268
The name Liffe is recorded in the surname of King Cairbre Liffeachair - 'he who was fostered by the Liffey'.
c1000
The ford of Áth Cliath is already in existence. The Vikings build a simple wooden bridge - the Black Dane's, Dubhgall's or the Danish Bridge - around the site where Father Mathew Bridge stands today.
1028
Dublin has a population of approximately 4,000.
c1214
The stone bridge, granted in 1214 to the citizens of Dublin by King John, is built at a date unknown on or near the site of the older, Viking structure.
1229
The title of ‘Lord Mayor of Dublin’ is created and Richard Muton becomes the city’s first citizen. The population of Dublin has risen to approximately 8,000.
c1350
First mention of a bridge over the Liffey on the road to the west at Chapelizod.
1385
King John's Bridge is swept away by floods.
1428
A new bridge, variously known as the Friar's Bridge, the Bridge, the Old Bridge and Dublin Bridge, is built to replace King John's Bridge after a wait of over 40 years.
1640
The city population is 20,000 before plague in 1650 wipes out almost half of the inhabitants.
1662
James Butler, Duke of Ormonde, establishes a Royal Hunting Park, later to be known as the Phoenix Park.
c1700
Dublin’s population is approximately 60,000.
1753
Chapelizod Bridge, now Anna Livia, is built. It is believed to be the third bridge at this point on the river.
1759
Arthur Guinness starts brewing ales at the St. James's Gate Brewery.
1762
Merrion Square is laid out.
1768
The Queen’s Bridge, now Mellows, is built. It is the second bridge at this point on the river.
1792
Sarah Bridge, now Island Bridge, is built downstream of the old, ruinous structure.
1802
The population of Dublin is approximately 180,000.
1813
Present day Lucan Bridge opens to traffic.
1816
Wellington Bridge, now familiar as Dublin’s iconic Ha’penny Bridge, opens.
1818
Whitworth Bridge, now Father Mathew, replaces the Old Bridge of 1428.
1828
King’s Bridge, now Sean Heuston, opens to the public.
1830
The Zoological Gardens open in Phoenix Park.
1845
The Great Famine strikes and a seven year period of mass starvation, disease and emigration begins. Approximately one million people die and a million more emigrate, causing Ireland’s population to fall by between 20 and 25%.
1861
Victoria and Albert Bridge, now Rory O’More, opens to the public.
1872
The National Gallery of Ireland opens.
1875
Bindon Stoney’s new bridge, later to be named for parliamentarian Henry Grattan, opens to traffic. It replaces George Semple’s Essex Bridge of 1755.
1877
The Liffey Viaduct, a continuation of the railway line from Heuston Station across the Liffey, opens.
1879
Dublin’s newest and most easterly Liffey crossing, Butt Bridge, is opened. It has an opening span to accommodate river traffic.
1880
O’Connell Bridge opens. Farmleigh Bridge is thought to have been erected for the Guinness family around this date.
1891
The Loopline Bridge is inaugurated when the first train steams over it.
1916
Easter Monday, April 24th. Padraig Pearse, James Plunkett and James Connolly deliver the Proclamation of Independence from the G.P.O. The Easter Rising has begun.
Ownership of the Ha’penny Bridge reverts to Dublin’s city corporation, the toll is abolished in 1919.
1919
The Soloheadbeg ambush on 21st January sees two members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) attacked and killed by Irish Volunteers in County Tipperary. Thus the War of Independence begins and rages for the next two and a half years. Approximately 2,000 people on all sides would lose their lives.
1922
The Irish Civil War begins with the Battle of Dublin on June 28th. Irish Free State forces pound the Four Courts which is held by anti-Treaty Republicans. They surrender following a massive explosion on the 30th but the war will rage on for a further ten months.
1932
The new Butt Bridge opens in time for the Eucharistic Congress.
1978
The Talbot Memorial Bridge, Dublin’s first newly sited road bridge for 99 years, opens on February 14th.
1982
The Frank Sherwin Bridge opens to the public.
1984
The East-Link Bridge, Dublin’s most easterly bridge, opens.
1990
The West-Link Bridge, joining sections of the M50 high above the Liffey Valley, opens and Anna Livia Bridge in Chapelizod is refurbished and strengthened.
1999
On December 20th the Millenium Bridge, Dublin’s second pedestrian only bridge, opens.
2001
The newly refurbished Ha’penny Bridge reopens to pedestrians on December 21st.
2002
A second West-Link Bridge opens to carry southbound traffic, while the older structure carries northbound vehicles.
2003
On June 16th, Bloomsday, the James Joyce Bridge opens.
2004
The first Luas tram crosses the re-inforced Seán Heuston Bridge, which also reopens to pedestrian traffic.
2005
The Seán O’Casey Bridge opens and becomes the third pedestrian bridge on the Liffey.
2009
May 3rd, the superstructure of the Samuel Beckett Bridge leaves Rotterdam and on December 10th the completed bridge opens to the public.
2011
Cantilever footpaths are built onto Anna Livia Bridge in Chapelizod.
2013
September 2nd, The City Council votes on the name for the new bridge under construction at Marlborough St. Rosie Hackett Bridge is chosen from a shortlist containing Kay Mills, Willie Bermingham, Frank Duff and Bram Stoker.