Dublin: Encyclopedia II - Dublin - History

Dublin - History

Main article: History of Dublin

The settlement Dubh Linn dates perhaps as far back as the first century B.C.; Baile Átha Cliath or simply Áth Cliath was founded in 988 near by. The two towns eventually became one. The modern city retains the Anglicised Irish name of the former and the original Irish name of the latter. After the Norman invasion of Ireland, Dublin replaced the Hill of Tara as Ireland's capital, with much of the power centring on Dublin Castle until independence. From the 14th century until the late 16th century, Dublin and the surrounding area -known as the Pale - was the only area of Ireland under English government control.

From the 17th century the city expanded rapidly, helped by the Wide Streets Commission. Georgian Dublin was, for a time, the second city of the British Empire. Much of Dublin's best architecture dates from this time. The Easter Rising of 1916 left the capital in an unstable situation and the Anglo-Irish War and Irish Civil War left the capital in ruins, with many of its finest buildings destroyed. The Irish Free State rebuilt much of the city's buildings and moved parliament to Leinster House, but took no bold tasks such as remodelling. After The Emergency (World War 2) Dublin remained a capital out of time, modernization was slow and finally the 1960s saw change begin. In recent years the infrastructure of Dublin has changed immensely, with enormous private and state development of housing, transport, and business. (See also Development and Preservation in Dublin).

Since the beginning of English rule in the twelfth century, the city has served as the capital of the island of Ireland in the varying geopolitical entities:

• the Lordship of Ireland (1171–1541)
• the Kingdom of Ireland (1541–1800)
• the island as part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922)
• the Irish Republic (1919–1922)

From 1922, following the partition of Ireland, it served as the capital of the Irish Free State (1922–1937) and now as the capital of the Republic of Ireland. (Many of these states co-existed or competed within the same timeframe as rivals within either British or Irish constitutional theory.)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki