3.1 Case Study: Dublin

When considering urban development in Ireland, what better place to start than the largest city on the island, and the capital of the Republic of Ireland: Dublin.

In this chapter, we will get a sense of different periods of time in Dublin’s urban development, considering how human settlement was shaped by the physical environment, as well as how humans have shaped the urban environment through patterns of settlement that were informed by trade, power, and (at times) displacement.

 

Sidestreet in Temple Bar facing towards the River Liffey. Five buildings including a pub line the cobblestoned street.
Figure 3.2 Photograph taken in the Temple Bar neighbourhood. © borisb17, www.adobestock.com. View source.  This photograph is included under Adobe’s Education Licence – Standard Image terms. 

The Core Physical Attributes of Dublin

Physically speaking, Dublin is a relatively flat city – nestled between low mountain ranges to the south of the city, and flatter farmlands to the north of the city (Lopez, Sheehy, and Williams 2016). It is also not a very dense city; this is because Dublin’s buildings are low density, with most buildings being five to six stories tall as a result of city building policies. Along with an increase in population, the high cost of housing has driven residents to the suburbs, leading to urban sprawl and the rise of suburban areas (Lopez, Sheehy, and Williams 2016).

 

Image of the River Liffey taken from the centre of a bridge, showing walls of the river, a bridge, trees lining the pathways on the river, and construction cranes.
Figure 3.3 Photograph of Grattan Bridge over the River Liffey © susanne2688, www.adobestock.com. View source.  This photograph is included under Adobe’s Education Licence – Standard Image terms. 

The core of the city centre in Dublin is where the city meets the River Liffey – a long river that extends from the mouth of the Irish sea, all the way through Dublin, and down into the Wicklow mountains, forming what could be described as a sideways horseshoe (if this helps you to remember!). The city has grown up around the River Liffey, divided by the river into North and South Dublin. You may have heard of some of the major tourist areas and sites: Temple Bar and the Guinness Brewery are situated right on or steps away from the River Liffey.

 

Figure 3.4 Aerial view of Guinness Brewery on the River Liffey. © Steve, www.adobestock.com. View source.  This photograph is included under Adobe’s Education Licence – Standard Image terms. 

History of Settlement and Urban Growth of Dublin City

Dublin has for centuries been a site of settlement for those who have travelled to this eastern coastal area. Part of its attractiveness was due to its location on the River Liffey, as well as its proximity to the Irish sea – which easily connected it to other major regional centres, especially those within England. In the below image is Ha’Penny bridge, one of the many iconic bridges that line the River Liffey in central Dublin:

 

Image of Ha'penny bridge at night. The River Liffey is illuminated by street lights reflecting on the water.
Figure 3.5 Photo of Ha’penny Bridge over the River Liffey. © Steeve ROCHE, www.adobestock.com. View source.  This photograph is included under Adobe’s Education Licence – Standard Image terms. 

To get a brief sense of the longevity of human settlement patterns in Dublin, some significant moments of settlement include:

Viking Settlements (9th Century)

  • While settlements existed on the banks of the River Liffey before the 9th century, the arrival of Vikings in Ireland saw a rapid transformation of this area into a major urban centre that became significant for trade (Dublin Civic Trust 2024)
  • The below image (Figure 3.6) visualises what the area of Dublin would have looked like around 1,000 A.D, when Vikings settled the area – from this image, you can see the proximity of the settlement to the sea as well as the river
  • Figure 3.6 also reveals just how much Dublin has changed from its early period of settlement to now – use this image as a starting-point to contextualize the major shifts that have taken place in relation to settlement in the city over time as you read through this chapter:

 

Image of Dublin as a historical settlement adjacent to the Irish Sea with a river running along the south-east portion of the settlement.
Figure 3.6 Map depicting a reconstruction of Dublin around 1,000 A.D from The National Museum of Ireland in Roskilde  © The National Museum of Ireland, made available via the Viking Ship Museum. View Source. This photograph is included on the basis of fair dealing. 

Anglo-Norman Settlement (12th Century)

  • In this period, the Anglo-Normans shaped the city in many ways, including building city walls for protection that are still traceable today, visible by the black lines in the below Figure 3.7 (Liberties Dublin 2020)
  • Both Viking and Norman settlements in Dublin formed street patterns that remain in and around the city centre, including near the areas of Dublin Castle and Temple Bar, as evidenced in Figure 3.7 on the south-east portion of the map (Dublin City Council 2024d)
Map of a portion of Dublin south of the River Liffey. There is a line overtop of the map depicting the original walls of the city of Dublin.
Figure 3.7 Map showing the remains of city walls from the 12th and 13th centuries in the city of Dublin from Dublin City Council. © Dublin City Council via The Liberties Dublin. View source. This photograph is included on the basis of fair dealing.

Medieval Dublin (13th to 16th centuries)

  • Following the creation of the city walls during the Anglo-Norman period, there was expansion beyond the walled city – for example, into an area known as the Liberties on the south side of the Liffey, west of Dublin Castle (Dublin Civic Trust 2024)
  • The Medieval cobble-stone streets of Dublin can still be found in Temple Bar (Dublin City Council 2024b)

17th Century Dublin

  • Between the Medieval and Georgian periods in Dublin, the city saw rapid population growth, as well as the expansion of new neighbourhoods on the north side of the Liffey (Dublin Civic Trust 2024)

Georgian Dublin (18th Century)

  • During this time, Dublin was in a period of expansion; the involvement of British colonial rule was evident, as Dublin became a British administrative seat and was referred to as the “second city” of the British Empire (Dublin Civic Trust 2024); this was, in part, because Dublin was the second largest city of the empire at that time (Dublin City Council 2024b)
  • Some key sites that still exist in Dublin today, as main tourist attractions, developed during this period – such as Merrion Square, Fitzwilliam Square, and Mount Pleasant Square (Dublin City Council 2024a)
  • While Dublin has its historic roots as a Viking city, much of the layout of the city centre (as we know it today) emerged out of the 17th and 18th centuries – including the commercial roads, terraced buildings, and public parks (Dublin Civic Trust 2024)

Through the brief historic snapshots above, we begin to see how different periods of time and human settlement in Dublin are layered onto each other, shaping the city in unique ways. As Dublin Civic Trust posits, the city is Georgian urban architecture mixed with both 17th century and medieval urban planning, resulting in a hodgepodge of curving routes from previous eras alongside the symmetry of the Georgian period (Dublin Civic Trust 2024).

Dublin’s city museum, Dublinia, provides visualisations produced by Noho that help to imagine what life might have looked like at different stages. Click the links below to explore these visualisations through the Dublinia museum’s virtual resources:

 

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The Making of the Irish Landscape Copyright © 2024 by Katie Young is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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