Although Ireland may have been populated as early as 8000BC, it was only around 5000BC that the first big chapter of early Irish history was written. Cultivating the land systematically for the first time, Neolithic farmers laid the foundations for a later economy, and went down in history for their megalithic monuments, many of which stand as witnesses of their existence all over Ireland today.

However, the race which was to leave the most prominent stamp on Ireland and is thought to have given Dublin its first name, ‘Dubh Linn’ (literally ‘black pool’), arrived roughly 4,500 years later in the shape of powerful Iron Age warriors – the Celts. Speaking a language akin to modern Irish, these tribes began to structure their newfound territory socially, culturally and politically, creating provinces and kingdoms as well introducing early law (Brehon Law). Dublin’s modern Irish name, Baile Átha Cliath (the town of the ford of the hurdles), is believed to be of Celtic origin.