Idea #293 – Visiting the city of Dublin
Dublin (in Irish: Baile Á tha Cliath) is the capital and most big city of Ireland. The name of ‘Dublin’ is generally considered as coming from the original Gaelic Dubh Linn (“the black pond”). The contemporary Gaelic name Baile Á tha Cliath (“The city of the ford of the hedges of reeds”) makes a reference to the hamlet which was next to the site of foundation of Dublin. A first reference for the city, indicated under the name of Eblana, is made in 140 AD, in a paper of Ptolémée. In the year 837, Thorgis returns there for the second time, accompanied with a fleet of one hundred twenty longships. Upon his arrival in Dublin, his men seize the pre-existent community of fishermen and farmers and build a robust fort, on the hill where is the current castle of Dublin.
After the invasion of Ireland by Anglo-Normands, in 1170, Dublin replaces Tara as capital of Ireland, the power settling down in the castle of Dublin until the independence. In 1213, the English people, who had gained control,raised a new castle, enlarged in the XVth century. The city develops economically as from the XVIIth century. In 1700, the population exceeds 60 000 inhabitants, what sets up it to the rank of the second city of the British empire. After their victory in the battle of Boyne in 1690, the Protestant troops of William of Orange, among which one account 3 000 French Huguenots, settle down partially in Dublin. In 1916, the Easter Rising, then the war Anglo-Irish, and finally the Irish civil war leaves the city in ruins. The city is modernized only from 1960. It is registered as literary city on the indicative list of the UNESCO world heritage.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Dublin, Ireland
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