LEINSTER. 



413 



England, besides several remarkable buildings, for the most part grouped around 

 the hillock upon which rises Dublin Castle, the official residence of the Lord- 

 Lieutenant of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, restored to the Iloman Catholics, 

 is the most ancient church of Dublin, having been founded in lO^iS, and rebuilt at 

 the end of the twelfth and in the course of the fourteenth centuries. St. Patrick's 

 Cathedral, which has been taken possession of by the Protestants, is likewise a 

 mediaeval building, and stands by the side of the fountain from which St. Patrick 

 baptized the heathen. Trinity College was founded in the sixteenth century as 

 a stronghold of Protestantism, but no longer enforces religious tests. It possesses 

 valuable natural-history collections, together with a library of over 200,000 

 volumes, containing amongst other treasures the Senclms Môr, or monument of 

 ancient wisdom, and various mediaeval manuscripts in Irish and Latin. The 



Fig. 203. — View of Dublix fcom Phœnix Pahk. 



Exhibition Palace of 1872 has been transformed into a museum and place of 

 amusement similar to the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. There are also an 

 Industrial Museum, a National Gallery, and other valuable collections 

 belonging to learned societies. Conspicuous amongst the buildings on the 

 northern bank of the river are the " Four Courts" rising into a lofty dome, and 

 the Custom House. Among charitable institutions may be mentioned the Royal 

 Hospital for soldiers, in the suburb of New Kilmainham, the Blue Coat School, 

 and Steevens's Hospital. Pemhrohc, Rathmincs, and Ilaihgar, with Donnybrooli, 

 in other times famous for its fairs, are suburbs of Dublin. Swift, Pichard Steele, 

 Sheridan, Tom Moore, and the Duke of Wellington were born at Dublin, and 

 monuments have been raised in honour of them and other Irish worthies. 



The environs of the great city abound in pleasant walks. Phœnix Park, which 

 includes a zoological garden, covers an area of 1,750 acres. It is finely timbered. 



