Dublin City and county borough (pop., 2002 prelim.: city, 495,101; county borough,
1,122,600), capital of Ireland. On the River Liffey, it was settled by Danish Vikings
arriving in the area in the 9th century AD; they held it until it was taken by the Irish
in the 11th century. Under English control in the 12th century, it was given a charter
by Henry II, establishing it as a seat of government. It prospered in the 18th century
as a centre of the cloth trade, and its harbour dates from this period. In the 19th
and 20th centuries it was the site of bloody nationalist violence, including the
1867 Fenian movement and the 1916 Easter Rising.

It is the country's chief port, centre of finance and commerce, and seat of culture.
Its Guinness Brewery is the country's largest private employer. Educational and
cultural institutions include the University of Dublin; the National Library and
National Museum are housed on the grounds of Leinster House (1748),
now the seat of the Irish parlia.

There is nowhere in Ireland like the Point; Theatre located on the north quay of Dublin's
River Liffey, The Point is Ireland's premier music venue with a capacity of up to 8,500
people in a wide variety of seating configurations. It is the indoor venue of choice for
all major national and international acts. The Point was an old train depot which was converted into a large international venue and opened in 1988. It has played host to performances by many of the worlds premier entertainers. With a capacity of up to
8,500 it is larger and more flexible than any other fully equipped indoor venue.

A combination of staff, equipment, facilities and experience make it the ideal place
to run almost any event. The venue has been turned into an ice rink, a boxing arena
and a wrestling ring. It's been a theatre, an opera house and a circus. Conferences, seminars and exhibitions for national and multinational firms have been run
successfully at the Point theatre.