Dublin began as a Viking settlement founded over one thousand years ago on the banks of the River Liffey and situated on a majestic broad sweeping bay.
It developed into an administrative capital after the Norman conquest of Ireland in the twelfth century and developed its own Parliament and Government institutions subject to the British Crown. During the eighteenth century, the city grew rapidly, with fine Georgian architecture which still exists today. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Dublin became the centre of two great cultural movements - the Gaelic League, aimed at restoring the Irish Language, and the Irish Literary Renaissance.

Dublin is now the thriving capital of an independent Ireland and is the centre of the political, diplomatic, administrative and commercial life of the country. It is home to a population of approximately one million people.