Did you know? · Dublin
Dublin fun facts
Things you might not know about Dublin. Every fact comes from an official or primary source, named alongside it.
Updated October 2026
A royal hunting park
Phoenix Park was formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s and opened to the public in 1747; a herd of wild fallow deer still lives there, and it is the largest enclosed public park in any capital city in Europe (phoenixpark.ie).
A library of 1707
Marsh’s Library, founded in 1707, is Dublin’s oldest public library and one of the few remaining 18th-century libraries in the world (marshlibrary.ie).
Ireland’s first shopping centre
George’s Street Arcade was Ireland’s first purpose-built shopping centre and is one of Europe’s oldest city markets (georgesstreetarcade.ie).
A little house
The Casino at Marino is not a gambling house: ‘casino’ here means ‘little house’. Sir William Chambers designed it as an 18th-century pleasure-house (heritageireland.ie).
The oldest zoo entrance
Dublin Zoo’s Cottage Orné is believed to be the oldest surviving zoo entrance in the world (dublinzoo.ie).
49,400 names
The Irish National War Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, keep the names of the 49,400 Irish soldiers who died in the First World War in the Harry Clarke manuscripts (heritageireland.ie).
A gaol of 1796
Kilmainham Gaol, one of the largest unoccupied gaols in Europe, opened in 1796 and closed as a gaol in 1924 (heritageireland.ie).
Questions and answers
Are there deer in Phoenix Park?
Yes: a herd of wild fallow deer still lives there.