Place · Ireland
The history of Dublin
Assembled from 3 dug tiles · 39 sourced records · 377 BC–2016 · last reviewed 16 October 2026
Dublin's ground carries siege, rebellion and civil war in close company: a royalist army turned back at its walls in 1649, a British admiral's pillar stood and fell on O'Connell Street, and a gaol on Inchicore Road held and shot the men who tried to remake it.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Dublin — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Dublin
A former prison, now a museumThis point sits inside Kilmainham Gaol, on Inchicore Road, where Dublin held its prisoners and shot its rebels for over a century. Kilmainham Gaol
919–1924 The pillar Dublin argued about for 157 years
A British admiral stood on this exact spot until republicans blew him off it in 1966. Spire of Dublin
377 BC–2003 A siege, a civil war and a castle met on this corner
Siege of Dublin turned back nearby, 1649 Castleview
600–2016
Dublin in layers
377 BC–45 BC
Radiocarbon samples taken almost directly under this spot date to between 377 and 45 BC, showing people were active on this ground over two thousand years before the street existed. OpenContext
This former military barracks behind Dublin Castle sits close to where the River Poddle once formed the dark pool that gave Dublin its name — 'Dubh Linn'. Wikipedia: Ship Street Barracks
The George, a short walk north on South Great George's Street, is regarded as Ireland's best-known gay bar on a street long popular with the city's gay community. Wikipedia: The George, Dublin
A medieval monastic house, Holy Trinity Priory, occupied ground a short walk from this spot before the dissolution of Ireland's religious houses. Wikidata: Holy Trinity Priory
from c. 7th century
The Church of St Michael le Pole, believed to date from as early as the 7th century, occupied ground near Ship Street and Golden Lane before the Norse arrival in Dublin. Wikipedia: Church of St Michael le Pole
Islandbridge
A short walk north, native Irish forces led by Niall Glúndub clashed with Viking settlers at Islandbridge on 14 September 919 AD. Wikipedia
Royal Hospital grounds, Kilmainham
A priory of the Knights of St John the Baptist was founded here in 1174 by Richard de Clare, its ruins later demolished to build the Royal Hospital. Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service (Ireland)
from c. 1204
A castle has stood on the site since the reign of King John, chosen for the highest defensible ground in the old city and rebuilt from the late 1600s into the Georgian palace visible today. Wikidata: Dublin Castle
from 1466
One of the oldest streets outside Dublin's old walls, recorded from at least 1466 as Cross Lane, it took its present name after the Goldsmiths' Guild moved to Golden Lane in 1812. Wikipedia: Golden Lane, Dublin
1649
Confederate and Royalist forces abandoned an attempt to storm English-held Dublin from positions near here after a crushing defeat at the Battle of Rathmines. Wikidata: Siege of Dublin
Royal Hospital Kilmainham
A short walk east, the Royal Hospital Kilmainham opened in 1684 as a retirement home for army veterans, Ireland's oldest surviving fully Classical building. Wikipedia
Beside the turnpike gate, Inchicore
An inn opened beside the Inchicore turnpike gate around 1730 and moved to its present site in 1734, serving coach passengers on the road you are near. Eneclann site history of Goldenbridge North
1751 onward
A Georgian house built in 1751 for the Earl of Drogheda stood at the corner of Cathedral Street and O'Connell Street, exactly where the Spire now rises, before it was demolished. Wikipedia, Cathedral Street, Dublin
1763–1798
Theobald Wolfe Tone, a founding figure of Irish republicanism, was born in Dublin in 1763 and died there in 1798 after a failed rebellion against British rule. Wikidata
1780–1803
Robert Emmet, leader of the failed 1803 rebellion against British rule, was born in Dublin in 1780 and executed in 1803. Wikidata
Kilmainham Gaol
Kilmainham Gaol was built to replace an older, insanitary prison a few hundred meters away, costing £22,000 and designed around Enlightenment ideas of individual cells and moral reform. Buildings of Ireland
Kilmainham Gaol
Rebel leader Robert Emmet was imprisoned at Kilmainham from 26 August to 20 September 1803 before being hanged, drawn and quartered at Thomas Street; his grave remains unknown to this day. Irish Central
1808–1809
A granite pillar topped with a statue of Horatio Nelson was completed here in 1809, standing for 158 years until it was bombed. Nelson's Pillar
1814–1922
The Chapel Royal within Dublin Castle served as the household chapel of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1814 until the office ended in 1922, later reconsecrated as a Catholic church in 1943. Wikipedia: Chapel Royal, Dublin
St. Vincent's Street, Inchicore
Opened in 1829 beside the Grand Canal in Inchicore, Goldenbridge Cemetery was the first Catholic cemetery built in Ireland since the Reformation, and later holds two Irish presidents, W. T. Cosgrave and Liam Cosgrave. Wikipedia
Kilmainham Gaol
During the Great Famine the prison population reached over 9,000 people, many jailed for begging or stealing bread, in a building meant to hold a fraction of that. History Tools
Kilmainham Gaol
In 1881 Land League leader Charles Stewart Parnell was jailed here and wrote his manifesto urging Irish tenants to withhold rent from absentee landlords. History Tools
1913
On 30 August 1913, during the Dublin Lockout, Dublin Metropolitan Police baton-charged a crowd on O'Connell Street near here, killing two young men. History Ireland
1916
During the 1916 Easter Rising, artillery bombardment reduced the eastern side of O'Connell Street around here to rubble, destroying the GPO and neighboring buildings. Wikipedia, O'Connell Street
Questions about Dublin
What is Dublin known for historically?
Dublin is known for the layering of conflict across small stretches of ground — the 1649 Siege of Dublin collapsing near Castleview, the 1922 Battle of Dublin opening the Irish Civil War a few steps away, and the executions of 1916 Easter Rising leaders in Kilmainham Gaol's Stonebreaker's Yard.
What happened at Kilmainham Gaol?
Kilmainham Gaol opened in 1796 and held ordinary criminals and political prisoners for 128 years, including Robert Emmet before his execution and Charles Stewart Parnell, who issued the 'No Rent Manifesto' from his cell. Fourteen leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, among them Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, were shot in its Stonebreaker's Yard; Joseph Plunkett married Grace Gifford there hours before his execution. The gaol closed in 1924 and reopened as a museum in 1960.
What happened to Nelson's Pillar in Dublin?
Nelson's Pillar stood on O'Connell Street for 157 years before republicans bombed it in March 1966; a follow-up Irish Army charge days later caused further damage. The site stood empty for 37 years until the Spire of Dublin was erected on the same ground in 2003.
What happened at Castleview in Dublin's history?
Castleview sits close to where Royalist and Confederate forces abandoned the 1649 Siege of Dublin after their defeat at Rathmines, and within earshot of the 1922 Battle of Dublin, the street fighting that opened the Irish Civil War.
Who was executed at Kilmainham Gaol?
Fourteen leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were executed by firing squad in the Stonebreaker's Yard at Kilmainham Gaol, including Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, who was shot while tied to a chair.