City Guide to Dublin

West again, and you come to Dublin's biggest open space - indeed, one of the world's largest city parks - Phoenix Park , home of both the President's Residence and the zoo.

The urban sprawl quickly gives way to the genteel villages which punctuate the curve of Dublin Bay, from the fishing port of Howth in the north, to the southern suburbs of Sandycove with its James Joyce connections, Dalkey , made famous by the comic writer Flann O'Brien, and salubrious Killiney , now colonized by the rich and famous.

Added to this is the fact that Dublin must be one of the easiest capitals to escape from, making it a good base for exploring the hills and coastline of Wicklow to the south and the gentler scenery to the north that leads up to the megalithic monuments of the verdant Boyne Valley .

About the city

Dublin is divided into north and south with the river Liffey acting as a physical, social and at times psychological dividing line.

Traditionally the southside has been regarded as the wealthier end of town, and certainly from a visitor's perspective it does possess the majority of the city's historic sites as well as being the home of the newer, more upmarket centres for shopping and socializing.

The busy traffic intersection, College Green , which is framed by the elegant exteriors of Dublin's premier university Trinity College and the old eighteenth-century parliament building, now housing the Bank of Ireland , was once the central point of the old Viking city. Stretching south of here is the pedestrianized Grafton Street, the city's commercial and social hub, leading to the stylish Georgian streets that surround St. Stephen's Green .

Heading directly west of Trinity College, however, will bring you to the narrow, cobbled lanes of the Temple Bar area, the centre for the city's nightlife, overlooked by the imposing facade of Dublin Castle , the seat of British rule until 1921.

Further west still are Dublin's most important cathedrals, Christchurch and St Patrick's , it's near here that the rich smell of malting grain from the nearby Guinness brewery begins to fill the air.

On the northside of the river from the brewery is the historic Smithfield area, scene of the famous horse sales and home to the Jameson Whiskey distillery, east of which is the city's main thoroughfare, O'Connell Street from which the rebellion was launched that resulted in Irish independence.

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