Dublin Travel Guide
Explore Dublin interactively
Live venue search, neighborhood guides, AI travel assistant, weather and more.
About Dublin
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 is the largest city by population on the island of Ireland; at the 2022 census, the city council area had a population of 592,713, while the city, including suburbs, had a population of 1,263,219, and County Dublin had a population of 1,501,500. Various definitions of a metropolitan Greater Dublin Area exist. A settlement was established in the area by the Gaels during or before the 7th century, followed by the Vikings. As the Kingdom of Dublin grew, it became Ireland's principal settlement by the 12th century, following the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. Dublin expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second-largest city in the British Empire and sixth largest in Western Europe after the Acts of Union in 1800. Following independence in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, renamed Ireland in 1937. == Etymology == The name Dublin comes from the Middle Irish Du(i)blind (literally "Blackpool"), from dubh [d̪ˠuβˠ] "black, dark" and linn [l̠ʲin̠ʲ(dʲ)] "pool". This evolved into the Early Modern Irish form Du(i)bhlinn, which was pronounced "Duílinn" [ˈd̪ˠiːlʲin̠ʲ] in the local dialect.
Dublin fun facts
- Dublin's Brazen Head pub claims to be Ireland's oldest pub, dating back to 1198, though the current building is from 1663.
- The Book of Kells at Trinity College was created by monks so meticulous that each page took months to illuminate.
- St. Patrick's Cathedral is built on the site where St. Patrick supposedly baptized converts using water from a well.
- Dublin's Ha'penny Bridge was the first pedestrian bridge over the River Liffey, costing half a penny to cross until 1919.