The chic yet friendly capital of Ireland has always been a city of cultural wonder. In just ten years, Dublin has become the European "Silicon Valley" yet has retained its typically Irish way of life, a mixture of friendliness, humour and serenity, despite its economic transformation. Raise your glasses for a toast..... slainte! Welcome to Dublin!
The capital city of the Republic of Ireland, Dublin (or Dubh Linn in Gaelic meaning black pool) is situated at the mouth of the River Liffey. It is thought to date back to 140 BC but was later established by the Vikings in the 11th century and spent many years under English control before emerging as the capital of an independent state in 1921. For the past fifteen years, this Irish city home to 500,000 inhabitants has experienced expansion such as never before, with the arrival of many pharmaceutical and high-tech companies, drawn in by a highly attractive fiscal policy. Xerox, Microsoft, Google, Intel and Hewlett-Packard are just some of the key players based here. Yet at the same time, Dublin has lost none of its relaxed way of life, Georgian architecture or cultural glory. The city's inhabitants can take pride in the fact that four winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature were "Dubliners": William Butler Yeats, Seamus Heaney, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett. The latter two studied at Dublin's Trinity College, the oldest university in Ireland, founded in 1592.
Temple Bar is a lively street of cinemas, art galleries, theatres and bars, with a legendary nightlife atmosphere, fuelled perhaps in part, by the free-flowing national drink, Irish stout. Guinness, the most famous example, is brewed locally and now boasts its own museum, with the opportunity for tasting on its agenda. Dublin is an amazingly friendly and colourful city which can be explored on foot. Discover St Patrick's Cathedral dating back to the 5th century or explore the elegant rooms of Dublin castle, once the official royal residence. Take a stroll in Merrion Square park and seek out Oscar Wilde's statue or soak up the Dublin atmosphere in the countless pubs. Order a beer, and if you tell them you're French, you can be sure of conversations about rugby, fishing and wine, and can truly experience the old Irish proverb that states that "there are no strangers here, just friends that have yet to meet".
For an essential guide to this destination, visit discoverireland.com and visitdublin.com
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Dublin
