Dublin, a city of Vikings, Georgians and writers

About Dublin, a city of Vikings, Georgians and writers

By the ULTIMATE Dublin Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Dublin grew from a Viking settlement on the Liffey. Dublin Castle was built in the early 13th century on the site of that settlement, its own history records; Christ Church Cathedral has stood at the heart of the city for almost 1,000 years, and St Patrick’s, Ireland’s National Cathedral, stands on a site linked to St Patrick for more than 1,500 years. The 18th century gave the city its Georgian squares, its doors and fanlights and the houses of Henrietta Street; Trinity College keeps the Book of Kells.

The Viking and medieval city

Dublinia tells the story of Viking and medieval Dublin beside Christ Church; Dublin Castle was built in the early 13th century on the site of a Viking settlement, and Marsh’s Library, Dublin’s oldest public library, was founded in 1707.

The Georgian city

Merrion Square and St Stephen’s Green, the townhouses of Fitzwilliam Square and Henrietta Street, the most intact collection of early-to-mid-18th-century houses in Ireland, as 14 Henrietta Street records; and Sir William Chambers’ Casino at Marino.

Walk from Christ Church to Merrion Square in a morning, and you cross a thousand years.

The independent city

Kilmainham Gaol opened in 1796 and closed as a prison in 1924; it witnessed some of the most heroic and tragic events in Ireland’s emergence as a modern nation, in the OPW’s words. In 1922 Dublin Castle was handed over to the new Irish government. Tours tell the story in the museums’ own terms.

The coast

The DART runs along Dublin Bay from Howth to Dalkey; the Forty Foot bathing place at Sandycove lies below the James Joyce Tower.

Our advice: book the Book of Kells Experience and Kilmainham Gaol before you travel: both sell out.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Dublin, a city of Vikings, Georgians and writers before you go.