# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dublin (city)

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​DUBLIN, a city, county of a city, parliamentary borough and seaport, and the metropolis of Ireland, in the province of Leinster. It lies at the head of a bay of the Irish Sea, to which it gives name, about midway on the eastern coast of the island, 334 m. W.N.W. of London by the Holyhead route, and 70 m. W. of Holyhead on the coast of Anglesey, Wales. (For map, see Ireland.) Its population in 1901 was 290,638.
Site, Streets and Buildings.—Dublin lies on the great central limestone district which stretches across the island from the Irish Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, and occupies both banks of the river Liffey. Its situation is justly admired. The populous shores of the bay are exceedingly picturesque. To the north and west the country is comparatively level, the central plain of Ireland here reaching to the coast, but to the south the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains practically touch the confines of Greater Dublin, affording comprehensive views of the physical position of the city, and forming a background to some of the finest streets. The municipal boundary lies generally a little outside the so-called Circular Road, which may be taken as encircling the city proper, with a few breaks. It bears this name on both the north and south sides of the river. As the city is approached from the bay, the river Liffey, which divides the city from west to east roughly into two equal parts, is seen to be lined with a fine series of quays. At its mouth, on the north side, is the North Wall quay, where the principal steamers lie, and in this vicinity are the docks. At the opposite (western) end of the city, the Phoenix Park may be taken as a convenient landmark. Between this and North Wall the river is crossed by twelve bridges, which, in order from west to east, are these:—Sarah Bridge, the bridge of the North Wall extension railway; King’s, commemorating a visit of George IV.; Victoria or Barrack; Queen’s; Whitworth, of interest as occupying the site where a bridge has stood since the 12th century; Richmond, Grattan and Wellington; O’Connell, Butt and a swivel bridge carrying a loop railway. Of these O’Connell bridge (formerly known as Carlisle) is the principal, as it connects the chief thoroughfare on the north side, namely Sackville (or O’Connell) Street, with Great Brunswick Street and others on the south. Sackville Street, which gains in appearance from its remarkable breadth, contains the principal hotels, and the post office, with a fine Ionic portico, founded in 1815. At the crossing of Henry Street and Earl Street is the Nelson pillar, a beautiful monument 134 ft. in height, consisting of a fluted Doric column, raised on a massive pedestal, and crowned by a statue of the admiral. At the southern end of the street is Daniel O’Connell’s monument, almost completed by John Henry Foley before his death, and erected in 1882. In Rutland Square, at the northern end, is the Rotunda, containing public rooms for meetings, and adjoining it, the Rotunda hospital with its Doric façade.
From the north end of Sackville Street, several large thoroughfares radiate through the northern part of the city, ultimately joining the Circular Road at various points. To the west there are the Broadstone station, Dominion Street, and beyond this the large workhouse, prison, asylum and other district buildings, while the Royal barracks front the river behind Albert Quay. Two other notable buildings face the river on the north bank. Between Whitworth and Richmond bridges stands the “Four Courts” (law courts), on the site of the ancient Dominican monastery of St Saviour. It was erected between 1786 and 1796, and is adjoined by other court buildings, the public record office, containing a vast collection, and the police offices. Below the lowest bridge on the river, and therefore in the neighbourhood of the shipping quarter, is the customs house (1781–1791), considered one of the chief ornaments of the city. It presents four fronts, that facing the river being of Portland stone, in the Doric order, while the rest are of granite. The centre is crowned by a dome, surmounted by a statue of Hope. This building ​provides offices for the Local Government Board, Boards of Trade and of Public Works and other bodies.
It is, however, to the south of the river that the most interesting buildings are found. Crossing O’Connell bridge, the short Westmoreland Street strikes into a thoroughfare which traverses the entire city parallel with the river, and is known successively (from west to east) as James, Thomas, High, Castle, Dame, College and Great Brunswick streets. At the end of Westmoreland Street a fine group of buildings is seen—Trinity College on the left and the Bank of Ireland on the right. Barely half a mile westward down Dame Street, rises the Castle, and 300 yds. beyond this again is the cathedral of Christ Church. These, with the second cathedral of St Patrick, are more conveniently described in the inverse order.
The cathedral of Christ Church, or Holy Trinity, the older of the two Protestant cathedrals in the possession of which Dublin is remarkable, was founded by Sigtryg, a Christianized king of the Danes of Dublin, in 1038, but dates its elevation to a deanery and chapter from 1541. It was restored in Christ Church.1870–1877 by G. E. Street at the charge of Mr Henry Roe, a merchant of Dublin, who also presented the Synod House. The restoration involved the complete rebuilding of the choir and the south side of the nave, but the model of the ancient building was followed with great care. The crypt embodies remains of the founder’s work; the rest is Transitional Norman and Early English in style. Among the monuments is that of Strongbow, the invader of Ireland, to whom the earlier part of the superstructure (1170) is due. Here the tenants of the church lands were accustomed to pay their rents. The monument was injured by the fall of one of the cathedral walls, but was repaired. By its side is a smaller tomb, ascribed to Strongbow’s son, whom his father killed for showing cowardice in battle. Synods were occasionally held in this church, and parliaments also, before the Commons’ Hall was destroyed in 1566 by an accidental explosion of gunpowder. Here also the pretender Lambert Simnel was crowned.
A short distance south from Christ Church, through the squalid quarter of Nicholas and Patrick streets, stands the other Protestant cathedral dedicated to St Patrick, the foundation of which was an attempt to supersede the older foundation of Christ Church, owing to jealousies, both ecclesiastical and St Patrick’s.political, arising out of the Anglo-Norman invasion. It was founded about 1190 by John Comyn, archbishop of Dublin; but there was a church dedicated to the same saint before. It was burnt about two hundred years later, but was raised from its ruins with increased splendour. At the Reformation it was deprived of its status as a cathedral, and the building was used for some of the purposes of the courts of justice. Edward VI. contemplated its change into a university, but the project was defeated. In the succeeding reign of Mary, St Patrick’s was restored to its primary destination. The installations of the knights of St Patrick, the first of which took place in 1783, were originally held here, and some of their insignia are preserved in the choir. This cathedral contains the monuments of several illustrious persons, amongst which the most celebrated are those of Swift (dean of this cathedral), of Mrs Hester Johnson, immortalized under the name of “Stella”; of Archbishop Marsh; of the first earl of Cork; and of Duke Schomberg, who fell at the battle of the Boyne. The tablet over Schomberg’s grave contains what Macaulay called a “furious libel,” though it only states that the duke’s relatives refused the expense of the tablet. In the cathedral may be seen the chain ball which killed General St Ruth at the battle of Aughrim, and the spurs which he wore. The cathedral was restored by Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness (1864), whom a fine statue by John Henry Foley commemorates, and the work was resumed by his son Lord Iveagh in 1900. Attached to the cathedral is Marsh’s library, incorporated in 1707, by a request of Primate Marsh, archbishop of Armagh. It contains a good number of theological works and of manuscripts, and is open to the public; but is deficient in modern publications.
Dublin Castle stands high, and occupies about ten acres of ground, but excepting St Patrick’s Hall, the apartments are small, and the building is of a motley and unimposing appearance, with the exception of the chapel (a Gothic building of the early 19th century) and great tower. The castle was originally built The Castle.in the first two decades of the 13th century; and there are portions of this period, but nearly the whole is of the 16th century and later. In St Patrick’s hall where the knights of St Patrick are invested, are the banners of that order. Opposite the castle is the city hall (1779), in the possession of the corporation, with statues in the central hall of George III., of Grattan (a superb work by Sir Francis Chantry), of Daniel O’Connell, and of Thomas Drummond by John Hogan and several others.
The Bank of Ireland (see Architecture, fig. 85) occupies five acres, and was formerly the House of Parliament. There are three fronts; the principal, towards College Green, is a colonnade of the Ionic order, with façade and two projecting wings; it connects with the western portico by a Bank of Ireland.colonnade of the same order, forming the quadrant of a circle. The eastern front, which was the entrance of the House of Lords, is, by their special wish, of the Corinthian order, made conformable with the rest of the building not without difficulty to the architect. The House of Lords contains tapestry dating from 1733, and remains in its original condition, but the octagonal House of Commons was demolished by the bank directors, and replaced with a cash-office. The building was begun in 1729, but the fronts date from the end of the century; the remodelling took place in 1803.
Trinity College, or Dublin University, fronts the street with a Palladian façade (1759), with two good statues by Foley, of Goldsmith and Burke. Above the gateway is a hall called the Regent House. The first quadrangle, Parliament Square, contains the chapel (1798), with a Corinthian portico, Trinity College.the public theatre or examination hall (1787), containing portraits of Queen Elizabeth, Molyneux, Burke, Bishop Berkeley and other celebrities, and the wain-scotted dining hall, also containing portraits. A beautiful modern campanile (1853), erected by Lord John George Beresford, archbishop of Armagh and chancellor of the university, occupies the centre of the square. Library Square takes its name from the library, which is one of the four scheduled in the Copyright Act as entitled to receive a copy of every volume published in the United Kingdom. There is a notable collection of early Irish manuscripts, including the magnificently ornamented Book of Kells, containing the gospels. The building was begun in 1712. In this square are the oldest buildings of the foundation, dating in part from the close of the 17th century, and the modern Graduates’ Memorial buildings (1904). These contain a theatre, library and reading-room, the rooms of the college societies and others. The schools form a fine modern pile (1856), and other buildings are the provost’s house (1760), printing house (1760), museum (1857) and the medical school buildings, in three blocks, one of the best schools in the kingdom. Other buildings of the 20th century include chemical laboratories. The College Park and Fellows’ Garden are of considerable beauty. In the former most of the recreations of the students take place; but the college also supports a well-known rowing-club. The college observatory is at Dunsink, about 5 m. north-west of Dublin; it is amply furnished with astronomical instruments. It was endowed by Dr Francis Andrews, provost of Trinity College, was erected in 1785, and in 1791 was placed by statute under the management of the royal astronomer of Ireland, whose official residence is here. The magnetic observatory of Dublin was erected in the years 1837–1838 in the gardens attached to Trinity College, at the expense of the university. A normal climatological station was established in the Fellows’ Garden in 1904. The botanic garden is at Ball’s Bridge, 1 m. S.E. of the college.
The alternative title of Dublin University or Trinity College, Dublin (commonly abbreviated T.C.D.), is explained by the fact that the university consists of only one college, that of “the Holy and Undivided Trinity.” This was founded under charter from Queen Elizabeth in 1591, and is the greatest foundation of its kind in the ​country. The corporation consists of a provost, 7 senior fellows, 25 junior fellows and 70 scholars. A vacancy among the fellows is filled up by the provost and a select number of the fellows, after examination comprised in five principal courses, mathematics, experimental science, classics, mental and moral science and Hebrew. Fellowships are held for life. Until the year 1840 the fellows were bound to celibacy, but that restriction was then removed. All except five (medical and law fellows) were bound to take Holy Orders until 1872. The scholars on the foundation (or “of the House”) are chosen from among the undergraduates, for merit in classics, mathematics or experimental science. The pecuniary advantages attaching to scholarship (£20 Irish, free commons, and rooms at half the charge made to other students) last for four years. Students after an examination are admitted as fellow-commoners, pensioners or sizars. Fellow-commoners, who have decreased in numbers in modern times, pay higher fees than the ordinary undergraduates or pensioners, and have certain advantages of precedence, including the right of dining at the fellows’ table. Sizarships are awarded on examination to students of limited means, and carry certain relaxations of fees. They were formerly given on the nomination of fellows. Noblemen, noblemen’s sons and baronets (nobilis, filius nobilis, eques) have the privilege of forming a separate order with peculiar advantages, on the payment of additional charges. The mode of admission to the university is in all cases by examination. Various exhibitions and prizes are awarded both in connexion with the entrance of students and at subsequent stages of the course of instruction, which normally lasts four years. There are three terms in each year—Michaelmas (beginning the Academic year), Hilary and Trinity. The undergraduate is called in his first year a junior freshman, in his second a senior freshman, in his third a junior sophister, and in his fourth a senior sophister. The usual arts and scientific courses are provided, and there are four professional schools—divinity, law, physic and engineering. The undergraduate has certain examinations in each year, and four “commencements” are held every year for the purpose of conferring degrees. Freedom is offered to students who wish to be transferred from Oxford, Cambridge, or certain colonial universities to Trinity College, by the recognition of terms kept in the former institutions as part of the necessary course at Trinity College. In 1903 it was decided to bestow degrees on women, and in 1904 to establish women’s scholarships. The funds of the college, arising from lands and the fees of students, are managed solely by the provost and seven senior fellows, who form a board, to which and to the academic council the whole government of the university, both in its executive and its legislative branches, is committed. The council consists of the provost and sixteen members of the senate elected by the fellows, professors, &c; the senate consists of the chancellor or his deputy and doctors and masters who keep their names on the books. The average number of students on the books is about 1300. By an act passed in 1873, known as Fawcett’s Act, all tests were abolished, and the prizes and honours of all grades hitherto reserved for Protestants of the Established Church were thrown open to all. The university returns two members to parliament. (See Dublin University Calendar, annual.)
There remain to be mentioned the following buildings in Dublin. The permanent building of the International Exhibition of 1865 adjoins the pleasure ground of St Stephen’s Green. This building was occupied by the Royal University of Ireland until its dissolution under the Irish Universities Act 1908, which provided for a new university at Dublin, to which the building was transferred under the act (see Ireland: Education). The new university is called the National University of Ireland. At the same time a new college was founded under the name of University College. The Royal University replaced the Queen’s University under the University Act (Ireland) in 1879. No teaching was carried on, but examinations were held and degrees conferred, both on men and on women. On the west side of St Stephen’s Green is the Catholic University (1854), which is under the Jesuit Fathers and affiliated to the Royal University. Between Trinity College and St Stephen’s Green, a large group of buildings includes the Royal Dublin Society, founded in 1683 to develop agriculture and the useful arts, with a library and gallery of statuary; the Science and Arts Museum, and the National Library, the former with a noteworthy collection of Irish antiquities; the Museum of Natural History, with a splendid collection of Irish fauna; and the National Gallery of Ireland, founded in 1853. Here was once a residence of the duke of Leinster, and the buildings surround the open space of Leinster Lawn. Educational foundations include the Royal College of Physicians, of Surgeons and of Science; the Royal Irish Academy, with an unequalled collection of national antiquities, including manuscripts and a library; and the Royal Hibernian Academy of painting, sculpture and architecture. In 1904 the formation of a municipally supported gallery of modern art (mainly due to the initiative and generosity of Mr Hugh Lane) was signalized by an exhibition including the pictures intended to constitute the nucleus of the gallery. In 1905 King Edward VII. laid the foundation stone of a college of science on a site in the vicinity of Leinster Lawn. The full scheme for the occupation of the site included, not only the college, but also offices for the Board of Works and the Department of Agriculture. The famous Dublin Horse and Agricultural Shows are held at Ball’s Bridge in April, August and December.
The most notable churches apart from the cathedrals are Roman Catholic and principally modern. The lofty church of the Augustinians in Thomas Street; St Mary’s, the pro-cathedral, in Marlborough Street, with Grecian ornamentation within, and a Doric portico; St Paul’s on Arran Quay, in the Ionic style; and the striking St Francis Xavier in Gardiner Street, also Ionic, are all noteworthy, and the last is one of the finest modern churches in Ireland. Among theatres Dublin has, in the Royal, a handsome building which replaced the old Theatre Royal, burnt down in 1880. Clubs, which are numerous, are chiefly found in the neighbourhood of Sackville Street; and there should further be mentioned the Rotunda, at the corner of Great Britain Street and Sackville Street, a beautiful building of its kind, belonging to the adjacent hospital, and used for concerts and other entertainments, while its gardens are used for agricultural shows.
Suburbs.—To the west of the city lies the Phoenix Park. Here, besides the viceregal demesne and lodge and the magazine, are a zoological garden, a people’s garden, the Wellington monument, two barracks, the Hibernian military school, the “Fifteen Acres,” a natural amphitheatre (of much greater extent than its name implies) used as a review ground, and a racecourse. The amenities of Phoenix Park were enhanced in 1905 by the purchase for the crown of land extending along the Liffey from Island bridge to Chapelizod, which might otherwise have been built over. To the south lies Kilmainham. Here is the royal hospital for pensioners and maimed soldiers. Close by is Kilmainham prison. To the west the valley of the Liffey affords pleasant scenery, with the well-known grounds called the “Strawberry Beds” on the north bank. In this direction lies Chapelizod, said to take its name from that Iseult whom Tennyson, Matthew Arnold and Wagner made a heroine; beyond which is Lucan connected with the city by tramway. Northward lies Clondalkin, with its round tower, marking the site of the important early see of Cluain Dolcain; Glasnevin, with famous botanical gardens; Finglas, with a ruined church of early foundation, and an Irish cross; and Clontarf, a favoured resort on the bay, with its modern castle and many residences of the wealthy classes in the vicinity. South of the city are Rathmines, a populous suburb, near which, at the “Bloody Fields,” English colonists were murdered by the natives in 1209; and Donnybrook, celebrated for its former fair. Rathmines, Monkstown, Clontarf, Dalkey and Killiney, with the neighbourhood of Kingstown and Pembroke, are the most favoured residential districts. Howth, Malahide and Sutton to the north, and Bray to the south, are favoured seaside watering-places outside the radius of actual suburbs.
Communications.—The direct route to Dublin from London and other parts of England is by the Holyhead route, controlled by the London & North Western railway with steamers to the port of Dublin itself, while the company also works in conjunction with the mail steamers of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company to the outlying port of Kingstown, 7 m. S.E. Passenger steamers, however, also serve Liverpool, Heysham, Bristol, the south coast ports of England and London; Edinburgh and Glasgow, and other ports of Great Britain. The railways leaving Dublin are the following: the Great Northern, with its terminus in Amiens Street, with suburban lines, and a main line running north to Drogheda, Dundalk and Belfast, with ramifications through the northern countries; the Great Southern & Western (Kingsbridge terminus) to Kilkenny, Athlone and Cork; the Midland Great Western (Broadstone terminus), to Cavan, Sligo ​and Galway; the Dublin & South-Eastern (Harcourt Street and Westland Row for Kingstown); and there is the North Wall station of the London & North-Western, with the line known as the North Wall extension, connecting with the other main lines. The internal communications of the city are excellent, electric tramways traversing the principal streets, and connecting all the principal suburbs.
Trade.—Dublin was for long stigmatized as lacking, for so large a city, in the proper signs of commercial enterprise. A certain spirit of foolish pride was said to exist which sought to disown trade; and the tendency to be poor and genteel in the civil service, at the bar, in the constabulary, in the army, in professional life, rather than prosperous in business, was one of the most unfortunate and strongly marked characteristics of Dublin society. This was attributable to the lingering yet potent influence of an unhappy past was held by some; while others attributed the weakness to the viceregal office and the effects of a sham court. About the time of the Revolution, the woollen trade flourished in Dublin, and the produce attained great celebrity. The cheapness of labour attracted capitalists, who started extensive factories in that quarter of the town known even now as the Liberties. This quarter was inhabited altogether by workers in wool, and as the city was small, the aristocracy lived close by in noble mansions which are now miserable memorials of past prosperity. About 1700 the English legislature prevailed on William III. to assent to laws which directly crushed the Irish trade. All exportation except to England was peremptorily forbidden, and the woollen manufacture soon decayed. But at the close of the 18th century there were 5000 persons at work in the looms of the Liberties. About 1715 parliament favoured the manufacture of linen, and the Linen Hall was built. The cotton trade was soon afterwards introduced; and silk manufacture was begun by the Huguenots, who had settled in Dublin in considerable numbers after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. Acts favourable to these enterprises were passed, and they flourished apace. But the old jealousy arose in the reign of George I., and in the reign of George III. an act was passed which tended directly to the ruin of the manufacture. The linen shared the same fate. Dublin poplins, however, keep their reputation. However adverse influences may have been combated, Dublin yet produces little for export save whisky and porter, the latter from the famous Guinness brewery and others; but a considerable export trade, principally in agricultural produce, passes through Dublin from the country. The total annual export trade may be valued at about £120,000, while imports exceed in value £3,000,000. To the manufacturing industries of the city there should be added mineral water works, foundries and shipbuilding.
By continual dredging a great depth of water is kept available in the harbour. The Dublin Port and Docks Board, which was created in 1898 and consists of the mayor and six members of the corporation, with other members representing the trading and shipping interests, undertook considerable works of Harbour.improvement at the beginning of the 20th century. These improvements, inter alia, enabled vessels drawing up to 23 ft. to lie alongside the extensive quays which border the Liffey, at low tide. The extensive Alexandra tidal basin, on the north side of the Liffey, admits vessels of similar capacity. The Custom House Works on the north side have about 17 ft. of water. With docks named after them are connected the Royal and Grand Canals, passing respectively to north and south of the city, the one penetrating the great central plain of Ireland on the north, the other following the course of the Liffey, doing the same on the south, and both joining the river Shannon. The docks attached to the canals, and certain other smaller docks, are owned by companies, and tolls are levied on vessels entering these, but not those entering the docks under the Board.
Government.—Dublin was formerly represented by two members in the imperial parliament, but in 1885 the parliamentary borough was divided into the four divisions of College Green, Harbour, St Stephen’s Green and St Patrick’s, each returning one member. The lord-lieutenant of Ireland occupies Dublin Castle and the Viceregal Lodge in Phoenix Park. Dublin is thus the seat of the viceregal court. It is also the seat of the Irish courts of law and equity. In connexion with these it may be noted that in 1904 a special court was established for children. On the constitution of Dublin as a county borough in 1898, the positions and duties of its corporation were left practically unaltered. The corporation consists of a lord mayor, 20 aldermen and 60 councillors, representing 20 wards. The income of the body arises from rents on property, customs and taxes. Under an act passed in 1875 the corporation has the right to forward every year three names of persons suitable for the office of high sheriff to the viceroy, one of which shall be selected by him. The corporation has neither control over the police nor any judicial duties, excepting as regards a court of conscience dealing with debts under 40s. (Irish); while the lord mayor holds a court for debts over 40s., and for the settlement of cases between masters and servants. The lord mayor is clerk of the markets and supervises weights and measures and deals with cases of adulteration. Besides the usual duties of local government, and the connexion with the port and docks boards already explained, there should be noticed the connexion of the corporation with such bodies as those controlling the city technical schools, the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and the gallery of modern art. The corporation has shown some concern for the housing of the poor, and an extensive scheme taken up in 1904 included the provision of cottage dwellings in the suburbs, as at Clontarf, besides improvements within the city itself. In 1905 a home on the model of the Rowton Houses in London, provided by Lord Iveagh, was opened in Bride Road. A competent fire-brigade is maintained by the corporation. The city coroner is a corporate officer. The city hall, used as municipal offices, has already been mentioned; the official residence of the lord mayor is the Mansion House, Dawson Street. The Dublin metropolitan police is a force peculiar to the city, the remainder of Ireland being protected civilly by the Royal Irish Constabulary. A large military force is usually maintained in the city of Dublin, which is the headquarters of the military district of Dublin and of the staff of Ireland (q.v.). The troops are accommodated in several large barracks in various parts of the city.
Charities.—The number of charitable institutions is large. The hospital and Free School of King Charles I., commonly called the Blue Coat hospital, was founded in 1670. It is devoted to the education and maintenance of the sons of citizens in poor circumstances. Before the Irish Parliament Houses were erected the parliament met in the school building. Among hospitals those of special general interest are the Steevens, the oldest in the city, founded under the will of Dr Richard Steevens in 1720; the Mater Misericordiae (1861), which includes a laboratory and museum, and is managed by the Sisters of Mercy, but relieves sufferers independently of their creed; the Rotunda lying-in hospital (1756); the Royal hospital for incurables, Donnybrook, which was founded in 1744 by the Dublin Musical Society; and the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear hospital, Adelaide Road, which amalgamated (1904) two similar institutions. Lunatics are maintained in St Patrick’s hospital, founded in 1745, pursuant to the will of Dean Swift, and conducted by governors appointed under the charter of incorporation. The Richmond lunatic asylum, erected near the House of Industry, and placed under the care of officers appointed by government, receives patients from a district consisting of the counties of Dublin, Louth, Meath and Wicklow, each of these contributing towards its expenses in proportion to the number of patients sent in. Besides these public establishments for the custody of lunatics, there are in the vicinity of Dublin various private asylums. The principal institution for blind men (and also those afflicted by gout) is Simpson’s hospital (1780), founded by a merchant of Dublin; while blind women are maintained at the Molyneux asylum (1815). An institution for the maintenance and education of children born deaf and dumb is maintained at Claremont, near Glasnevin (1816). The plan of the Royal hospital, for old and maimed soldiers, was first suggested by the earl of Essex, when lord-lieutenant, and carried into effect ​through the repeated applications of the duke of Ormond to Charles II. The site chosen for it was that of the ancient priory of Kilmainham, founded by Strongbow for Knights Templars. The building, completed in 1684, according to a plan of Sir Christopher Wren, is an oblong, three sides of which are dwelling-rooms, connected by covered corridors. The fourth contains the chapel, the dining-hall, and the apartments of the master, who is always the commander of the forces for the time being. The Royal Hibernian military school in Phoenix Park (1765) provides for soldiers’ orphan sons. The Drummond Institution, Chapelizod, for the orphan daughters of soldiers, was established in 1864 by John Drummond, alderman, who left £20,000 to found the asylum. The Hibernian Marine Society for the maintenance of seamen’s sons was established in the city in 1766, but now has buildings at Clontarf. The Roman Catholic Church has charge of a number of special charities, some of them educational and some for the relief of suffering.
History.—The name of Dublin signifies the “Black pool.” The early history is mainly legendary. It is recorded that the inhabitants of Leinster were defeated by the people of Dublin in the year 291. Christianity was introduced by St Patrick about 450. In the 9th century the Danes attacked Dublin and took it. The first Norseman who may be reckoned as king was Thorkel I. (832), though the Danes had appeared in the country as early as the close of the previous century. Thorkel established himself strongly at Armagh. In 1014 Brian Boroihme, king of Munster, attacked the enemy and fought the battle of Clontarf, in which he and his son and 11,000 of his followers fell. The Irish, however, won the battle, but the Danes reoccupied the city. Constant struggles with the Irish resulted in intermissions of the Danish supremacy from 1052 to 1072, at various intervals between 1075 and 1118 and from 1124 to 1136. The Danes were finally ousted by the Anglo-Normans in 1171. In 1172 Henry II. landed at Waterford, and came to Dublin and held his court there in a pavilion of wickerwork where the Irish chiefs were entertained with great pomp, and alliances entered into with them. Previous to his departure for England, Henry bestowed the government on Hugh de Lacy, having granted by charter “to his subjects of Bristol his city of Dublin to inhabit, and to hold of him and his heirs for ever, with all the liberties and free customs which his subjects of Bristol then enjoyed at Bristol and through all England.” In 1176 Strongbow, earl of Pembroke, and chief leader of the Anglo-Norman forces, died in Dublin of a mortification in one of his feet, and was buried in Christ Church Cathedral, where his monument remains well preserved. A fresh charter was granted in 1207 by King John to the inhabitants of Dublin, who had not yet made their peace with the neighbourhood, but, like the settlers in other towns, were at constant feud with the native Irish; so that two years after the date of this charter, whilst the citizens of Dublin were celebrating Easter at Cullenswood, they were set upon by the Irish of the neighbouring mountains, and 500 of them killed. The scene of slaughter is still called the Bloody Fields, and Easter Monday denominated Black Monday. On each succeeding anniversary of that day, with the prevalent desire of perpetuating a feud, the citizens marched out to Cullenswood with banners displayed—“a terror to the native Irish.” In 1216 Magna Carta, a copy of which is to be found in the Red Book of the Exchequer, was granted to the Irish by Henry III. In 1217 the fee farm of the city was granted to the citizens at a rent of 200 marks per annum; and about this period many monastic buildings were founded. In 1227 the same monarch confirmed the charter of John fixing the city boundaries and the jurisdiction of its magistrates.
During the invasion of Ireland by Edward Bruce in 1315 some of the suburbs of Dublin were burnt to prevent them from falling into his hand. The inroad of Bruce had been countenanced by the native Irish ecclesiastics, whose sentiments were recorded in a statement addressed to Pope John XXII. Some notion of the defence made against Bruce’s invasion may be gained from the fact that the churches were torn down to supply stones for the building of the city walls. Bruce had seized Greencastle on his march; but the natives re-took the town, and brought to Dublin the governor who had yielded to Bruce. He was starved to death.
Richard II. erected Dublin into a marquisate in favour of Robert de Vere, whom he also created duke of Ireland. The same monarch entered Dublin in 1394 with 30,000 bowmen and 4000 cavalry, bringing with him the crown jewels; but after holding a parliament and making much courtly display before the native chieftains, on several of whom he conferred knighthood, he returned to England. Five years later, enriched with the spoils of his uncle, John of Gaunt, Richard returned to Ireland, landing at Waterford, whence he marched through the counties of Kilkenny and Wicklow, and subsequently arrived in Dublin, where he remained a fortnight, sumptuously entertained by the provost, as the chief magistrate of the city was then called, till intelligence of the invasion of his kingdom by Bolingbroke recalled him to England.
In 1534 Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, better known as Silken Thomas (so called because of a fantastic fringe worn in the helmet of his followers), a young man of rash courage and good abilities, son of the Lord Deputy Kildare, believing his father, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London, to have been beheaded, organized a rebellion against the English Government, and marched with his followers from the mansion of the earls of Kildare in Thomas Court, through Dame’s Gate to St Mary’s Abbey, where, in the council chamber, he proclaimed himself a rebel. On his appearing before the wall with a powerful force, the citizens were induced through fear to give admission to a detachment of his troops to besiege the castle; but, on hearing that he had met with a reverse in another quarter, they suddenly closed their gates and detained his men as prisoners. He then attacked the city itself; but, finding it too strong to be seized by a coup de main, he raised the siege on condition of having his captured soldiers exchanged for the children of some of the principal citizens who had fallen into his hands. After much vicissitude of fortune, Lord Thomas and others concerned in this rebellion were executed at Tyburn in 1536.
At the outbreak of civil war in 1641, a conspiracy of the Irish septs, under the direction of Roger Moore, to seize Dublin Castle, was disclosed by one Owen Connolly on the eve of the day on which the attempt was to have been made, and the city was thus preserved for the king’s party; but the Irish outside began an indiscriminate extermination of the Protestant population. In 1646 Dublin was besieged, but without success, by the Irish army of 16,000 foot and 1600 horse, under the guidance of the Pope’s nuncio Rinuccini and others, banded together “to restore and establish in Ireland the exercise of the Roman Catholic religion.” The city had been put in an efficient state of defence by the marquess of Ormonde, then lord-lieutenant; but in the following year, to prevent it falling into the hands of the Irish, he surrendered it on conditions to Colonel Jones, commander of the Parliamentary forces. In 1649 Ormonde was totally defeated at the battle of Baggotrath, near Old Rathmines, in an attempt to recover possession. The same year Cromwell landed in Dublin, as commander-in-chief under the parliament, with 9000 foot and 4000 horse, and proceeded thence on his career of conquest.
When James II. landed in Ireland in 1689 to assert his right to the British throne, he held a parliament in Dublin, which passed acts of attainder against upwards of 3000 Protestants. The governor of the city, Colonel Luttrell, at the same time issued a proclamation ordering all Protestants not housekeepers, excepting those following some trade, to depart from the city within 24 hours, under pain of death or imprisonment, and in various ways restricting those who were allowed to remain. In the hope of relieving his financial difficulties, the king erected a mint, where money was coined of the “worst kind of old brass, guns and the refuse of metals, melted down together,” of the nominal value of £1,568,800, with which his troops were paid, and tradesmen were compelled to receive it under penalty of being hanged in case of refusal. Under these regulations the entire coinage was put into circulation. After his defeat at the battle of the Boyne, James returned to Dublin, but left it again before ​daybreak the next day; and William III. advancing by slow marches, on his arrival encamped at Finglas, with upwards of 30,000 men, and the following day proceeded in state to St Patrick’s cathedral to return thanks for his victory.
In 1783 a convention of delegates from all the volunteer corps in Ireland assembled in Dublin for the purpose of procuring a reform in parliament; but the House of Commons refused to entertain the proposition, and the convention separated without coming to any practical result. In May 1798 the breaking out of a conspiracy planned by the United Irishmen to seize the city was prevented by the capture of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, son of the duke of Leinster and husband of the celebrated “Pamela.” Lord Edward died in prison of the wounds received in the encounter which preceded his capture. In 1803 an insurrection headed by Robert Emmett, a young barrister of much promise, broke out, but was immediately quelled, with the loss of some lives in the tumult, and the death of its leaders on the scaffold. In 1848 William Smith O’Brien, M.P. for Limerick, raised a rebellion in Tipperary, and the lower classes in Dublin were greatly agitated. Owing, however, to timely and judicious disposition of the military and police forces the city was saved from much bloodshed. In 1867 the most serious of modern conspiracies, that known as the Fenian organization, came to light. The reality of it was proved by a ship being found laden with gunpowder in the Liverpool docks, and another with £5000 and 2000 pike-heads in Dublin. The Habeas Corpus Act was suspended at one sitting by both Houses of Parliament and about 960 arrests were made in Dublin in a few hours. Dublin castle was fortified; and the citizens lived in a state of terror for several weeks together. For later history, see Ireland.
See W. Harris, History and Antiquities of the City of Dublin (Dublin, 1766); Sir J. T. Gilbert, History of the City of Dublin (Dublin, 1859). The history of the Norsemen in Dublin has been dealt with by a Norwegian writer, L. J. Vogt, Dublin som Norsk By (Christiania, 1896).