The Berkeley Guides:
Berkeley Guide to Europe:
Ireland:
Dublin
In his celebrated work Ulysses, James Joyce provided a detailed map of turn-of-the-century Dublin. Except for a few name and street changes, much of Joyce's Dublin remains virtually intact. The dirty lanes are still here, the soot-covered flats, the dockside slums and smoky pubs. Many of the people, too, seem to be from a distant era: Portly grandmums complaining about the price of tea in Bewley's Café, gruff pub flies soaking themselves in stout, triple-checking the horse sheet between cordial hellos and handshakes.
The capital of modern Ireland, Dublin was first settled by Celtic traders in the 2nd century ad. They christened it Baile Atha Cliath, or City of the Hurdles, a name that is still used by Gaelic speakers. Dublin's convenient location by the River Liffey, however, meant that it was only a matter of time before the Vikings got wind of the settlement and descended en masse in their dreaded longboats; by ad 850, Dublin, known back then by the Norse name Dubh Linn (Black Pool), was firmly under Viking control.
As political ties were strengthened between Ireland and England in the Middle Ages, Dublin was thoroughly refashioned. Under the guidance of the English--who provided the money, artisans, and urban planners--the city grew into a modern capital. Over time, the English influence also led to the creation of Trinity College (1591) and to the city's still-surviving Victorian and Georgian architecture. But despite their English flavor, places like Merrion Square and northside Dublin appear uniquely Irish, if only because they're hemmed in by the grimy tenements of working-class Dublin. In the capital, the unemployment rate hovers around 15% (around 40% in some parts of the city), so don't be surprised to see beggars and ragged drunks, even horse-drawn carts pulling loads of trash or coal. The tourist board does its best to suppress such images of Ireland's "cosmopolitan capital," but in an odd way this grittiness and the constant play between the ancient and modern are at the heart of Dublin's appeal.
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