Dublin encompasses an urban and commercial area that takes in four different local authorities. It has a population of over half a million people for the City of Dublin and over one million people for the County of Dublin. This makes Dublin a large city by any standards and it is one that is continually increasing in its human population.
A further statistic emphasising the importance of this city is that almost half of the population of Ireland live within 100km of Dublin’s city centre.
Dublin has three Universities with the sixteenth century University of Dublin being the oldest and most revered in the country.
The city of Dublin is traditionally seen as being split by the river Liffey into a north and south side. Historically the northern side was occupied by the working classes whilst the south side was seen as the home of the upper and middle classes. Many of these stereotypes still exist although both sides now have many mixed developments. Even so, a south side address is seen as being more ostentatious than its counterpart.
Dublin is a home to many different sports, but Gaelic football and Hurling are two sports that have strong association with this Irish city.
When it comes to pubs, nightclubs, nightlife and bars, Dublin is renowned for its famous Temple Bar district on the south side of the city. This district is a popular short weekend highlight for many partygoers and those with impending marriages on the horizon.
In the world of music Dublin is internationally famed for some of the biggest rock and pop groups ranging from stadium rockers like U2 and Thin Lizzy to the more Celtic sound of the Dubliners and Paddy Casey.
In the world of arts and media Dublin can claim many famous personas from the TV presenter Eamon Andrews and the hugely popular comedian Dave Allen, to the actor Colin Farrell and the writer James Joyce. But Dublin has many more famous people to its name and its contribution to literature in the form of authorship, poetry and playwrights it considerably beyond the scale of its population.
Dublin has a number of different industries with its traditional main stay being the brewing sector with massive brand names like Guinness and the Old Jameson distillery. However, the late twentieth century has also seen Dublin become a city associated with high technology industries, many of which have the offices for their European bases located in Dublin. Examples include Microsoft, Facebook and the world’s most successful search engine.