The Bank of Ireland (see [Architecture], fig. 85) occupies five acres, and was formerly the House of Parliament. There are three fronts; the principal, towards College Green, is a colonnade of the Ionic order, with façade Bank of Ireland. and two projecting wings; it connects with the western portico by a colonnade of the same order, forming the quadrant of a circle. The eastern front, which was the entrance of the House of Lords, is, by their special wish, of the Corinthian order, made conformable with the rest of the building not without difficulty to the architect. The House of Lords contains tapestry dating from 1733, and remains in its original condition, but the octagonal House of Commons was demolished by the bank directors, and replaced with a cash-office. The building was begun in 1729, but the fronts date from the end of the century; the remodelling took place in 1803.
Trinity College, or Dublin University, fronts the street with a Palladian façade (1759), with two good statues by Foley, of Goldsmith and Burke. Above the gateway is a hall called the Regent House. The first quadrangle, Trinity College. Parliament Square, contains the chapel (1798), with a Corinthian portico, the public theatre or examination hall (1787), containing portraits of Queen Elizabeth, Molyneux, Burke, Bishop Berkeley and other celebrities, and the wain-scotted dining hall, also containing portraits. A beautiful modern campanile (1853), erected by Lord John George Beresford, archbishop of Armagh and chancellor of the university, occupies the centre of the square. Library Square takes its name from the library, which is one of the four scheduled in the Copyright Act as entitled to receive a copy of every volume published in the United Kingdom. There is a notable collection of early Irish manuscripts, including the magnificently ornamented Book of Kells, containing the gospels. The building was begun in 1712. In this square are the oldest buildings of the foundation, dating in part from the close of the 17th century, and the modern Graduates’ Memorial buildings (1904). These contain a theatre, library and reading-room, the rooms of the college societies and others. The schools form a fine modern pile (1856), and other buildings are the provost’s house (1760), printing house (1760), museum (1857) and the medical school buildings, in three blocks, one of the best schools in the kingdom. Other buildings of the 20th century include chemical laboratories. The College Park and Fellows’ Garden are of considerable beauty. In the former most of the recreations of the students take place; but the college also supports a well-known rowing-club. The college observatory is at Dunsink, about 5 m. north-west of Dublin; it is amply furnished with astronomical instruments. It was endowed by Dr Francis Andrews, provost of Trinity College, was erected in 1785, and in 1791 was placed by statute under the management of the royal astronomer of Ireland, whose official residence is here. The magnetic observatory of Dublin was erected in the years 1837-1838 in the gardens attached to Trinity College, at the expense of the university. A normal climatological station was established in the Fellows’ Garden in 1904. The botanic garden is at Ball’s Bridge, 1 m. S.E. of the college.
The alternative title of Dublin University or Trinity College, Dublin (commonly abbreviated T.C.D.), is explained by the fact that the university consists of only one college, that of “the Holy and Undivided Trinity.” This was founded under charter from Queen Elizabeth in 1591, and is the greatest foundation of its kind in the country. The corporation consists of a provost, 7 senior fellows, 25 junior fellows and 70 scholars. A vacancy among the fellows is filled up by the provost and a select number of the fellows, after examination comprised in five principal courses, mathematics, experimental science, classics, mental and moral science and Hebrew. Fellowships are held for life. Until the year 1840 the fellows were bound to celibacy, but that restriction was then removed. All except five (medical and law fellows) were bound to take Holy Orders until 1872. The scholars on the foundation (or “of the House”) are chosen from among the undergraduates, for merit in classics, mathematics or experimental science. The pecuniary advantages attaching to scholarship (£20 Irish, free commons, and rooms at half the charge made to other students) last for four years. Students after an examination are admitted as fellow-commoners, pensioners or sizars. Fellow-commoners, who have decreased in numbers in modern times, pay higher fees than the ordinary undergraduates or pensioners, and have certain advantages of precedence, including the right of dining at the fellows’ table. Sizarships are awarded on examination to students of limited means, and carry certain relaxations of fees. They were formerly given on the nomination of fellows. Noblemen, noblemen’s sons and baronets (nobilis, filius nobilis, eques) have the privilege of forming a separate order with peculiar advantages, on the payment of additional charges. The mode of admission to the university is in all cases by examination. Various exhibitions and prizes are awarded both in connexion with the entrance of students and at subsequent stages of the course of instruction, which normally lasts four years. There are three terms in each year—Michaelmas (beginning the Academic year), Hilary and Trinity. The undergraduate is called in his first year a junior freshman, in his second a senior freshman, in his third a junior sophister, and in his fourth a senior sophister. The usual arts and scientific courses are provided, and there are four professional schools—divinity, law, physic and engineering. The undergraduate has certain examinations in each year, and four “commencements” are held every year for the purpose of conferring degrees. Freedom is offered to students who wish to be transferred from Oxford, Cambridge, or certain colonial universities to Trinity College, by the recognition of terms kept in the former institutions as part of the necessary course at Trinity College. In 1903 it was decided to bestow degrees on women, and in 1904 to establish women’s scholarships. The funds of the college, arising from lands and the fees of students, are managed solely by the provost and seven senior fellows, who form a board, to which and to the academic council the whole government of the university, both in its executive and its legislative branches, is committed. The council consists of the provost and sixteen members of the senate elected by the fellows, professors, &c; the senate consists of the chancellor or his deputy and doctors and masters who keep their names on the books. The average number of students on the books is about 1300. By an act passed in 1873, known as Fawcett’s Act, all tests were abolished, and the prizes and honours of all grades hitherto reserved for Protestants of the Established Church were thrown open to all. The university returns two members to parliament. (See Dublin University Calendar, annual.)
There remain to be mentioned the following buildings in Dublin. The permanent building of the International Exhibition of 1865 adjoins the pleasure ground of St Stephen’s Green. This building was occupied by the Royal University of Ireland until its dissolution under the Irish Universities Act 1908, which provided for a new university at Dublin, to which the building was transferred under the act (see [Ireland]: Education). The new university is called the National University of Ireland. At the same time a new college was founded under the name of University College. The Royal University replaced the Queen’s University under the University Act (Ireland) in 1879. No teaching was carried on, but examinations were held and degrees conferred, both on men and on women. On the west side of St Stephen’s Green is the Catholic University (1854), which is under the Jesuit Fathers and affiliated to the Royal University. Between Trinity College and St Stephen’s Green, a large group of buildings includes the Royal Dublin Society, founded in 1683 to develop agriculture and the useful arts, with a library and gallery of statuary; the Science and Arts Museum, and the National Library, the former with a noteworthy collection of Irish antiquities; the Museum of Natural History, with a splendid collection of Irish fauna; and the National Gallery of Ireland, founded in 1853. Here was once a residence of the duke of Leinster, and the buildings surround the open space of Leinster Lawn. Educational foundations include the Royal College of Physicians, of Surgeons and of Science; the Royal Irish Academy, with an unequalled collection of national antiquities, including manuscripts and a library; and the Royal Hibernian Academy of painting, sculpture and architecture. In 1904 the formation of a municipally supported gallery of modern art (mainly due to the initiative and generosity of Mr Hugh Lane) was signalized by an exhibition including the pictures intended to constitute the nucleus of the gallery. In 1905 King Edward VII. laid the foundation stone of a college of science on a site in the vicinity of Leinster Lawn. The full scheme for the occupation of the site included, not only the college, but also offices for the Board of Works and the Department of Agriculture. The famous Dublin Horse and Agricultural Shows are held at Ball’s Bridge in April, August and December.
The most notable churches apart from the cathedrals are Roman Catholic and principally modern. The lofty church of the Augustinians in Thomas Street; St Mary’s, the pro-cathedral, in Marlborough Street, with Grecian ornamentation within, and a Doric portico; St Paul’s on Arran Quay, in the Ionic style; and the striking St Francis Xavier in Gardiner Street, also Ionic, are all noteworthy, and the last is one of the finest modern churches in Ireland. Among theatres Dublin has, in the Royal, a handsome building which replaced the old Theatre Royal, burnt down in 1880. Clubs, which are numerous, are chiefly found in the neighbourhood of Sackville Street; and there should further be mentioned the Rotunda, at the corner of Great Britain Street and Sackville Street, a beautiful building of its kind, belonging to the adjacent hospital, and used for concerts and other entertainments, while its gardens are used for agricultural shows.
Suburbs.—To the west of the city lies the Phoenix Park. Here, besides the viceregal demesne and lodge and the magazine, are a zoological garden, a people’s garden, the Wellington monument, two barracks, the Hibernian military school, the “Fifteen Acres,” a natural amphitheatre (of much greater extent than its name implies) used as a review ground, and a racecourse. The amenities of Phoenix Park were enhanced in 1905 by the purchase for the crown of land extending along the Liffey from Island bridge to Chapelizod, which might otherwise have been built over. To the south lies Kilmainham. Here is the royal hospital for pensioners and maimed soldiers. Close by is Kilmainham prison. To the west the valley of the Liffey affords pleasant scenery, with the well-known grounds called the “Strawberry Beds” on the north bank. In this direction lies Chapelizod, said to take its name from that Iseult whom Tennyson, Matthew Arnold and Wagner made a heroine; beyond which is Lucan connected with the city by tramway. Northward lies Clondalkin, with its round tower, marking the site of the important early see of Cluain Dolcain; Glasnevin, with famous botanical gardens; Finglas, with a ruined church of early foundation, and an Irish cross; and Clontarf, a favoured resort on the bay, with its modern castle and many residences of the wealthy classes in the vicinity. South of the city are Rathmines, a populous suburb, near which, at the “Bloody Fields,” English colonists were murdered by the natives in 1209; and Donnybrook, celebrated for its former fair. Rathmines, Monkstown, Clontarf, Dalkey and Killiney, with the neighbourhood of Kingstown and Pembroke, are the most favoured residential districts. Howth, Malahide and Sutton to the north, and Bray to the south, are favoured seaside watering-places outside the radius of actual suburbs.
Communications.—The direct route to Dublin from London and other parts of England is by the Holyhead route, controlled by the London & North Western railway with steamers to the port of Dublin itself, while the company also works in conjunction with the mail steamers of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company to the outlying port of Kingstown, 7 m. S.E. Passenger steamers, however, also serve Liverpool, Heysham, Bristol, the south coast ports of England and London; Edinburgh and Glasgow, and other ports of Great Britain. The railways leaving Dublin are the following: the Great Northern, with its terminus in Amiens Street, with suburban lines, and a main line running north to Drogheda, Dundalk and Belfast, with ramifications through the northern countries; the Great Southern & Western (Kingsbridge terminus) to Kilkenny, Athlone and Cork; the Midland Great Western (Broadstone terminus), to Cavan, Sligo and Galway; the Dublin & South-Eastern (Harcourt Street and Westland Row for Kingstown); and there is the North Wall station of the London & North-Western, with the line known as the North Wall extension, connecting with the other main lines. The internal communications of the city are excellent, electric tramways traversing the principal streets, and connecting all the principal suburbs.
Trade.—Dublin was for long stigmatized as lacking, for so large a city, in the proper signs of commercial enterprise. A certain spirit of foolish pride was said to exist which sought to disown trade; and the tendency to be poor and genteel in the civil service, at the bar, in the constabulary, in the army, in professional life, rather than prosperous in business, was one of the most unfortunate and strongly marked characteristics of Dublin society. This was attributable to the lingering yet potent influence of an unhappy past was held by some; while others attributed the weakness to the viceregal office and the effects of a sham court. About the time of the Revolution, the woollen trade flourished in Dublin, and the produce attained great celebrity. The cheapness of labour attracted capitalists, who started extensive factories in that quarter of the town known even now as the Liberties. This quarter was inhabited altogether by workers in wool, and as the city was small, the aristocracy lived close by in noble mansions which are now miserable memorials of past prosperity. About 1700 the English legislature prevailed on William III. to assent to laws which directly crushed the Irish trade. All exportation except to England was peremptorily forbidden, and the woollen manufacture soon decayed. But at the close of the 18th century there were 5000 persons at work in the looms of the Liberties. About 1715 parliament favoured the manufacture of linen, and the Linen Hall was built. The cotton trade was soon afterwards introduced; and silk manufacture was begun by the Huguenots, who had settled in Dublin in considerable numbers after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. Acts favourable to these enterprises were passed, and they flourished apace. But the old jealousy arose in the reign of George I., and in the reign of George III. an act was passed which tended directly to the ruin of the manufacture. The linen shared the same fate. Dublin poplins, however, keep their reputation. However adverse influences may have been combated, Dublin yet produces little for export save whisky and porter, the latter from the famous Guinness brewery and others; but a considerable export trade, principally in agricultural produce, passes through Dublin from the country. The total annual export trade may be valued at about £120,000, while imports exceed in value £3,000,000. To the manufacturing industries of the city there should be added mineral water works, foundries and shipbuilding.
By continual dredging a great depth of water is kept available in the harbour. The Dublin Port and Docks Board, which was created in 1898 and consists of the mayor and six members of the corporation, with other members Harbour. representing the trading and shipping interests, undertook considerable works of improvement at the beginning of the 20th century. These improvements, inter alia, enabled vessels drawing up to 23 ft. to lie alongside the extensive quays which border the Liffey, at low tide. The extensive Alexandra tidal basin, on the north side of the Liffey, admits vessels of similar capacity. The Custom House Works on the north side have about 17 ft. of water. With docks named after them are connected the Royal and Grand Canals, passing respectively to north and south of the city, the one penetrating the great central plain of Ireland on the north, the other following the course of the Liffey, doing the same on the south, and both joining the river Shannon. The docks attached to the canals, and certain other smaller docks, are owned by companies, and tolls are levied on vessels entering these, but not those entering the docks under the Board.
Government.—Dublin was formerly represented by two members in the imperial parliament, but in 1885 the parliamentary borough was divided into the four divisions of College Green, Harbour, St Stephen’s Green and St Patrick’s, each returning one member. The lord-lieutenant of Ireland occupies Dublin Castle and the Viceregal Lodge in Phoenix Park. Dublin is thus the seat of the viceregal court. It is also the seat of the Irish courts of law and equity. In connexion with these it may be noted that in 1904 a special court was established for children. On the constitution of Dublin as a county borough in 1898, the positions and duties of its corporation were left practically unaltered. The corporation consists of a lord mayor, 20 aldermen and 60 councillors, representing 20 wards. The income of the body arises from rents on property, customs and taxes. Under an act passed in 1875 the corporation has the right to forward every year three names of persons suitable for the office of high sheriff to the viceroy, one of which shall be selected by him. The corporation has neither control over the police nor any judicial duties, excepting as regards a court of conscience dealing with debts under 40s. (Irish); while the lord mayor holds a court for debts over 40s., and for the settlement of cases between masters and servants. The lord mayor is clerk of the markets and supervises weights and measures and deals with cases of adulteration. Besides the usual duties of local government, and the connexion with the port and docks boards already explained, there should be noticed the connexion of the corporation with such bodies as those controlling the city technical schools, the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and the gallery of modern art. The corporation has shown some concern for the housing of the poor, and an extensive scheme taken up in 1904 included the provision of cottage dwellings in the suburbs, as at Clontarf, besides improvements within the city itself. In 1905 a home on the model of the Rowton Houses in London, provided by Lord Iveagh, was opened in Bride Road. A competent fire-brigade is maintained by the corporation. The city coroner is a corporate officer. The city hall, used as municipal offices, has already been mentioned; the official residence of the lord mayor is the Mansion House, Dawson Street. The Dublin metropolitan police is a force peculiar to the city, the remainder of Ireland being protected civilly by the Royal Irish Constabulary. A large military force is usually maintained in the city of Dublin, which is the headquarters of the military district of Dublin and of the staff of Ireland (q.v.). The troops are accommodated in several large barracks in various parts of the city.