DK Travel : Dublin : History & Culture

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National Gallery

A superb new wing of the gallery opened on Clare Street in January 2002, vastly increasing the space available for temporary exhibitions and displays of the gallery’s permanent collection. The improved facilities also include a large shop, a café and restaurant and lecture theatres.
National Museum of Ireland

Only two of the museum’s three sights are south of the river: the Natural History Museum and the branch on Kildare Street which examines Irish archaeology and history. The latter’s 19th-century building is almost as impressive as its collections, decorated with marble and mosaics.
National Stud

Visitors can tour this state-run bloodstock farm to learn about the breeding and training of these fine racehorses. The museum charts the development of the stud since its establishment by Colonel Hall Walker in 1900. Also within the estate are the beautiful Japanese Gardens, laid out between 1906–10 by Hall Walker and two Japanese gardeners to represent the “life of man”. St Fiachra’s Garden was created to mark the Millennium, named after a 6th-century monk with a love of gardening.
Newbridge Demesne

A must for architecture fans, this attractive house lies north of Dublin at the seaside village of Donabate. The house was designed for Archbishop Charles Cobbe in 1737 by George Semple – the Cobbe family still live in the upper half of the house although the council bought it from them in the 1980s. Rooms include the beautifully preserved Red Drawing Room, the huge kitchen and the Museum of Curiosities.
Newgrange

The first settlers arrived in Ireland from the Continent around 4000 BC, bringing with them farming skills and rudimentary tools which allowed them to establish small communities. The megalithic stone tomb of the Neolithic Age at Newgrange (see Newgrange and the Boyne Valley) is thought to date from around 3000 BC and is one of the most important passage graves in Europe.
Newgrange and the Boyne Valley

Newgrange is one of the most significant passage graves in Europe but its origins are shrouded in mystery. Celtic legend tells that the Kings of Tara are buried here but New-grange was certainly constructed earlier. All visitors must pass through the excellent Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre and join a tour. Brú na Bóinne (“Palace of the Boyne”) is the Irish name for the area, considered to be the origin of Irish civilization. Anyone with an interest in archaeology will find the Boyne Valley fascinating – its Hills of Tara and Slane also feature in Celtic mythology.
Oisin in Tir na n’Og

Finn’s son Oisin and Niamh, daughter of sea-god Manannan, went together to Tir na n’Og, paradise of eternal youth. After 300 years, homesick Oisin borrowed Niamh’s magic horse to revisit Ireland. His feet were not to touch the ground, but he fell from the horse, instantly aged 300 years, and died.
Old Jameson Distillery

The Old Jameson Distillery now exists purely as a museum, but whiskey was first made here in the 1780s and is as much a part of the Irish culture as Guinness (see Guinness Storehouse). The tour goes through the entire process of production, from grain delivery to bottling. At the end of the tour there is a whiskey tasting. The former distillery chimney is now a 67-m (220-ft) high observation platform with outstanding city views.
Oscar Wilde

Wilde (1854–1900) was born at Westland Row, Dublin, and became a classics scholar at Trinity College and later at Oxford. His highly popular plays, full of acid wit, include An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). His imprisonment for homosexual offences inspired The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), but he died, humiliated, in 1900.
O’Connell Street

One of the widest streets in Europe, O’Connell Street was designed by Luke Gardiner in the 1740s and was once lined with Classical buildings. Sadly, many of these were destroyed during the Easter Rising and the street has lost the stately appearance of earlier times, but one of its remaining charms is its statues, the most imposing being that of Daniel O’Connell, near O’Connell Bridge.