Dublin

Dublin,

county (1991 pop. 1,025,304, including the city of Dublin), 327 sq mi (847 sq km), E central Republic of Ireland, on the Irish Sea. The region is dominated by Dublin, which is the county seat and capital of the Republic. The area is low-lying in the north and center, rising to the Wicklow Mts. in the south. The chief river is the Liffey, which bisects the city of Dublin and empties into Dublin Bay. Two islands, Lambay and Ireland's Eye, are off the coast. The rural area, upon which the city has increasingly encroached, is devoted to dairy farming and the raising of wheat, barley, and potatoes. Cattle are also grazed; fishing is pursued along the coast. Industries include chocolate and cement in the west, and the town of Balbriggan is noted for its hosiery manufacture. The National Botanic Gardens are in Glasnevin, just outside Dublin. Organized as a county by King John of England in the early 13th cent., Dublin, heart of the English Pale, was strongly guarded by castles along its boundaries.

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Dublin.

1 Uninc. town (1990 pop. 23,229), Alameda co., W Calif., a growing suburb in the San Francisco–Oakland area. There is light manufacturing. 2 City (1990 pop. 16,312), seat of Laurens co., central Ga., on the Oconee River; inc. 1812. Formerly a center for cotton processing and distribution, it is now a commercial and industrial center with lumbering and diversified manufacturing.

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Dublin,

Irish Baile Átha Cliath, county borough (1991 pop. 915,516), Leinster, capital of the Republic of Ireland, on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the Liffey River. Its harbor, with shipyards, docks, and quays, dates from 1714. It is the center of the Irish railway network. It has an international airport and regular ferry service to Holyhead, Wales. The old Royal and Grand canals, connecting Dublin with the interior, have been superseded by railroads for most commercial traffic. Agricultural products, whiskey, and stout are the chief exports. Dublin's chief industries are brewing, textile manufacturing (silk making was introduced by Huguenot refugees in the 16th cent.), distilling, shipbuilding, food processing, and the manufacture of foundry products, glass, and cigarettes. Microprocessors are produced in the suburb of Leixlip. The Irish legislature, the Dáil Éireann, is in Leinster House.

Points of Interest

The Univ. of Dublin, or Trinity College (founded 1591), has in its library the famous Book of Kells and a copy of every book published in the British Isles. University College (Roman Catholic) was incorporated in 1909 as part of the National Univ. of Ireland. Dublin Castle (c.1220 but much altered since) was the residence of the lords lieutenants of Ireland until 1922 and now houses government facilities and the Charles Beatty Library. Another important library is the National Library of Ireland, founded in 1877. The city's earliest church, Christ Church, was founded in 1038; in 1172 Strongbow built a new church (restored 1871–78) on this site, and his tomb is there. St. Patrick's is the national cathedral of the Protestant Church of Ireland; Jonathan Swift, buried there, was dean from 1713 to 1745. Kilmainham Hospital, a notable structure that is no longer a hospital, dates from 1679. The General Post Office (1818) is important primarily as a key site in the Easter Uprising (1916); nearby is the 394-ft (120-m) Spire of Dublin (2003). Dublin has a national museum, noted for its collection of Irish antiquities, and the National Gallery of Art, which has a good collection of old masters.

History

Dublin was a Viking town until 1014, when Brian Boru defeated the Vikings at nearby Clontarf. The Vikings established themselves again until Richard Strongbow, 2d earl of Pembroke, captured the city for the English in 1170. In 1172, Henry II of England came to Dublin and granted the city to the "men of Bristol"; it became the seat of English government and center of the Pale. In 1209 occurred the Black Monday massacre of English residents. Edward Bruce unsuccessfully assaulted the town in the early 14th cent.

In the English civil war the city surrendered (1647) to the parliamentarians, and Oliver Cromwell landed there in 1649. James II held (1689) his last Parliament in Dublin. After winning the battle of the Boyne, William III entered the city in 1690.

From 1782 to 1800, when the Irish Parliament (the so-called Grattan's Parliament) enjoyed temporary independence of England, Dublin experienced a prosperous and stimulating era; many of the city's buildings date from this period. After the Act of Union of 1800, which sent Irish representatives to the British Parliament, many wealthy aristocrats moved from their Dublin mansions to London, and the years of prosperity ended.

In the 19th cent. Dublin saw much bloodshed in connection with nationalist efforts to free Ireland from English rule—the insurrection led by Robert Emmet in 1803; the 1867 uprising of the Fenian movement; and the murder (1882) of Lord Frederick Cavendish, chief secretary for Ireland, and his undersecretary in Phoenix Park during terrorist activity and agitation by the Land League. Dublin also became the center of a Gaelic renaissance: the Gaelic League was founded there in 1893, and the Abbey Theatre began producing Irish plays. In 1913 the city was paralyzed by strikes, eventually culminating in the Easter Rebellion of 1916. The early troubles of the Irish Free State led to the worst period of bloodshed in Dublin's history (see Ireland, Republic of).

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Dublin

 

(Old Irish, Dubhlin— literally, “black pool”; Irish, Baile Atha Cliath—“place by a ford, overgrown with reeds”), the capital of the Republic of Ireland and the political, economic, and cultural center of the country. Dublin is located in the eastern part of the island of Ireland, on Dublin Bay of the Irish Sea, at the mouth of the Liffey River. On the south it is bounded by the Wicklow Hills. The climate is maritime moderate, with unstable weather. The average July temperature is 15°-17°C, and the average January temperature is 5°C. The average annual precipitation is 842 mm. The city has an area of approximately 117 sq km. Concentrated in Dublin is 20 percent of the total population of the state— 566,000 residents (1971) or over 600,000 (including the suburbs).

Administration. An elected council and a manager appointed by the central authority perform the main duties of municipal administration. The manager has extensive powers, but the competence of the Council is limited to problems of local taxes and collections. The mayor of Dublin, who is elected for one year, has primarily ceremonial functions.

History. Dublin was first mentioned in Irish sources in A.D. 291. During the ninth century the territory of presentday Dublin was captured by Norsemen, who were gradually assimilated by the Irish after their defeat in 1014 in a battle with the troops of the Irish king Brian Boru. In 1170 the region of Dublin was seized by Anglo-Norman feudal lords, and at the end of the 12th century it was transformed into the center of the colonies that they had conquered in Ireland (the so-called pale). Built as a defensive base by the invaders at the beginning of the 13th century, for the Irish people Dublin Castle became a symbol of the English colonial yoke and violence.

Since the 17th century Dublin has been one of the centers of the Irish liberation movement. Among the groups active in Dublin were the secret society the United Irishmen, which led the Irish Uprising of 1798, and the Irish Confederation (1847-48). During the 1860’s the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood (Fenians) was active in the city, and in 1869 a section of the First International was established there. From August 1913 to January 1914 a mass strike took place, organized by the Union of Transportation and Unskilled Workers. Dublin was the principal arena of the Irish Rising of 1916, and in January 1919 the Irish Parliament (Dáil Éireann) assembled in the city. Under the Treaty of 1921 between Great Britain and Ireland, the British garrison was withdrawn from Dublin on Jan. 6, 1922. The city became the capital of the Irish Free State, which was renamed the Republic of Ireland in 1949.

Economy. Its geographical position, which is good for transportation, promoted the transformation of Dublin into the country’s principal economic center. The port of Dublin (connected by means of the Royal and Grand canals with the Shannon basin) is a gateway to the sea and to foreign markets, which Ireland supplies with livestock, meat, hides, and other agricultural products. (The chief export market is Great Britain.) Railroads and highways lead from Dublin into the interior of the island. The airport (at Collinstown) handles domestic and foreign service, primarily European.

The main industries are associated with processing agricultural products and meeting agricultural needs. Branches of the food-processing industry prevail, especially breweries, whiskey distilleries, flour mills, meat-packing plants, and tobacco plants. Light industry is also important, particularly the textile industry, which has been famous since the 17th century for the production of poplin, as well as woolen, linen, and silk fabrics. Branches of the textile industry produce clothing and knit goods; leather goods and jute products are also manufactured. The chemical industry, machine building (shipbuilding and the manufacture of farm machinery), and the building materials industry have also been developed.

Architecture. Among the buildings that have been preserved are the 13th-century Dublin Castle (now the Palace of Justice), the Gothic Christ Church (1038; rebuilt between 1172 and 1225), and St. Patrick’s Cathedral (1190; rebuilt after 1362). Beginning in 1757 the central area of Dublin was redesigned, and splendid ensembles and buildings in the classical style were built there (Charlemont House, 1763-70, architect W. Chambers; the City Hall, 1769, architect T. Cooley; the Bank of Ireland, 1729, architect E. Pearce, rebuilt between 1785 and 1790, architect J, Gandon; the Four Courts, 1786-1800, architects T. Cooley and J. Gandon). The beautiful buildings in the central part of the city contrast sharply with the slums on the outskirts and around the port.

In 1913 a general plan for the rebuilding of Dublin was drawn up by the architect L. P. Abercrombie. A number of buildings have been completed, including an airport terminal (1937-41, architect D. Fitzgerald), a motor-vehicle terminal (1951-53, architect M. Scott), and a number of residential and industrial complexes, but construction has lagged sharply behind the needs of the population. The industrial zone is located around the port, and the business districts adjoin the city’s principal thoroughfare, O’Connell Street. Located in the northwest are the extensive Phoenix Park and zoo. The Liffey River divides the city into its southern and northern sections, which are connected by ten bridges. Dublin is growing in a northerly direction, and in addition, the satellite city of Ballymurn is being built north of Dublin.

Educational, scientific, and cultural institutions. Located in Dublin are the University of Dublin (Trinity College, founded in 1591), the National University of Ireland (Dublin University College), the National College of Art, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Also located there are the Royal Irish Academy, the Irish Academy of Letters, and the Royal Hibernian Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, as well as a number of other scientific institutes and societies. The city is served by the Dublin Public Library (more than 836,000 volumes) and the National Library of Ireland (founded in 1877; more than 500,000 volumes). Among Dublin’s museums are the National Museum of Ireland (founded in 1731), the National Gallery of Ireland (founded in 1864), the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, and the Civic Museum. There are two theaters—the Abbey Theater and the Gate Theater. Since 1948 the city has been the host to the Dublin Theatrical Festivals, in which foreign troupes are invited to participate.

REFERENCES

Engels, F. “Istoriia Irlandii.” In K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 16.
Chart, D. A. The Story of Dublin, 2nd ed. London, 1932.
Robertson, O. Dublin Phoenix. London, 1957.
Whelpton, E. The Book of Dublin. London [1948].

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dublin

1. the capital of the Republic of Ireland, on Dublin Bay: under English rule from 1171 until 1922; commercial and cultural centre; contains one of the world's largest breweries and exports whiskey, stout, and agricultural produce. Pop.: 1 004 614 (2002)

2. a county in E Republic of Ireland, in Leinster on the Irish Sea: mountainous in the south but low-lying in the north and centre. County seat: Dublin. Pop.: 1 122 821 (2002). Area: 922 sq. km (356 sq. miles)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005