Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Founded as a Viking trading settlement in the ninth century, Dublin grew to be a center
of wealth and commerce, second only to London in the British Empire. Dublin, the seat of
English rule in Ireland for 750 years, was the heart of a “civilized” Anglo-Irish area (east-
ern Ireland) known as “the Pale.” Anything “beyond the Pale” was considered uncultured
and almost barbaric...purely Irish.
The Golden Age of English Dublin was the 18th century. The British Empire was on
a roll, and the city was right there with it. Largely rebuilt during this Georgian era, Dub-
lin—even with its tattered edges—became an elegant and cultured capital.
Those glory days left a lasting imprint on the city. Squares and boulevards built in
the Georgian style give the city an air of grandeur (“Georgian” is British for Neoclassic-
al...named for the period when four consecutive King Georges occupied the British throne
from 1714 to 1830). The National Museum, the National Gallery, and many government
buildings are in the Georgian section of town. Few buildings (notably Christ Church and
St. Patrick's cathedrals) survive from before this Georgian period.
But nationalism—and a realization of the importance of human rights—would forever
change Dublin. The American and French revolutions inspired Irish intellectuals to buck
British rule, and life in Dublin was never quite the same after the Rebellion of 1798. In
1801, the Act of Union with Britain resulted in the loss of Ireland's parliament (no need
for two with the dominant one in London). As the Irish members of parliament moved
to Westminster, the movers and shakers of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy followed suit, and
Dublin slowly began to decay.
Throughout the 19th century, as Ireland endured the Great Potato Famine and saw the
beginnings of the modern struggle for independence, Dublin was treated—and felt—more
