Monday, 13 March 2017

Rocky Road to Dublin

"Rocky Road to Dublin" is a song written about the Irish capital (http://www.dublinlive.ie/whats-on/arts-culture-news/rocky-road-dublin-17-greatest-10948795). Here are some other interesting facts about Dublin, Ireland.

1.  Dublin's O'Connell Bridge was originally made of rope and could carry only one man and one donkey.  In 1801, it was replaced with a wooden structure and in 1863, a concrete one, first called "Carlisle Bridge".

2.  Dublin's oldest workhouse, which closed in 1969, held 10,037 orphan children during its 170 years of operation.

3.  Dublin, originally called Dubh Linn or Black Pool, was named after the oldest treacle (British term for molasses) lake in North Europe, and currently forms the centrepiece of the penguin enclosure of the Dublin Zoo.





4.  The average Dubliner earns 19000 pounds per year and gives 12 pounds to charity and 162 pounds in tips.

5.  The Dublin Mountains are technically not high enough to merit the name, the highest, Sugarloaf, reaches only 1389 feet above sea level.





6.  Dublin's oldest traffic light is situated beside the Renault garage; the light, still in working order, was installed in 1893 outside the home of Fergus Mitchell, the first Dubliner to own a car.

7.  In 1761, a family of itinerants from Navan, Ireland, was refused entry to Dublin.  They settled in Rush on the outskirts of the city.  Today, almost all 250 inhabitants there can trace their roots to this family.

8.  Dubliners drink an average of 9800 pints an hour between Friday at 5:30 pm and Monday at 3:00 am.


Sean's Bar, established in 900 AD, is Ireland's oldest pub courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean's_Bar.



9.  Harold's Cross got its name from a tribe that lived in the Wickow Mountains.  The Archbishop of Dublin wouldn't let them come any closer than that point.

10.  Leinster Garden once had a large statue of Queen Victoria.  However, it was removed when the Republic of Ireland was formed in 1948.  In 1988, it was donated to Sydney Australia to mark their 200th Anniversary.





11.  The largest cake every baked in Dublin, weighing 190 pounds, was made to celebrate the city's millennium in 1988.  The cake, never eaten, was finally thrown out in 1991.

12.  Dublin contains 46 rivers and streams including;  Delvin, Hurley, Corduff, Finglas, and Shanganagh.

13.  Nelson's Pillar was blown up in 1966 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising (http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2017/03/easter-rising-1916.html) .  It now lies in a heap in the valley in County Wicklow.





14.  Dublin contains five areas which end in the letter "O":  Rialto, Marino, Portobello, Phibsboro, Pimlico.

15.  The original name of Trinity College was Trinity College near Dublin.  The city was a lot smaller when the college was founded.


Source:  http://www.irelandrevealed.com/facts-and-interesting-stuff-about-dublin/45-facts-of-so-you-think-you-know-dublin/

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