Bank of

A Tour of Dublin's Fair City

Bank of Ireland , College Green
The prestigious offices of

Ireland

's national bank began life as the first purpose-built parliament house in Europe . Completed in 1739 it served as

Ireland

's Parliament until the Act Of Union in 1801

Trinity College
Founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth. Among many famous students to attend the college were playwrights Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Beckett. Trinity's lawns and cobbled quads provide a pleasant haven in the hearth of the city. The major attractions are the Old Library and the Book of Kells, housed in the Treasury. Exit form the front of the Trinity complex and walk from College Green to Dame St and Continue west passing:

The Olympia Theatre - Dating back to the 1800s, this Victorian music hall-style theatre has a capacity of 1,300. It presents an eclectic schedule of variety shows, musicals, operettas, concerts, ballet, comedy, and drama. As a variation, for the late-night crowd, live bands are often featured after regular programs. A brief diversion here will bring you into the trendy Temple Bar area. Across the Street is

City Hall
Erected between 1769 and 1779, and formerly the Royal Exchange. It is a square building in Corinthian style, with three fronts of Portland stone. Since 1852, however it has been the centre of the municipal government. The interior is designed as a circle within a square, with fluted columns supporting a dome shaped roof over the central hall. The building contains many items of interest, including 102 royal charters and the mace and sword of the city. Adjacent to City Hall is:

Dublin Castle
Built between 1208 and 1220, this complex represents some of the oldest surviving architecture in the city, and was the centre of English power in

Ireland

for over seven centuries until it was taken of by the Irish Free State in 1922. Highlights include the 13th-century record tower, the largest visible fragment of the original Norman castle and the State Apartments, once the residence of English viceroys and now the focal point for government ceremonial functions, including the inauguration of

Ireland

's presidents. At this point Dame St takes on the name Lord Edward St , and leads to

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Ireland

's largest church was founded beside a sacred well where St. Patrick is said to have baptised converts around 450A.D. A stone slab bearing a Celtic cross and covering the well was un-earthed at the turn of the century(20th). It is now preserved in the west end of the cathedral's nave. The original building was just a wooden chapel and remained so until 1192 when Archbishop John Comyn rebuilt the cathedral in stone. Much of the present building dates back to work completed between 1254 and 1270. Cut back to

Powerscourt Town House Centre

The townhouse of a famous Georgian family. Today the building houses one of the cities nicest shopping centres. In the 1960's major restoration turned it into a centre of specialist galleries, antique shops, jewellery stalls, cafés and other shop units. Carry on to Grafton Street down the narrow Johnson Court Alley

Lunch at Davy Byrnes

With your driver in the afternoon explore the Great Georgian Squares and Doorways.; Visit the famous Phoenix Park, Home of our President Mary McAllesse; See the delights of the city of Roddy Doyle, James Joyce, Brendan Behan, Sean O' Casey, Oscar Wilde and Nobel Prize winners W.B Yeats, George B. Shaw and Samuel Beckett.; See Guinness Brewery, O' Connell Street; The U2 Wall, The National Museum & Gallery

The U2 wall

Michael Collins memorial bust, Merrion Square Dublin

For the romantic, other Dublin sites of interest might include

	Isoldes Tower, on the site of the home of The Princess Isolde, heroine of Tristan & Isolde
	Finn's Hotel, where Nora Barnacle was working when she met James Joyce and inspired the novel Ulysses
	The Shrine of St Valentine in The Carmelite Church, Aungier Street
	And of course Molly Malone herself "In Dublins fair city, where the girls are so pretty, I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone As she wheeled her wheel-barrow, through streets broad and narrow, Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive o!"