Irish so-called "cities"

JupiterKid · 09-06-2017 08:36PM #1

So Ireland (the Republic) has 5 officially recognised cities but these are really large towns with Dublin being a mid-sized city in the global urban hierarchy.

The entire population of the country is about the same as Greater Manchester and despite people seeing Dublin as a big city, in reality it is a village at heart that is easy to navigate by walking (the city centre is pretty compact) and I'm always bumping into people I know. Compared to big cities such as London, New York and Tokyo, Dublin is small and I like it that way.

Meanwhile, Cork with a population of just over 200k would be a large town in England. Waterford, the smallest city at 50k population would hold the same population of many Dublin suburbs.

What makes a city a city? Is it facilities, amenities, population or something else - that sense of "urban?"

Do you think Dublin is a big city where people rush too much or is it just a big village at heart? There are bungalows in parts of Dublin less than 2 miles from O'Connell St.

What is your ideal size city? I don't like living in cities that are too big. Between 1 million and 5 million population is the ideal size for me.

RobertKK · 09-06-2017 08:43PM

Kilkenny is the smallest city in our country and the best one.

Kilkenny was capital of Ireland from 1641 to 1649.

Tigger · 09-06-2017 08:45PM

RobertKK wrote: »

Kilkenny is the smallest city in our country and the best one.

Kilkenny was capital of Ireland from 1641 to 1649.

i just worked out what your username means

duffman13 · 09-06-2017 08:45PM

RobertKK wrote: »

Kilkenny is the smallest city in our country and the best one.

Kilkenny was capital of Ireland from 1641 to 1649.

No prizes for guessing where you are from!

Cracking spot Kilkenny, it has a great charm but in the real world it isn't a city despite what everyone there believes

ED E · 09-06-2017 08:46PM

RobertKK wrote: »

Kilkenny is the smallest city in our country and the best one.

Kilkenny was capital of Ireland from 1641 to 1649.

Kilkenny is the four year old who insists to his parents that he's not a child.

Yourself isit · 09-06-2017 08:46PM

What's the obsession with bug cities anyway? I'm not sure that lagos is my idea of fun.

Any city over 1M is big enough.

CelticRambler · 09-06-2017 08:46PM

It's a label with an historic meaning, nothing more.

Here in France, a "cité" can be as small as a few office buildings, an estate of tower-blocks or (in my local village, population 750) the mediaeval bit in the centre (population probably about 25).

buzzinfly83 · 09-06-2017 08:47PM

Comparing Ireland cities to London, New York or Tokyo is ridiculous. Ireland is a small country hence smaller cities.

The cities you mentioned are in countries with much bigger populations.

Silentcorner · 09-06-2017 08:52PM

Actually cities, regardless of their size are very interesting places, if you combine the differences of all the Irish cities you get a much greater appreciation of the collective Irish personality...it's ll there...the humour, talent, culture....poverty, crime, bulls**t, corruption...

Anesthetize · 09-06-2017 08:55PM

JupiterKid wrote: »

Meanwhile, Cork with a population of just over 200k would be a large town in England.

Keep in mind that England and the UK has some cities smaller than Kilkenny.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smallest_cities_in_the_United_Kingdom

Mutant z · 09-06-2017 08:59PM

There should be at least a skyscraper or two built in Dublin to at least give it a look of being a modern major city.

johnnyskeleton · 09-06-2017 08:59PM

JupiterKid wrote: »

What makes a city a city? Is it facilities, amenities, population or something else - that sense of "urban?"

A cathedral and a charter.

Noveight · 09-06-2017 08:59PM

Limerick is only a city because "Stab Big-Town" doesn't sound as good.

Joe_ Public · 09-06-2017 09:00PM

Dublin's a big city by any measure. Population wise, it would comfortably fit inside the top 10 in the US. Like any city, it can be reduced to pocket-sized villages, thus making it easier to navigate.

threeball · 09-06-2017 09:01PM

Nearly every half assed village in America calls themselves a City.
Kilkenny would look like a metropolis next to most of them.
Freeport Kansas has a population of 5.

Turtyturd · 09-06-2017 09:02PM

You'd have to have lived a sheltered life to consider Kilkenny the best city in the country....absolute sh!thole.

JupiterKid · 09-06-2017 09:04PM

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Dublin's a big city by any measure. Population wise, it would comfortably fit inside the top 10 in the US. Like any city, it can be reduced to pocket-sized villages, thus making it easier to navigate.

Have to disagree with you there. Dublin is a mid-size city by global standards. Definitely not in the top 10 in the USA.

Dublin only feels big because Ireland is a small country.

Mutant z · 09-06-2017 09:05PM

Dublin is bigger than most cities in the UK and quite a lot in the US as well, although it lacks modern high rise development and a metro service, which is in the pipeline but as yet hasn't got off the ground.

looksee · 09-06-2017 09:07PM

Americans don't have the same meaning of the word city that we do though. A city is simply a center of population.

Silentcorner · 09-06-2017 09:07PM

Noveight wrote: »

Limerick is only a city because "Stab Big-Town" doesn't sound as good.

Classy!

09-06-2017 09:09PM

There are only 3 cities in England with a population over 1 million.
The actual cities themselves are mostly less then 500,000 population.
If you take a greater urban area, which includes outlying towns & villages then they are bigger.
Ireland may have big towns called cities, but a lot of cities in England are just big towns the same size

John_Rambo · 09-06-2017 09:10PM

There's small cities, big cities and megacities (excellent BBC documentary, really interesting to see the vast vast differences for anyone interested in cites).

They're the centre of culture in countries since the middle ages.

They're all different. That's what's good about them. Comparing them is great, some cities have things that other cities don't, the different cultures, practices, food, architecture... even the different ways traffic, cyclists and pedestrians interact is amazing. That's that. Call them big villages or towns, call them what you want. Either way, they're fascinating to me.

Murrisk · 09-06-2017 09:12PM

Dublin and Cork both feel like proper cities to me, despite their small size. Galway feels like a town. I don't really know enough about the other Irish cities to give an opinion on them.

4068ac1elhodqr · 09-06-2017 09:13PM

I'd class a city by it's energy, life and soul. Some large cities don't much nearly as much of a buzz about them as either Dublin nor Belfast.

Auckland, Melbourne and Toronto are that spread out, traffic jams are fairly rare and most folks just stay out in the suburbs. Vancouver is more compact and lively but still not really buzzing. Many people told me there got really tired of Adelaide, in no time. Found London slightly boring as many of the pubs closed at 11pm back then, getting across town there takes ages, even a few locals there said they much prefer the nightlife anywhere in Ireland.

Mutant z · 09-06-2017 09:16PM

Limerick feels much more like a city than Galway does, which looks more village like in comparison.

John_Rambo · 09-06-2017 09:17PM

Aden Weak Landmark wrote: »

I'd class a city by it's energy, life and soul. Some large cities don't much nearly as much of a buzz about them as either Dublin nor Belfast.

Auckland, Melbourne and Toronto are that spread out, traffic jams are fairly rare and most folks just stay out in the suburbs. Vancouver is more compact and lively but still not really buzzing. Many people told me there got really tired of Adelaide, in no time. Found London slightly boring as many of the pubs closed at 11pm back then, getting across town there takes ages, even a few locals there said they much prefer the nightlife anywhere in Ireland.

I have a London friend that prefers the (mostly illegal!!!) nightlife on one of Irelands West coast Islands than London!

Murrisk · 09-06-2017 09:21PM

Aden Weak Landmark wrote: »

I'd class a city by it's energy, life and soul. Some large cities don't much nearly as much of a buzz about them as either Dublin nor Belfast.

+1

Murrisk · 09-06-2017 09:27PM

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Dublin's a big city by any measure. Population wise, it would comfortably fit inside the top 10 in the US.

God no, not even close. Not by either city proper or metro area standards. But that's not what makes a city anyway, IMO.

blue note · 09-06-2017 09:31PM

johnnyskeleton wrote:

A cathedral and a charter.

I hear people say this a bit. Where does it come from? Is there a link to a definition or something? Is it a dictionary thing, a government thing, is it an old british thing? Or is it just something people from kilkenny say because they have a cathedral and a city charter. Serious question by the way. I am curious as to why people believe this. Is there some, none or loads of truth behind it.

Yourself isit · 09-06-2017 09:32PM

Murrisk wrote: »

God no, not even close. Not by either city proper or metro area standards. But that's not what makes a city anyway, IMO.

Its 10th if you measure just the city size. Metropolitan areas in the US include other cities and towns. Sometimes these merge, sometimes they don't.

él statutorio · 09-06-2017 09:34PM

Murrisk wrote: »

God no, not even close. Not by either city proper or metro area standards. But that's not what makes a city anyway, IMO.

I'd have agreed with you but surprisingly Dublin would be in the ball park.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population

Now I know you can split hairs etc but the surprising thing is that after the top 5, the populations aren't that big.

Irish so-called "cities"

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