Still riding on the back of the roaring success of the ’
Celtic Tiger’ economy, 21st-century Dublin is
a city on the rise and rise. Business in many sectors continues to boom and the city overflows with tourists, who flock to the ’
party capital of Europe’ to sample the infamous
Irish craic (fun).
This
vibrant,
fun-loving city on the
River Liffey is full of
atmospheric pubs where the
craic is spun with a well-polished finish and the streets echo with the ghosts of artistic luminaries such as
James Joyce and
W B Yeats. Visit between
April and October, when the weather is at its best, with July and August the busiest months, or throughout the year for the numerous
festivals,
cultural and
religious events and
sporting fixtures.
Sightseeing highlights include the early medieval
Christchurch Cathedral (Dublin’s oldest building), the cobbled streets of
Temple Bar,
Phoenix Park (Europe’s largest urban park), the
National Gallery of Ireland and the treasures of the
National Museum of Ireland, containing Europe’s finest collection of prehistoric gold artifacts. A plethora of buildings and museums (including
Trinity College, Ireland’s oldest university, and the
Guinness Storehouse) convey a real sense of living history.
Indeed, it is this
living history, present in the media of
music and
literature, which has brought Dublin such
international acclaim. In the 20th century, a string of poets and writers immortalized the city, none more so than
James Joyce whose seminal
Ulysses (1922), which depicts one day in Dublin, is considered by many literary critics to be the greatest novel of that century.
But things have not always been so rosy for this thousand-year-old city on the east coast of Ireland. For much of the first half of the 20th century,
strife and
unrest tore Dublin apart as it was involved in a messy and
violent divorce from Britain.
Today’s new Dublin, the ’capital of Euro-cool’, continues to boom, and boasts one of the
youngest populations in Europe, who frequent its
funky bars,
sophisticated restaurants and
rebuilt city streets.
However, despite the recent changes, the city and its people have remained the same. Alongside
trend-setting bars,
clubs and
designer shops it is still possible to find quiet,
traditional pubs,
nostalgic museums and
busking fiddlers in Temple Bar, even
horse-drawn carts clip-clopping along
cobbled streets. It is a
fascinating blend of tradition and contemporary Irish life. No wonder, in Dublin today, Irish eyes are well and truly smiling.
The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
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Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
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The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
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