St. Stephen's Green Park

The history of St. Stephen's Green, in the heart of Dublin, goes back to Medieval times. It was the generosity of Lord Ardilaun, who gave it to the nation in 1880, that created the Green as we know it today and made it a public park. The very nice place to visit and to feel the irish nature atmosphere.

Dublin Castle

Built between 1208 and 1220, this complex represents some of the oldest surviving architecture in the city, and was the centre of English power in Ireland for over seven centuries until it was taken of by the Irish Free State in 1922. Highlights include the 13th-century record tower, the largest visible fragment of the original Norman castle and the State Apartments, once the residence of English viceroys and now the focal point for government ceremonial functions, including the inauguration of Ireland's presidents. The newest developments for visitors are the Undercroft, and excavates site on the grounds where an early Viking fortress stood, and the treasury, built between 1712 and 1715, believed to be the oldest surviving purpose-built office building in Ireland. It houses a new visitor centre in its vaulted basement.

Irish pub on Tample Bar

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College also know as Dublin University, is the oldest and leading institution of higher learning in Ireland. The first University of Dublin was established in 1320 in connection with Saint Patrick's Cathedral but lacked an endowment and functioned poorly, finally closing with the dissolution, by Henry VIII, of the cathedral foundation. The present foundation was chartered by Elizabeth I in 1591 as the "mother of an university" with the title of the "College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, near Dublin." It was expected that other colleges would be formed around this nucleus, and that a university of the English type would eventually develop in its place. This expectation was never realized, and Dublin University retains to the present day the capacity to function as both a college and a university. In April 1967 the Irish government announced that it planned to merge University College, Dublin, with the University of Dublin. The plan was ultimately abandoned.