Dublin is the capital city of Ireland located on its east coast. It has over 1.5 million residents and was originally called 'Dubh Linn' meaning 'Black Pool' referring to an ancient natural lake. O'Connell Street is Dublin's main road and the widest urban street in Europe. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide on March 17th and has become a long weekend festival in Dublin. Trinity College in Dublin was established by Queen Elizabeth I and is home to the historic Book of Kells manuscript. Phoenix Park is the largest city park in Europe and home to Dublin Zoo, the presidential residence, and herds of fallow deer.

1. County Dublin
By Hannah Lyons

2. Facts about Dublin
• Dublin is located on the East Coast of Ireland. It is Irelands capital city, it
has over 1.5 million residents.
• Dublin was originally called 'Dubh Linn' meaning 'Black Pool'. The pool to
which the name referred is the oldest known natural treacle lake in
Northern Europe. It currently forms the centrepiece of the penguin
enclosure in Dublin Zoo.
• Dubliners drink a total of 9800 pints an hour between
the hours of 5.30pm on a Friday and 3.00am the following
Monday.
• None of the so-called Dublin Mountains are high
enough to meet the criteria required to claim mountain
status. The Sugarloaf is the tallest 'Dublin Mountain'
yet measures only 423.3 meters above sea level.

3. O’Connell Street
• O’ Connell Street is Dublin's main traffic artery and also the widest
urban street in Europe.
• Dublin's O'Connell Bridge covers the River Liffey and is reckoned
to be the only bridge in the European continent that has the
same width as its length.
• This present concrete structure was built in 1863, replacing a
wooden bridge built in 1801.
• Before this O'Connell’s Bridge was a rope structure that could only
carry one person and a donkey at a time.

4. St. Patrick’s Day Parade
• St.Patricks Day is celebrated worldwide on the 17th of March each year.
• Last year the pyramid's of Giza, the Sydney opera house and the Eiffel Tower
were turned green to celebrate.
• It ‘s a festival that was once celebrated in Ireland alone.
• Where better to celebrate this event than Dublin, where the one day event has
now turned into a long weekend festival. For the sheer atmosphere alone, its
worth a visit.

5. Dublin Zoo
• Dublin Zoo is one of Europe's oldest.
• It is located in the Phoenix Park in the heart of Dublin city.
• Here you can discover amazing animals to including tigers, hippos,
bats, rare monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, red pandas and
reptiles to name but a few!
• It has a great reputation for breeding lions in captivity.
• The familiar lion who roars at the start of every MGM movie was
born in Dublin Zoo on 20th March 1927

6. Trinity College
• Trinity College, the ancient Dublin university, was set
up at the request of Queen Elizabeth I.
• It has had some memorable graduates including Oscar
Wilde, Jonathan Swift and, surprisingly, Bram Stoker,
creator of Dracula.
• It is also home to the masterpiece, the Book of Kells.
• This is a sacred manuscript created by Celtic Monks featuring the Four Gospels of
the New Testament and decorated with stunning artwork (created about 800
AD.)
• The manuscript takes its name from the Abbey of Kells that was its home for
centuries.
• Today, it is on permanent display at the Trinity College Library, Dublin.

7. Phoenix Park
• Dublin is home to the largest park in Europe, the Phoenix
Park.
• It is the second largest in the world to Central Park in New York.
• It is the home of Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the President of
Ireland and Dublin Zoo.
• The park also holds ornamental lakes and children's playground, picnic
area, bedding schemes and several stream tributaries of the River Liffey.
It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the
seventeenth century has been home to a herd of wild Fallow deer.

8. Video Clip
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFDTyam_Ijc