Although the city had a Celtic settlement for centuries, it was not really incorporated until the Vikings arrived, and settled around the area where the Liffey and Poddle rivers converged. The meeting place created a black pool of deep water, and was named Dubh Linn (literally black pool).
Irish armies beat the Vikings in 1014, but soon the Normans arrived, and took control of the coastal areas.
English rule was consolidated at the time of Oliver Cromwell, when in 1649 he seized much of the country's best lands around Dublin.
During the 18th century, the city boomed as a trading centre in the British Empire, and many of the buildings that dominate the city to this day were built in the period.
The great Famine that struck the country in the 1840s and the city filled with refugees.
Revolts against English rule grew until 1916, when Sinn Fein reacted to the Easter Rising with stunning election victory, and a declaration of independence and their own government.
The Irish Free State was recognised in 1921,and this was followed by decades of bloody civil war, until in 1949 the republic was formed, Ireland left the commonwealth.
The economic growth of the 1990s led to Dublin being completely improved as a city, and now it has become one of the most peaceful and pleasant cities to visit, with a reputation for friendliness and excellent nightlife drawing people from all over the world.
