Far from conforming to the romantic notion of farmers, fairies and little people, Dublin’s brash urbanity doesn’t sit comfortably within the idyllic rural stereotype of Irish national identity. The ‘Celtic Tiger’ years of economic plenty transformed the city into a dynamic European capital, ending decades of stagnation, unemployment and emigration. Dublin’s new-found vitality is in evidence everywhere – from the gleaming modern apartments and office buildings of the regenerated docklands, to the bustling cafés, restaurants and street markets of Temple Bar. Some argue that its economic good fortune has made Dublin less ‘Irish’, but, while the city has certainly been affected by the homogenising forces of globalisation, its warmth and character have survived intact.
Dublin is a largely unplanned city, without the wide straight boulevards, civic squares and triumphal arches found in many other European capitals. These grand imperial gestures have never been part of the Irish psyche. Rather, the city is a collection of villages that have, over the years, gradually merged together around a medieval core, giving Dublin an intimate character. The city centre is compact and well used: the streets are as busy at two o’clock in the morning with people spilling out of pubs as they are at two in the afternoon when they are populated with shoppers. And while many of the shops are generic European high-street chains, the pubs are truly unique to Dublin, and one of the best places to get to know the city and sample its most famous export – Guinness.
The city’s other principal export has traditionally been people. Dublin has long been a point of departure for Irish emigrants seeking their fortune abroad. It is only since the late 1990s that the trend has been reversed and the recent influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe, Asia and North Africa has given the city a distinctly cosmopolitan flavour. It’s not always easy to see contemporary Dublin in the mind’s eye. Cultural depictions have yet to catch up with the complex reality of the modern city. The place described in the writings of Yeats, Beckett and Joyce; the romantic Ireland of Hollywood imagination; the image of Dublin taken away by the departing emigrants and held sacred throughout the vast international Irish diaspora – these are all visions of somewhere that no longer exists.
Get there
Etihad flies direct to Dublin from Abu Dhabi Airport. Prices start from Dhs3,875 return (including tax)
Where to stay
Clarence Hotel, (+353 1 407 0800; theclarence.ie)
Instant passport
Population
1,187,176 (core city 505,739)
Area
921sq km
Where is it?
At the mouth of the River Liffey on Ireland’s east coast, opening on to Dublin Bay and the Irish Sea
Climate
Maritime temperate: cool and very, very rainy
Ethnic mix
Predominantly Irish, but now attracting Poles, Lithuanians, Chinese, Spanish, African
Major sights
Trinity College, Dublin Castle, St Patrick’s Cathedral
Insiders’ tips
Science Gallery on the Trinity campus, coffee at Lemon and Crêpe Coffee Company, catching an art-house film at the Light House cinema,the docklands
Where’s the buzz?
Temple Bar, Grafton Street, Market Bar, The Liberties
Foundation of Trinity College Dublin
1592
Number of people killed during the 1916 Easter Uprising
64 rebels, 132 from the security forces and more than 300 civilians
Year Eire proclaimed a sovereign, independent and democratic state
1937
Ban on divorce lifted in Ireland
1995
Year the Euro replaced the Punt
2002
Number of pints brewed daily at the Guinness brewery
3,000,000
Owners of the Clarence Hotel
Bono and the Edge, U2’s vocalist and lead guitarist
Number of players in a Gaelic football team
15
Where to catch a hurling match
Parnell Park, Croke Park
Famous Dublin writers
Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, WB Yeats, JM Synge, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Brendan Behan
The scores
Architecture
6/10
Arts & culture
5/10
Buzz
4/10
Food & drink
5/10
Quality of life
6/10
World status
3/10
