Photo: Sonse · CC BY 2.0History in Dublin reaches back to 1000: 6,782 buildings on the National Inventory
Dublin has kept more old homes than most towns: 9.1% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. It is a historic town on the Sites and Monuments Record, with 1,833 archaeological sites inside it. Dublin has 54 buildings on the record for every 10,000 residents, against 48 in the typical town.
typical town: 48
Dublin from 1865 to 1900
8 old photographs, in date order. All made before 1950.
1861–1870
1861–1870
1861–1870
1861–1870
1875
1875
1875
1900sFrom Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server: public domain, or from the National Library of Ireland’s collections (Lawrence, Poole, Eason and others) with no known copyright restrictions. Each credit opens the image’s page.
Dublin’s building boom came from 1946 to 1980: 35% of its homes
Against a typical 3.9%, 8% of Dublin’s homes went up between the wars. From 2011 on, Dublin built 7.6% of its homes; the typical town built 5.8%. Dublin added comparatively little in the 2000s: 17% of its homes, the typical town 25%.
Census 2022, households by the year their home was built (CSO, Small Area Population Statistics, CC BY 4.0); the typical town is the middle Irish town of 2,500 or more.
1,020 notable people born in Dublin before 1900
The 20 best known on one timeline, earliest first.
Everyone born in Dublin → Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Dublin and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin | 1,263,219 | 6,782 | 0 | 1,833 |
| The Liberties | 18,460 | 191 | 8 | 222 |
| Christchurch | 6,778 | 122 | 4 | 122 |
| Dolphins Barn | 18,799 | 188 | 7 | 65 |
| Temple Bar | 7,276 | 607 | 26 | 187 |
| Portobello | 5,732 | 408 | 5 | 10 |
| Stoneybatter | 18,644 | 326 | 3 | 48 |
Dublin in brief
Old houses are part of Dublin’s character: 9.1% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. Oscar Wilde (1854), George Bernard Shaw (1856) and Jonathan Swift (1667) are among the 1,020 people born here before 1900.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The National Inventory. The State’s survey of post-1700 buildings, made county by county since 1990 (NIAH); a few records are older. It records; it does not protect.
- Ratings. International and National: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Regional: in its region. Local and record-only buildings get no page here.
- Archaeology. The Sites and Monuments Record (National Monuments Service) lists known archaeological sites; the national monuments to visit and the sites with an encyclopedia article get pages here.
- Protection. Both registers are surveys, not protection: a building is protected by its council’s Record of Protected Structures, and no national open list joins the 31 councils’ records.
- The grade. Ireland’s History grade is not built yet: the page describes, and gives no grade.
Questions about Dublin’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Dublin?
6,782 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
How old are the homes in Dublin?
9.1% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town.
Are the buildings on this page protected?
Being on the National Inventory or the Sites and Monuments Record is a record, not protection by itself: buildings are protected by their council’s Record of Protected Structures, which each council keeps and no national open list gathers, so this page can’t say which are on it.
History is described here, not graded.
Source: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0); Wikidata (CC0).
Sources: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (buildingsofireland.ie) · Sites and Monuments Record and the National Monuments Service’s monuments to visit · CSO Census 2022 (homes by the year built) · Photos: Wikimedia Commons, including the National Library of Ireland’s collections, each credited with its licence and copied to our own server · Wikidata and English Wikipedia for people born here · Wikidata (CC0) for other names and articles. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).