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• There are twelve Dublins in the United States and six in Australia.
• There was once a large statue of Queen Victoria in the Garden outside Leinster House. It was taken away when the Republic of Ireland became independent and in 1988 was given as a present to the city of Sydney, Australia to mark that city's 200th anniversary.
• There are forty six rivers in Dublin city. The river flowing through Rathmines is called the River Swan (beside the Swan Centre). The Poddle was once known as the "Tiber' and was also known as the River Salach (dirty river), which is the origin of the children's song "Down by the river Saile". It is also the river whose peaty, mountain water gave Dublin its name ['Dubh-linn' = Black Pool].
• Dublin's O'Connell Bridge was originally made of rope and could only carry one man and a donkey at a time.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 and was first called 'Carlisle Bridge'.
• There is a fountain in College Green with some statues of angels. This stands on the spot where there was once a statue of King Billy [William of Orange] on a horse. It was blown up six times before being completely destroyed by a bomb in 1946. The wreck was taken to a corporation yard and the horse's huge lead testicles were melted down and used to repair a pipe.
• Newman House on St. Stephen's Green, has a colourful history. It takes its name after John Henry Newman, first Rector of the newly-formed Catholic University following the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland (the protestant/Anglican church). Newman later became Cardinal and led a significant catholic revival in the later 19th century. Newman House was originally owned by Buck Whaley, a notorious gambler. Whaley made a bet that he would walk to Jerusalem, play a ball against its walls and return to Dublin within a year. Incredibly, he undertook the expedition successfully but it cost him £8000 to do so (a huge amount of money at the time). Happily, he won the bet and made a profit of £7000! (Byrne 1987)

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