Historic Cities · Ireland
Dublin through the ages
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, part of the Wicklow Mountains range.
Dublin in 1000
Viking Dublin
This is the Norse port of Dyflin at the height of its Viking era: a compact timber town on the south bank of the Liffey, ringed by an earthen bank and a raised assembly mound. The walk moves from the bay and river mouth inward to the dark pool of Duiblinn, along quays crowded with longships, through markets for silver and thralls, and up to the Thingmote.
A low, timber skyline of wattle-and-post houses and steep thatch rises behind an earthen bank beside the tidal Liffey. Narrow lanes run between wooden stalls and open yards; longships lie beached in the silty quays and in the Poddle’s pools. Colours are muted—oiled wood, straw yellow, peat-brown hides and dark riverwater—while smoke, cordage and fish-scent hang in the air.
The walk — 21 streets, squares and views
Dublin Bay → Mouth of the Liffey → Liffey Quays and Longships → Duiblinn (Black Pool) → Wood Quay Earthen Bank → Quayside Market → Fish Market → Shipwrights' Way → Poddle Boat-sheds → Poddle Dark Pool → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Earthen-bank Longhouse · Weigh-house and Toll Room · Fish Smokehouse · Keelwright's Shed · Poddle Boat-shed · Dark Pool Longship Hut · Slave and Silver Exchange · Comb-maker's Workshop · Weaver's Loft · Tannery Drying-house · Quarter Mead Hall · Thingmote Assembly-hall
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Dublin.
Dublin in 1780
Georgian Dublin
Dublin in 1780 is a city being reshaped by Georgian planning: new wide streets and formal squares rise beside a medieval core, while grand public buildings and quaysakes push the river into civic view. The route follows riverfront quays and bridges, the Irish Houses of Parliament and Trinity, the brick terraces of Merrion and Mountjoy Squares, market streets, playhouses and the sedan chairs and coaches of an improving capital.
The skyline is low and domestic, punctured by cathedral towers and the scaffolds and rough masonry of new classical public buildings along the Liffey; the river cuts a broad, busy channel with timber-masted sloops and cargo barges. Streets alternate narrow, cobbled medieval lanes with newly widened avenues lined by three- and four-storey brick terraces, pale stone dressings, fanlit doorways and iron railings; the dominant colours are red-brown brick, pale stucco and the dark sheen of river water under a changeable Atlantic light.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Dublin Bay → Custom House Quay → Essex Bridge → Ormond Quay → Wood Quay → Fishamble Street → Smock Alley → Christchurch Cathedral → High Street → Dublin Castle → …
Step inside — 13 interiors
Custom House Counting Room · Fishamble Musick Hall · Smock Alley Playhouse Auditorium · Choir and High Altar · Tholsel Council Chamber · Castle Great Hall · Octagonal Commons Chamber · Long Room of Trinity · Mountjoy Square Dining Saloon · Palladian Stair Hall · Merrion Square Saloon · Leinster House Drawing Room · Bow Room at St Stephen's Green
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Georgian Dublin.
Dublin in 1904
Joyce's Dublin
Dublin in 1904 moves between Georgian dignity and urban wear, its wide streets scarred by tenement decay and lit by gas alongside new electric trams. The walk follows the Liffey from the bay to the park: quays and barges, Sackville Street with Nelson's Pillar, Moore Street dealers, the Martello tower at Sandycove and the faded squares of the Georgian quarter.
A low, river-centred skyline of church spires, chimney stacks and the squat mass of the Custom House, punctuated by Nelson's Pillar on Sackville Street. Stone and brick façades, pale limestone of Georgian terraces, dark wet cobbles and the black river lined with masts and low barges. Gas lamps and early electric poles share pavements; trams and horse-carts thread narrow lanes between grand squares and worn tenements.
The walk — 21 streets, squares and views
Sandycove Martello Tower → Dún Laoghaire Harbour → Sandymount Strand → Ringsend and Poolbeg → South Quays and Custom House → Carlisle Bridge and Westmoreland → Sackville Street and Nelson's Pillar → GPO (exterior) → Moore Street Market → Henry Street → …
Step inside — 13 interiors
Martello Tower Gunroom · Harbourmaster's Office · Custom House Counting Room · Life Assurance Office · Gresham Hotel Smoking Room · GPO Public Counters · Moore Street Market Arcade · Arnotts Drapery Floor · Temple Bar Tenement Stair · Trinity College Long Room · National Library Reading Room · St Patrick's Nave · Castle State Dining Hall
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Dublin.
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