Bonment.com

Dublin was officially established in 988, however the earliest known reference to the city was by the Greek cartographer Ptolemy writing in the second century. He referred to a settlement on the island of Ireland called Eblana which is thought by many historians to be Dublin. The Vikings founded the city on the site of an earlier Christian ecclesiastical settlement, they called it Dubh Linn in reference to a dark tidal pool where the River Poddle entered the River Liffey. The Vikings ruled Dublin for three hundred years, though the Irish wrested from them on a number of occasions notably in 1052, 1075 and 1124. The Vikings were finally expelled by the Anglo-Normans under King Henry II in 1170. Dublin became the centre of English power in Ireland after the Norman conquest replacing Tara in Meath which had been seat of the Gaelic High Kings of Ireland. The city was mainly populated by settlers from England and Wales, as was the surrounding area around the city which became known as the Pale. The Pale developed in a completely different manner from the surrounding area which was populated by natives whom the city inhabitants perceived as barbarous. Throughout the Middle Ages the city paid protection money known as ‘black rent’ to the surrounding Irish chieftains to prevent their pillaging raids. The defence of Dublin depended mainly on the resources of the Fitzgerald Earls of Kildare. This autonomy was to come to a swift end with the Tudor dynasty beginning with Henry VIII and the conquest of the entire country of Ireland by the English Crown. The citizens of Dublin had both cause for celebration and joy regarding this change in policy; the threat of the surrounding Gaelic clans was negated but being mainly Roman Catholics the Dubliners were alienated by the Protestant Reformation that had that taken place in England. Tensions were so heightened during this period, that the English authorities encouraged the settlement of Protestants in the city to keep control of it. Protestants became the majority in Dublin as thousands sought sanctuary there to escape the 1641 Irish rebellion. When the city became threatened by Irish Catholic forces, Catholics were expelled from Dublin by the English garrison. From the seventeenth century the city was thriving under the Protestant Ascendancy and it expanded rapidly. It underwent a major rebuilding during the eighteenth century, the winding medieval lanes been torn down and replaced with the now famous wide Georgian streets.

Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland. Article source: http://www.bonment.com