Dublin Castle: Seven Centuries of British Rule
Why is it significant?
Walk through the archway into the cobblestone courtyard of the Upper Castle Yard and stand right in its center.
Key Facts
| Place | Dublin Castle: Seven Centuries of British Rule |
|---|---|
| Address | Dame St, Dublin 2 |
| Geo Coordinates | 53.34290, -6.26740 |
| Part of Walk | Dublin Rebels & Literary Giants: From the Easter Rising to Joyce's Pubs |
| Generated | Generated |
Walk through the archway into the cobblestone courtyard of the Upper Castle Yard and stand right in its center. Look around at the classical Georgian red-brick facades and the medieval stone Record Tower in the corner: for over seven centuries, from twelve zero four until nineteen twenty-two, this complex was the fortified nerve center of British colonial power in Ireland.
The castle stands on the high ground above the Poddle and Liffey rivers, where Viking invaders first established a harbor. The name Dublin comes from the Gaelic Dubh Linn, meaning black pool, referring to the dark tidal pool that once sat right where the castle gardens are laid out today.
Look up at the Bedford Tower: in nineteen zero seven, the Irish Crown Jewels, encrusted with nearly four hundred diamonds and rubies, vanished from a safe inside without a trace, sparking a scandalous unsolved mystery. But the castle's most historic day occurred on January sixteenth, nineteen twenty-two, when revolutionary leader Michael Collins marched into this courtyard to accept the official surrender and handover of the castle from Lord Lieutenant FitzAlan on behalf of the new Irish Free State.
Collins was seven minutes late, and when the viceroy chided him, Collins famously replied: You've been here seven hundred years, you can wait seven minutes! Continue southwest toward St Patrick's Cathedral.