An original and fascinating history of Dublin that tells the story of the city through its bridges.

Dublin started life on the south bank of the River Liffey and for six or seven centuries that is more or less where the town stayed. In all that time, there was only one bridge across the river. Then, suddenly, in the twenty years after 1670, three more bridges were thrown up and the north side was born. Within a century, Dublin was being talked of as one of the ten largest cities in the whole of Europe.

Built over a span of a thousand years, the twenty bridges that now traverse the tidal section of the Liffey have each contributed to the city's development, as it pushed through the open fields north of the river and east towards the bay, so much so that it is possible to piece together Dublin's history by tracing their construction in chronological order.


Starting with Church Street Bridge, Dublin's first, which dates back to the Vikings, and ending with Rosie Hackett Bridge, erected in 2014, Fergal Tobin charts the rise of Ireland's capital city as never before and reveals how, perhaps more than any other city in the world, it has been truly made by its bridges.

"A stunning achievement" - Irish Times

"Anyone interested in Dublin and its development will find it a joy " - Sunday Independent

"Witty, thought-provoking, wide-ranging and highly readable." - Irish Times on THE IRISH DIFFERENCE

"The beauty of this book is in the telling: The Irish Difference lays out its themes and chronologies with impeccable clarity, and is full of fascinating detail... Exemplary." - Irish Independent on THE IRISH DIFFERENCE

"You may not agree with everything Fergal Tobin says; you may not even agree with any of it. But the book is so entertaining, so well-written, and so thought-provoking that you are certainly likely to enjoy it." - RTÉ Online on THE IRISH DIFFERENCE