O'Byrne Files collection of Dublin Facts
Dublin's O'Connell Bridge was originally made of rope and could only carry one man and a donkey at a time. It was replaced with a wooden structure in 1801. The current concrete bridge was built in 1863 and was first called 'Carlisle Bridge' and it is the only traffic bridge in Europe which is wider than it is long and Dublin's second O'Connell Bridge is across the pond in St. Stephen's Green.
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 and currently forms the centrepiece of the penguin enclosure in Dublin Zoo.
Dublin city covers a land area of 44.4sq. miles.
None of the so-called Dublin Mountains are high enough to meet the criteria required to claim mountain status. Kippure is the tallest 'Dublin Mountain' yet measures a mere 721 metres above sea level.
Dublin's oldest traffic lights are situated beside the Renault garage in Clontarf. The lights, which are still in full working order, were installed in 1893 outside the home of Fergus Mitchell who was the owner of the first car in Ireland.
Tiny Coliemore Harbour beside the Dalkey Island Hotel was the main harbour for Dublin from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century.
Montgomery Street was once the biggest red-light district in Europe with an estimated 1600 prostitutes. It was known locally as the 'Monto' and this is the origin of the song 'Take me up to Monto'
The statue in Dublin's O'Connell Street is commonly known as the 'Floozy in the Jacuzzi' while the one at the bottom of Grafton Street is best known as the 'Tart with the Cart'. The women at the Ha'Penny bridge are the 'Hags with the bags' and the Chimney Stack with the new lift in Smithfield Village's now called the 'Flue with the View'. The short-lived millennium clock that was placed in the River Liffey in 1999 was known as 'the chime in the slime'.
There are seven areas in Dublin whose names end in the letter 'O'. Fewer than one Dubliner in 20,000 can name them off by heart. They are: Rialto, Marino, Portobello, Phibsboro, Monto, Casino and Pimlico.
Dublin Corporation planted 43,765 deciduous trees in the Greater Dublin area in 1998.
The largest cake ever baked in Dublin weighed a whopping 190lb's and was made to celebrate the 1988 city millennium. The cake stood untouched in the Mansion House until 1991 when it was thrown out.
The average Dubliner earns €29,000 per annum, giving eighteen euro to charity and a hundred and one hundred euro in tips. The most important consideration when a man is deciding whether or not to give a barmaid a tip is the amount of her body that he can see. A quarter of all tips go to taxi drivers even though they earn, on average, four times the average wage in the city, higher than ninety six percent of their clients.
None of the so-called Dublin Mountains is high enough to meet the criteria required to claim mountain status. Kippure is the tallest 'Dublin Mountain' yet measures a mere 757 metres above sea level.
Dublin's oldest traffic light is situated beside the Renault garage in Clontarf. The light, which is still in full working order, was installed in 1893 outside the home of Fergus Mitchell who was the owner of the first car in Ireland.
Tiny Coliemore Harbour beside the Dalkey Island Hotel was the main harbour for Dublin from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century.
Dubliners drink a total of 9800 pints an hour between the hours of 5.30pm on a Friday and 3.00am the following Monday.
Women from Dublin are the least likely to become pregnant through casual sex. Women from Meath are the most likely.
Dublin is Europe's most popular destination with travelling stag and hen parties from the UK. There are an estimated six hundred 'pre wedding sessions' every weekend in the capital.
The average 25-year-old Dubliner still lives with his/her parents preferring to spend their money on fast cars and clothes rather than a mortgage.
There was once a large statue of Queen Victoria in the Garden outside Leinster House. It was taken away when the Republic of Ireland became independent and in 1988 was given as a present to the city of Sydney, Australia to mark that city's 200th anniversary.
Dubliners are more likely to buy a stranger a drink than locals from any other area of the country are.
There are forty six rivers or streams in Dublin city. The river flowing through Rathmines is called the River Swan (beside the Swan Centre). The Poddle was once known as the ''Tiber' and was also known as the River Salach (dirty river), which is the origin of the children's song "Down by the river Saile". It is also the river whose peaty, mountain water causes the Black Pool mentioned above.
Henry Moore, Earl of Drogheda lived
in Dublin in the eighteenth century. His job was naming streets. He called
several after himself. Henry Street, Moore Street, Earl Street, Drogheda
Street. Drogheda Street later became Sackville Street and is now O'Connell
Street. He didn't like to see the'of' from his name left out so when he was
naming a small
lane (off O'Connell Street) he called it "Of Lane" (it's gone now).
Saint Valentine was martyred in Rome on February 28th eighteen centuries ago. He was the Bishop of Terni. His remains are in a cask in White Friar Street Church, Dublin. He is no longer recognised as a Saint by the Vatican.
There was a statue in Dublin's O'Connell Street is known as the 'Floozy in the Jacuzzi' while the one at the bottom of Grafton Street is best known as the 'Tart with the Cart'. The women at the Ha'Penny bridge are the"Hags with the bags", James Joyce's statue is called the "Dick with the stick" and the Chimney Stack with the new lift in Smithfield Village is now called the "Flue with the View". As for the monument O'Connell Street ( Which nobody wanted!), the commonly known name for that is the spike!
Nelson's Pillar was blown up in 1966 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 rising. It now lies in a heap in a valley in County Wicklow.
Tallaght is one of the oldest placenames in Ireland and it means "The Plague Cemetery"
There is a fountain in College Green with some ghastly statues of angels. This stands on the spot where there was once a statue of King Billy on a horse. It was blown up six times before being completely destroyed bya bomb in 1946. The wreck was taken to a corporation yard and the horses huge lead testicles were melted down and used to repair a pipe.
Montgomery Street was once the biggest red-light district in Europe with an estimated 1600 prostitutes. It was known locally as the "Monto" and this is the origin of the song "Take me up to Monto"
Leinster House (the Irish House of Parliment) in Dublin was originally built as a private home for the Duke of Leinster. At that time, the most fashionable part of Dublin was the North Side and he was asked why he was building on the South Side. He said "Where I go, fashion follows me" .....and to this day the most fashionable part of Dublin is the South Side.
There are five areas in Dublin whose names end in the letter 'O'. Fewer than one Dubliner in 20,000 can name them off by heart.They are...... Rialto, Marino, Portobello, Phibsboro and Pimlico.
Kevin Street Garda Station was once the Palace of the Archbishop of Dublin.
The original name of Trinity College was "Trinity College Near Dublin". The capital was a lot smaller then.
DUBLIN PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Someone - who prefers to remain anonymous, had to make a simple inquiry of
Control Plus Ltd, the people who run clamping of parked cars in Dublin.
'I phoned them and asked for their address and all they would give is a PO Box
number. I said "That's fine, but please tell me your actual address, the one you
work from." Nothing doing, I could have the address of the Fines Office or their
PO Box number.
'I asked if it was a State secret. Not funny! There was no way that I was going
to be told. I had not been clamped and never have been, I was just inquiring.
Their attitude really pissed me off so I have decided to "out" them. The
clampers are based at 13 Windsor Place, off Lower Pembroke Street in Dublin 2. I
used a 'reliable source', checked it two other ways and confirmed it. Time 20
minutes.
'By the way, the clampers' base is in one of those complexes with an electric
gate. And their office, which is at the back of the complex, does not have their
name on the door.'
Got that? 13 Windsor Place, D2.
| Copyright © 2002 N. O'Byrne | Most recent revision: Wednesday December 13, 2006 |
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