness beer, one of the most famous beers in the world.

Irish gastronomy is based on fish, potatoes and meat.

Entertainment

  

The nightlife in Dublin is very hectic, there are many pubs near the center of the city.

Dublin is one of the most youthful cities in Europe, around the 50% of citizens are younger than 25.

The best known area for nightlife is Temple Bar, that is a very internacional place full of tourists.

Temple Bar has preserved it’s medieval street pattern and it’s promoted as "Dublin's cultural quarter".