1. THE LIFFEY DUBLIN

2. THE LIFFEY RIVER
The Liffey was known as An Ruirthech. It starts in the Wicklow mountains, and, after travelling 125 kilometers, it crosses Dublin, the Irish capital, and flows into Dublin Bay.
The Liffey is fed by the Dodder, Poddle and Camac and divides Dublin in two.

3. This geographical division, due to a natural barrier, also divided the population into two, strongly identified with one or the other of the two sectors located north and south of the Liffey.
From the physical point of view, the division is overcome by the many bridges.The oldest and most famous is the Ha'penny Bridge pedestrian bridge, the "Middle Penny Bridge".
In the northern area, you have the most commercial and industrial neighborhoods. There are also poorer neighborhoods. In the southern part, you have the neighborhoods of Trinity College, Temple Bar, parks and residential houses.

4. The Liffey has been used since the time of the Vikings to do business and take the products from the interior of the country to the sea and then export them. Then during the period of industrial development, the Liffey was used to transport Guinness to the United Kingdom and to the other countries of the British Empire

5. The sea is not far away and the industrial port is outside the city.
Now, it is not used anymore for commercial purposes, only for a tour of the city by boat.
The sea is not far away and the industrial port is outside the city.
Some pedestrian bridges are used for concerts, painters and caricaturists.

6. THE HA’ PENNY BRIDGE
The bridge across the city River Liffey,was built in May 1816 and it was the first iron bridge in Ireland.
Now officially called the Liffey Bridge and known as the Ha’penny Bridge because until 1919 there was a half-penny charge to cross it . It was originally called Wellington Bridge, after the Dublin-born Duke of Wellington. It was renamed when the independent Irish Free State was established in 1922

7. Before the Ha’penny Bridge was built there were seven ferries, operated by William Walsh, across the Liffey.
The ferries were in a bad condition and Walsh was informed that he had to either fix them or build a bridge.
Walsh chose the last option and was granted the right to extract a ha’penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years until 1919.
The bridge was the only pedestrian bridge on the Liffey until the Millennium bridge

8. In a bad state of repair, the bridge was closed in 2001 and was reopened in December.
The bridge had become popular with lovers who put “love locks”to the railings,but they were removed from the bridge in 2013 to protect the structure.
The bridge has three lamps supported by curved ironwork over the walkway.

9. THE BECKETT BRIDGE
The Samuel Beckett bridge is Dublin's most original bridge. It is a suspension bridge supported by cables anchored to pylons, and is the second bridge built in Dublin by the architect Santiago Calatrava. The Beckett Bridge built between 2007 and 2009 combines Sir John Rogerson Quay on the south side of the River Liffey to Guild Street and North Wall Quay in the modern Docklands area.

10. This bridge is for vehicular and pedestrian traffic, thanks to a mechanism present in the base, able to open at an angle of 90 in order to let the ships pass.
The bridge is very particular and its shape recalls that of the harp, one of the symbols of Ireland.
The steel structure of the Beckett bridge was built in Rotterdam and then transported to Dublin.

11. The pylon curves northwards to a point 48 meters above the water level with 25 cables set in a harp formation. The deck consists of two pedestrian and cycle tracks, two traffic lanes and two lanes dedicated to buses. The bridge was opened to pedestrian traffic by the mayor of Dublin on December 10, 2009

12. It was created in 1997 by Rowan Gillespie .
THE FAMINE STATUES
The Famine Memorial sculpture in Custom House Quay in the Dublin Docklands.
It was created in 1997 by Rowan Gillespie .
These statues commemorate the Great Famine of the mid 19th century( ).

13. The cause of Famine is blamed on a potato disease commonly known as potato blight. Although blight ravaged potato crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, the impact and human cost in Ireland, where one third of the population was entirely dependent on the potato for food, was exacerbated by a host of political, social and economic factors which remain the subject of historical debate.

14. The sculptures consist of emaciated men and women trudging along the banks of the river, with various expressions of sadness, despair and determination.
The bronze sculptures also include a starving dog walking behind the people. They are one of the most photographed public art pieces in all of Ireland.
In the end there is a tall ship moored in the water that is set up as a famine museum.

15. The Jeanie Johnston is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Dublin.  
Over 1 million people left Ireland during the 1840s, fleeing starvation and hoping for a new life in America.  This mass emigration created a huge diaspora of people with Irish ancestry in the Americas, and later in Australia.  
The life-size figures in the museum below deck are all modelled on actual passengers who made the journey to North America on the ship.

16. The current ship is an authentic replica, built in Tralee, Co. Kerry.
The original Jeanie Johnston made 16 journeys to North America between 1847 and 1865, carrying over 2,500 people with no loss of life.
The current ship is an authentic replica, built in Tralee, Co. Kerry.
It sailed to North America and to various ports in Europe. It is docked at Custom House Quay in the centre of Dublin.