Northside, Dublin

Traffic passing the Independent Bridge at Drumcondra

The harbour at Howth

The Northside is the area in Dublin City, Ireland bounded to the south by the River Liffey, to the east by Dublin Bay and to the north and west by the M50 motorway.

Introduction

Northside is not an official administrative area but rather a colloquial geographical expression. The Northside is traditionally viewed as being more working-class in character than its counterpart across the river, the Southside, and there is something of a rivalry between the two. This was not always the case - for much of the 18th century the wealthiest part of the city was to be found around Parnell Square and Bolton Street. In statistical terms, wealth is relatively evenly distributed throughout the city, with the Southside being home to both the wealthiest and the poorest areas of the country.

Several of the books written by the Booker Prize winning author Roddy Doyle, are set in the fictional Northside area of Barrytown, (which is believed to be a thinly disguised Kilbarrack, where he worked as a school teacher). Popular RTÉ television soap opera, Fair City, is set in the fictional northside suburb of Carrickstown.

Areas of the Northside

Areas of the Northside include

• Artane
• Baldoyle
• Ballymun
• Beaumont
• Blanchardstown
• Broadstone
• Cabra
• Castleknock
• Clontarf
• Coolock
• Dollymount
• Donaghmede
• Donnycarney
• Drumcondra
• East Wall
• Fairview
• Finglas

• Glasnevin
• Grangegorman
• Howth
• Kilbarrack
• Killester
• Malahide
• Marino
• North Wall
• Phibsboro
• Portmarnock
• Raheny
• Santry
• Smithfield
• Stoneybatter
• Sutton
• Swords
• Whitehall.

The 'area' is administered both by Dublin City Council (formerly Dublin Corporation) and Fingal County Council, each responsible for 84% and 16% of the land area which lies inside the M50 motorway and north of the river Liffey respectively (excluding the Howth peninsula). The Fingal/Dublin city boundary, when drawn up in 1985, was viewed as the edge of all Northside development from Dublin City at that time.

Postcodes

In general, postal code areas in the Northside are odd, while Southside codes are even. One exception is the Phoenix Park, which is on the Northside but has an even postal code (8). Anecdotally this is thought to be because the park is home to the official residence of the President of Ireland, and it was thought unsuitable for the President to live on the unfashionable Northside when the numbering system was being introduced. However the real reason behind this is explained by eminent Dublin historian Pat Liddy:

"There is a very simple, practical reason why the Phoenix Park is in Dublin 8 and it has nothing whatever to do with snobbery but with practicality.

Long before there were postal codes the James's St Postal Sorting Office looked after the Phoenix Park because it was considered to be closer and more convenient than Phibsborough (Dublin 7). James's St continued in this role when the postal codes were introduced so Dublin 8 it had to be."

This system will be abolished on the 1 January 2008 with the introduction of an Irish postal code system, of which the primary identifier digit(s) will be the relevant administrative county or city as opposed to An Post geographical divides.

Landmarks

Famous places on the Northside include

• O'Connell Street
• Henry Street
• Abbey Street
• Parnell Street
• Talbot Street
• Moore Street
• Capel Street
• GPO
• Spire of Dublin
• Abbey Theatre
• Gate Theatre
• Ambassador Theatre
• Garden of Remembrance
• Four Courts
• Customs House
• International Financial Services Centre
• The Point Theatre
• Áras an Uachtaráin
• Farmleigh
• Dunsink Observatory
• St Anne's Park
• Mountjoy Jail
• Royal Canal
• St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral
• St. Michan's Church
• St. Mary's Church
• St. Doulagh's Church
• Dalymount Park
• Tolka Park

• Morton Stadium
• Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery
• Dublin Writers Museum
• National Transport Museum of Ireland
• Croke Park
• Dublin City University
• The Helix
• Davis Gallery
• Glasnevin Cemetery
• National Aquatic Centre
• King's Inns
• Law Society of Ireland
• Mater Hospital
• National Museum of Ireland
• Rotunda Hospital
• Old Jameson Whiskey Distillery
• National Wax Museum
• James Joyce Centre
• Smithfield
• Phoenix Park
• Dublin Zoo
• National Botanic Gardens
• Casino at Marino
• Castleknock Castle
• Howth Castle
• Clontarf Castle
• Swords Castle
• Malahide Castle

Major transport hubs include Connolly Station, Busáras (the bus station) and Dublin Airport.

Many state bodies such as the national meteorological office, Met Éireann, the Central Fisheries Board, the national enterprise and trade board, Enterprise Ireland, the Department of Education, the National Food Centre, the Irish Marine Institute in Corduff and the Department of Defence are based on the Northside.

The main shopping area in the north innercity is Henry Street/Mary Street, just off O'Connell street. Three of the five city centre shopping centres are located on the Northside, these are the Jervis Centre, the Ilac Shopping Centre and the Irish Life Shopping Mall.

The Cineworld (UGC) cinema on Parnell Street is the largest cinema in Ireland with seventeen screens, the other notable north innercity cinema, the Savoy, is located on O'Connell Street and is one of Ireland's oldest cinemas.

Dublin City University, Dublin's newest university, is located in Glasnevin.

Northside is also the name of a shopping centre in Coolock.

Famous Northsiders

Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, lived in the Fairview/Marino area on The Crescent, a curved terrace of houses reminiscent of the Royal Crescent in Bath. Legend has it that the terrace was built where it is deliberately to block the seaviews of the builder's rival, a rich landowner, from his estate the Casino at Marino. The house is close to the Westwood Club, home of the Bram Stoker Cultural Heritage Visitor centre

Two Taoisigh, Bertie Ahern and the late Charles Haughey are from the Northside - Ahern from Drumcondra and Haughey from Donnycarney. Perhaps the most famous Northsiders are the rock group U2, which formed at Mount Temple secondary school on the Malahide Road.

External links

• Map of North Dublin