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Tourist Information Office

Dún Laoghaire Ferry Terminal
Harbour Road
www.visitdublin.com

About the city, What to see & do

Placed at the end of the Liffey river, Dublin is on the Ireland Sea in a well sheltered bay. Danish chose that as base for their expansion in the island during the I century a.C. They built a fort and called the place Dubhlinn (literally "blank pond").

Trinity College
Dublin 2
Tel: +353 1 608 1123
Fax: +353 1 671 0037
http://www.tcd.ie/library

The Trinity College, situated in the centre of a monumental zone it is one of the more active cultural centres of the city. Inside the Trinity College there is the Old Library, where in the Long Room it has been preserved the Book of Kells , a splendid miniated manuscript of the IX century, that seems is work of unknown monks of Kells in the county of Meath. Of 680 pages, 4 volumes, some examples always different are exposed in this two floors-room.
The Trinity College Library is one of the most important libraries in the world, it possesses the vast collection of manuscripts and books of Ireland. From 1801 it require a free copy of every books published in the United Kingdom and Ireland and it contains around three thousands volumes in eight buildings in total. It is from it was founded by the Queen Elizabeth, the Trinity College Library has always existed. The remained most ancient building is the Old Library, which was build between 1712 and 1732 on Thomas Burgh projects.
Three are the parts of the Old Library opened to the public. The ground floor was originally an open colonnade separated from a central wall and the sunny side facing south, reserved to the Council Members of the University. In 1892, the spaces of the arcades were filled for drawing some shelves. One hundred years later, in 1992, this part has been internally rebuilt to create space and a new area of exposition.
Contemporarily, in the East Wing has been prepared a Treasury for the exposition of the manuscripts of medieval evangelical texts compiled in Ireland: firstly the Book of Kells, the Book of Armagh and the Book of Durrow. This area contained in origin the School of Philosophy.

The principal room of the Old Library, the Long Room, measure around 65 meters of length, and it contains about 200. 000 books between the most ancient of the library. When it was built, the library had a flat plaster ceiling, with shelves for the books only on the inferior floor and an open gallery. In the years '50 of eight hundred, these shelves had already been completely filled. In 1860 the roof was raised again on architects Deane and Woodward's project, so that to allow the construction of the actual ceiling and the shelves of the gallery.

Along each side of the room, from the inferior level, there are marble busts; it is a collection started in 1743, when 14 busts were commissioned to the sculptor Peter Scheemakers.
More than a thousand years ago, when the Book of Kells was written, Ireland had a population of less then a million inhabitants that lived in abodes strengthened along the coasts and along the courses of river.

The Book of Kells contains a copy of the four Gospels, richly decorated and in Latin, and it has been for a long tied up to the name of St. Colum Cille that founded his principal monastery upon the island of Iona, on the western coast of Scotland, approximately in the year 561. The Book of Kells had been realized probably in the first years of the ninth century from the monks of the same Iona, that worked entirely or partially to Iona or to Kells, in the County of Meath, where they were transferred after l'806 b.C., when Iona was attached in a raid that caused the death of 68 monks. The Book of Kells was sent for safety reasons to Dublin around the 1653 during the period of Cromwell. Its arrival to the Trinity College is owed to Henry Jones, elected Bishop of Meath in 1661.

In its inside, the building preserves the harp attributed, according to a legend, to Brian Boru famous King of Ireland died in 1014, important national emblem that is impressed behind every Irish coins. The harp is the most ancient remained in Ireland, symbol of the ancient society and probably it is of XV century. It has done with willow wood with ropes in brass.

Not too far from the Trinity College there is Molly Malone statue, the fishmonger national heroin, that seems has been burnt live in front of St. John Church in 1734. This statue is situated at the beginning of Grafton Street, an animate pedestrian street of Dublin, where you can find the best shops for shopping and a particular climate.
Grafton Street has animated in fact from the "Buskers", road artists that play between the people for some pounds to live or to pay studies, is not rare in fact to meet many young performers people.

Ha'penny Bridge - Half Penny Bridge

Approved as symbol of Dublin, the Ha'penny Bridge (officially Wellington Bridge) has been opened in 1821. The iron bridge-gangway owes its nickname to an ancient toll founded in the past for its construction in 1816, to cross on it the river. The bridge was built to allow the Mayor of the city to reach the Music Hall and Theatre of Crown Street, in Temple Bar, without waiting for the ferry and paying the price of half penny. This bridge was the only pedestrian bridge on the river Liffey before the new bridge Millenium, opened in 2000.

Temple Bar is a very ancient district, in 1200 there was a monastery but around 1540, after the suppression of the monasteries, the noble William Temple moved there. This old district takes its name from himself, William Temple, rector of the Trinity College. "Bar" was called the strip of territory along the river and the passage used by the Temple family and then became famous as Temple Bar.
Twenty years ago, until recent time, the owners of the present commercial activities are associated each other with the purpose to save and to restructure the district witch fall in degradation during the years '50. But today Temple Bar is a vivacious district and trendy, respectable and surrounded by a lot of tourists: artists, designer, alternative shops, ethnic restaurants, theatres, cinema, night club and Pub are unequally located.

St. Stephen's Green (1663)
The earliest of the eighteenth century Dublin squares, St Stephens Green consists of 22 acres (9 hectare) of beautiful parkland. Lunchtimes in summer will see every blade of grass covered by students and workers and children feeding the ducks swans. This park is one of three ancient parks in the city. The four sides, a quarter of a mile in length each, were known as Leeson's Walk (South), French Walk (West), Beaux' Walk (North) and Monks's Walk (East). The park remained private until 1880 when Sir Arthur Guinness, a member of the Guinness brewing family, opened the park to the public.
The park has many statues including memorials to Yeats and also to James Joyce. Also present are the Three Fates, a group of bronze female figures watching over man's destiny. The gates of the Green are open according to daylight hours.

St. Patrick's Cathedral
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www.stpatrickscathedral.ie

St. Patrick's Cathedral stands on perhaps the oldest Christian site in Dublin, where St. Patrick used to baptize those people converted to the Christian faith, in the park behind the cathedral at that time.
The Cathedral has been rebuild in 1190 in Gothic style by John Comyn who succeeded Lawrence O'Toole as Archbishop of Dublin, and rebuilt again between 1220 and 1260 by Comyn's successor, Henry de Loundres; it is the greatest church of Dublin and the principal center of Catholic faith in Ireland.
91 meters external length and 17 meters high, inside there are Jonathan Swift rests, the author of "Gulliver's Travels", "A modest Proposal", and keeper of St. Patrick's Cathedral for over 30 years (from 1713 to 1745). His famous grave is at the west end of the nave, close to the brass plate in the floor which marks the grave of his beloved 'Stella' (Esther Johnson).
"Living Stones", the permanent show of the cathedral, celebrates the importance of St. Patrick's in the city life. The Cathedral is not a museum but it is a construction that embraces the past to announce the future. S. Patrick's Cathedral, more than every other buildings in Ireland, connect the history and the patrimony of Irish people.
The Cathedral opens every day from 9 to 18, on Saturdays from 9 to 17 and on Sundays from 10 to 16.30.

Map of St. Patrick's Cathedral

1. Boyle's monument 2. Celtic tomb stones 3. Curran's commemorative monument 4. Jone's monument 5. Carolan's commemorative monument 6. Dawson's statue 7. Marquis of Buckingham's statue 8. Whiteside's statue 9. Lover's commemorative plaque 10. Chapter's door 11. Ugonotta's bell 12. Staircase for the organ gallery 13. King Saundford's grave 14. Schomberg's commemorative monument

15. Madonna's chapel 16. Tregury's grave 17. Bouh?reau brass plate 18. Sutton brass plate 19. Fyche brass plate 20. Choir 21. Marsh's monument 22. Celtic tomb stones 23. Hyde's commemorative monument 24. Childers's commemorative monument 25. Swift's monuments and commemorative objects 26. Swift and Stella's graves 27. Baptistery

Christ Church Cathedral
The earliest manuscript, dates Christ Church cathedral to its present location around 1030.Viking church found by D?n?n, the first bishop of Dublin and Sitriuc, Norse king of Dublin, was probably subject to the archbishop of Canterbury.
In 1487 Lambert Simnel, pretender to the English throne in the reign of Henry VII was 'crowned' here as Edward VI. In 1562, the nave roof vaulting collapsed, the cathedral was in ruins and the rebuilding took place immediately but lasted until the 1870s. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Christ Church's crypt was used as a market, a meeting place for business. In 1742 the cathedral choir together with the choir of St Patrick's cathedral sang at the world premiere of Handel's Messiah in nearby Fishamble Street. A two-year restoration of the cathedral roof and stonework was undertaken in 1982 and Kenneth Jones of Bray installed a new organ in 1984.
It holds today the important Treasures of Christ Church exhibition with manuscripts and artefacts that shows nearly one thousand years of worship in the cathedral and nearby churches. Outstanding among the rare church silver is the stunning royal plate given by King William III in 1697 as a thanksgiving for his victory at the battle of the Boyne.
Outside the Cathedral are the excavated remains of part of the Augustinian priory which was formerly attached to it.

National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology & History
Opening Time: Tue-Sat 10am-5pm Sun 2pm -5pm
On display, you will find artefacts dating from 7000 BC to the 20th century, exhibited in seven galleries: Pre-Historic Ireland, Ór-Ireland's Gold, The Treasury, Viking Ireland, Medieval Ireland, Ancient Egypt, 10Years Collecting.
It was officially opened in August, 1890. The marvellous domed entrance hall is 19meters high. The classical columns of Irish marble in the rotunda are mirrored in the colonnaded entrance. The interior is richly decorated with motifs recalling the civilisation of Greece and Rome. The mosaic floors featuring Classical motifs were installed on the ground floor by Oppenheimer of Manchester.

Bank of Ireland
Foster Place - Temple Bar - Dublin 2 - Tel: +353 1 671 2261
One of the most impressive of Dublin's 18th century building, designed by Edward Lovett Pearce and built between 1729 and 1739 to house the Irish Parliment, it became superfluous when the British and Irish parliments were united in London in 1800. The building, acquired by the Bank of Ireland, opened in 1801. It may be visited during normal banking hours, when attendants are available to give free tours of the former House of Lords. It is today one of the great symbols of the Georgian era in Dublin. In the magnificent Irish House of Lords, you can see the 18th century tapestries and a sparkling Irish crystal chadelier of 1233 pieces dating from 1765.

Phoenix Park – Dublin
The Phoenix Park at 707 hectares is one of the largest enclosed recreational spaces within any European capital city. It is larger than all of London’s city parks put together, and more than twice the area of New York’s Central Park. The Park is located 2.5 km west of Dublin City, is bounded by a stonewall 11 km in length and has 22 km of roads.
The Phoenix Park has been managed as a National Historic Park since it was so designated in 1986, a year after the Council of Europe Convention for the protection of the Architectural Heritage was adopted by the European Council of Ministers, Ireland being one of its signatories.
The Phoenix Park was established in 1662 by one of Ireland’s most illustrious viceroys, James Butler, Duke of Ormond, on behalf of King Charles II. Conceived as a Royal Deer Park, it initially included the original demesne of Kilmainham Priory south of the River Liffey, but with the building of the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham, which (commenced in 1680), the Park was reduced to its present size, all of which is now North of the river Liffey. In 1747 the Earl of Chesterfield, having considerably improved the Park, opened it to the public. Even though the formation of Ireland’s only Royal Park commenced in 1662, its present landscape and infrastructure is inherited from designs and managerial decisions which were taken from 1800 to 1880. The Victorian People’s Flower Garden was designed during this period and was noted for its novel experimentation with floral displays.
Over 2,300 sporting events take place in the Phoenix Park in the intensive recreation zone every year. Phoenix Cricket Club is the oldest cricket club in Ireland and one of the oldest in the world, having been formed in 1830. In the early 1860s The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, sponsored a Bill in Parliament, granting civil servants a cricket ground in the Phoenix Park. The Club played its first match in April 1863.
About 30% of the Phoenix Park is covered by trees, which are mainly broadleaf parkland species such as oak, ash, lime, beech, sycamore and horsechestnut. A more ornamental selection of trees is grown in the various enclosures.
A herd of Fallow Deer has lived in the Park since 1662 since their introduction by the Duke of Ormond. At its largest the herd numbered almost 1300. During the World War II, the herd was reduced to only 40. Today the herd is maintained at about 450. The male deer is called the Buck, the female the Doe, and the young are called Fawns.
What you can find in Phoenix Park:
- Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the President of Ireland dates from 1750 and served from 1782 to 1922 as the residence of the British Viceroys.
- The United States Ambassador’s residence, built in 1774, in former times as the Park Bailiff’s lodge and then became the Chief Secretary’s Lodge.
- The Ordnance Survey Offices were established in 1825 and includes Mountjoy House which was built in 1728.
- St. Mary’s Hospital was formerly the Hibernian Military School and dates from 1766. West of the Hospital, on the hill of Knockmary, stands a prehistoric burial chamber over 5,500 years old. The tumulus, which covered it, was opened in 1838 and skeletons, pottery and other relics, now in the National Museum were discovered. A similar sepulchre found in a gravel pit at Chapelizod was re-erected in the Zoological Gardens.
- The Wellington Testimonial was designed by Robert Smirke as a testimonial to Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, who is reputed to have been born in Dublin. It was completed in 1861 and is the tallest obelisk in Europe at just over 62 meters tall. There are four bronze plaques cast from cannons captured at Waterloo – three of which have pictorial representations of his career while the fourth has an inscription at the base of the obelisk.
- The Papal Cross is a simple large cross that was erected near the edge of the Fifteen acres for the Papal visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979.
- The Magazine Fort in the south east of the park marks the location where Phoenix Lodge was built by Sir Edward Fisher in 1611. In 1734 the house was knocked when the Duke of Dorset directed that a powder magazine be provided for Dublin. An additional wing was added to the fort in 1801 for troops.
- The Phoenix Monument was erected by the fourth Earl of Chesterfield in 1747. The column was carved in Portland stone. It is in the shape of Corinthian column with a Phoenix bird rising from the ashes at its pinnacle. It is located in the centre of the Park and forms a focal point of a large roundabout on the beautiful tree lined Chesterfield Avenue.
- The Victorian People’s Flower Gardens comprise of an area of 9 hectares (22 acres), which were laid out circa 1840 and opened in 1864. They provide an opportunity to display Victorian horticulture at its best. Ornamental lakes, children’s playground, picnic area and Victorian bedding schemes are some of the attractions.

GUINNESS Storehouse®
Guinness is one of Dublin's greatest success stories. In 1759 Arthur Guinness took over a small disused brewery here. At that time, the brewing industry in Dublin was suffering because English beer was taxed less than the home-produced beer but by the 1770s a new dark beer containing roasted barley (called "porter") was being exported from London. Arthur decided to brew this new beer himself. Quickly became popular throughout Ireland and later a stronger brew called extra stout or just stout was developed here. The first export shipment of Guinness left Dublin in 1769. It is today the largest brewery in Europe and exports more beer than any other single brewery anywhere. The Storehouse was originally built in 1904 to house the Guinness fermentation process which lasted until 1988. In November 2000 opened the doors to the tourists.

Here you can find today an art Tasting Laboratory, a Transport Exhibit, the Craft of the Cooper, the Story of the Building exhibition, John Gilroy's exhibition (responsible for the Guinness advertising from 1930s to 1960s) and a retail Store. On the seventh floor (last floor) there is the Gravity Bar, here you will receive a pint of Guinness beer and enjoy a beautiful view across Dublin City.

Twin cities

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