[Some of which may be true, allegedly. - Chief Sub-Ed]

submitted by Tony


1) Dublin was originally called Dubh Linn meaning Black Lake. The lake to which the name referred is the oldest known natural treacle lake in Northern Europe and currently forms the centrepiece of the penguin enclosure in Dublin Zoo.


2) Dublin's oldest traffic light is situated beside the Renault garage in Clontarf. The light, which is still in full working order, was installed in 1893 outside the home of Fergus Mitchell who was the owner of the first car in Ireland.


3) Dublin Corporation planted 43,765 deciduous trees in the Greater Dublin area in 1998.


4) Dublin's oldest workhouse closed its doors for a final time in July 1969. Based in Smithfield, the premises housed 10,037 orphan children during the one hundred and seventy years it operated.


5) Dublin's O'Connell Bridge was originally made of rope and could only carry one man and a donkey at a time. It was replaced with a wooden structure in 1801. The current concrete bridge was built in 1863.


6) There are over 10,000 prostitutes operating in the Dublin area on any given night. Most are women from Galway and Cork who were forced to flee the family farm in their home county.


7) The average Dubliner earns £33,000 per annum.


8) None of the so-called Dublin Mountains are tall enough to meet the official criteria required to claim mountain status. The Sugarloaf is the tallest 'Dublin Mountain' yet measures a mere 1,389 feet above sea level.


9) The headquarters of the national broadcaster RTE in Montrose was originally built for use as an abattoir.


10) There are 2.5 million men, 1 million women and 0.5 million children currently residing in Dublin and its suburbs.


11) The Temple Bar area is so called because it housed the first Jewish temple built in Ireland. The word 'bar' refers to the refusal of Catholics to allow the Jewish to enter any of the adjoining commercial premises.


12) The average age of a Dublin male is 33 whilst females average 28 years of age.


13) Dublin is the IT Call Centre capital of Europe with over 850,000 people employed in the industry.


14) In 1761 a family of itinerants from Navan were refused entry to Dublin. The family settled on the outskirts of the city and created the town of Rush. Almost two hundred and fifty years later the entire population of Rush can still trace their roots back to this one family.


15) Ireland's longest running Internet publication www.bowsie.com was established in Dublin in 1994.


16) Dubliners drink a total of 9,800 pints an hour between the hours of 5.30pm on a Friday and 3.00am the following Monday.


17) Women from Dublin are the least likely to become pregnant through casual sex. Women from Meath are the most likely.


18) Dublin is Europe's most popular destination with travelling stag and hen parties. There is an estimated six hundred 'pre-wedding sessions' every weekend in the capital.


19) One in fourteen Dublin women will consent to casual sex with a foreign stranger after meeting him in a public bar.


20) One in two Dublin men will consent to casual sex with a foreign stranger after meeting her in a public bar.


21) The average 25-year-old Dubliner still lives with his/her parents, preferring to spend their money on fast cars and clothes rather than a mortgage.


22) Dublin vets charge up to fifteen times more for animal health services than their counterparts outside the capital.


23) Two radio stations attract over 90% of all listeners in the Dublin area.


24) Dubliners have a one in six chance of being targeted by a pickpocket whilst in the City Centre.


25) The average Dublin smoker will light up fifteen times a day.


26) Dublin boasts more homosexuals per capita than San Francisco.


27) The converted Ford Transit used for the Pope's visit in 1976 was upholstered using the most expensive carpet ever made in Dublin. The carpet was a silk and Teflon weave and rumoured to have cost over £950.00 per square metre.


28) The Burke Brothers were Dublin's 1960's equivalent of the Kray twins. They weren't actually brothers but second cousins.


29) The largest cake ever baked in Dublin weighed a whopping 190lb and was made to celebrate the 1988 city millennium. The cake stood untouched in the Mansion House until 1991 when it was thrown out.


30) A pint of Guinness in Dublin can cost as much as £2.75 or as little as £2.10 depending on where you drink.


31) Dubliners are more likely to buy a stranger a drink than locals from any other area of the country are.


32) Dubliners are the least racist people in Ireland except when it comes to the people of Kerry.


33) The average visitor under the age of thirty will have sex with three different Dubliners during a week long visit.


35) The statue in Dublin's O'Connell Street is commonly known as the 'Whore in the Sewer' while the one at the bottom of Grafton Street is best known as the 'Tart with the Cart'.

[Don't ask what happened to no.34, I'm as mystified as you are. The Ed]

PS - this originally came from www.bowsie.com, now sadly defunct.