0:00:34 > 0:00:36Sprawling out from the River Liffey
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Dublin is home to more than a million people.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42That's over a quarter of the Republic's total population.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47It was the Liffey and its link to the open sea
0:00:47 > 0:00:50that brought Dublin its prosperity.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55This is Dublin's Great South Wall.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59Built nearly 300 years ago to protect ships sailing into the River Liffey.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03On the far side of the estuary is the Bull Wall
0:01:03 > 0:01:05added a century later
0:01:05 > 0:01:09and designed to stop the sands of Dublin Bay choking the river.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15Almost two thirds of the Republic of Ireland's sea trade moves through Dublin.
0:01:15 > 0:01:21These two massive walls are still vital in keeping the seaway open.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Between them the deep shipping channel remains open at all tides
0:01:26 > 0:01:30while the beaches on either side are dried out twice a day.
0:01:31 > 0:01:36The sands stretch the full sweep of Dublin Bay.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47I'd never been here before
0:01:47 > 0:01:53but Dublin writer Fionn Davenport revels in his city's secret Riviera.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58- I never pictured Dublin like this. - I know, yeah.
0:01:58 > 0:01:59With a great huge beach.
0:01:59 > 0:02:0215 miles of beach stretching right from the north
0:02:02 > 0:02:03down to the very south.
0:02:03 > 0:02:04It's great, isn't it?
0:02:04 > 0:02:07I'm ashamed to say when I hear the word "Dublin" I just think
0:02:07 > 0:02:10pubs and pints and Guinness.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12This is how we sell ourselves.
0:02:12 > 0:02:13The great secret of Dublin
0:02:13 > 0:02:16is our beaches, we don't talk about them,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18we don't tell anyone about them, we keep them
0:02:18 > 0:02:20the way we want them, empty.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26The Irish are known for their hospitality
0:02:26 > 0:02:28whether their visitors are invited or not.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Nowhere more so than Dublin.
0:02:34 > 0:02:40In fact, historically, this city has scarcely been Irish at all.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44The history of Dublin is the history of invaders.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46Right from the very start
0:02:46 > 0:02:48it was created by invaders, populated by invaders,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51so in a sense Dublin is an invader city.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55- Who were the first people to settle here, then?- The Vikings.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58In the ninth century they came here on their raping, pillaging
0:02:58 > 0:03:01warring ways and they settled.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03And they built this trading port.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08The name Dublin comes from the Irish Dubh Linn
0:03:08 > 0:03:12and the original viking settlement was built around this "black pool"
0:03:12 > 0:03:13where the word comes from.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15Dubh meaning black, linn the pool.
0:03:15 > 0:03:16- Blackpool. - Yes.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Not something Gaelic and lyrical like,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20shining city by the sea?
0:03:20 > 0:03:22A Viking Blackpool
0:03:22 > 0:03:24that's a scary thought.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34Then in the 1100s another wave of invaders flooded up the Liffey.
0:03:35 > 0:03:36The Normans.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41They, and their English successors, would stick around for 800 years
0:03:41 > 0:03:43long enough to make a mark.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Dublin's best known brewery, Guinness,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52was founded by an Anglo-Norman family.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55And Dublin architecture still reflects
0:03:55 > 0:03:59the long-standing link across the water.
0:03:59 > 0:04:00In Ireland's capital city
0:04:00 > 0:04:02what is Britannia doing up there?
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Ah, because secretly Dublin is still a little bit British.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10It's a very English city. 800-odd years of English rule.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15Dublin was created, conceived of, developed and built by the English.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18And behind us is the Custom House, which was
0:04:18 > 0:04:22built when this was the second city of the British Empire.
0:04:22 > 0:04:23I dispute that, as a Scot.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27We were always told that Glasgow was the second city of the Empire.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30You see that's the tragedy, the Scots were lied to for so long,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33because Dublin was the second city of the Empire.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43Today Dublin takes second place to no one.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Glass and steel has transformed the old waterfront.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50It's Dubliners flooding to the Liffey now.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57This coast witnesses an event that brings thousands flocking...
0:04:57 > 0:04:59to Laytown.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Miranda Krestovnikoff has come prepared.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05No diving gear just a pair of binoculars.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Racing horses on the beach is a tradition that goes back centuries
0:05:12 > 0:05:14in Ireland.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17But today, Laytown host the last remaining race
0:05:17 > 0:05:20on the seashore held under Jockey Club rules.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Laytown is the only beach race in the whole of Europe.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28The jockeys are training in preparation for the big day.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31And I'm here to find out exactly what it takes
0:05:31 > 0:05:33for a horse to win on the sand.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40Marcus Callaghan is a local trainer and regular racer at Laytown.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Last year his six-year-old, Paris Sue, was a winner.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46For him the secret of winning
0:05:46 > 0:05:48starts with training on the beach.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51I generally walk all me horses here.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54As in the summer the ground's too hard at home.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00And to walk them in a straight line takes the pressure off their legs.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05So that's why we come up to the beach, for us to enjoy it.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12The Laytown races happen just once a year
0:06:12 > 0:06:14when the tides are lowest.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Each time the course is built from scratch.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20And each time the organisers have their own race
0:06:20 > 0:06:22to get through the programme before the tide turns.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26There's been racing here since 1867
0:06:26 > 0:06:28and there's nothing else like it.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32It's the only strand racecourse left.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35There used to be quite a number of them here,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39from Dundalk, Bettystown, Laytown, down to Skerries.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41One by one they fell by the wayside.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Erosion played a part,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46you know, stones come on the track you can't race.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49This is the only one that's left.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52And it's a unique spectacle and it
0:06:52 > 0:06:54attracts huge numbers of people.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Things are hotting up, the tension's building,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06people are placing bets.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10People have travelled hundreds of miles for this annual spectacle.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14But the fact the race is on sand makes the odds hard to calculate.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16These horses have form on turf
0:07:16 > 0:07:18and now they're performing on sand.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22So you have to take it on trust the horse will run on sand.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27They always used to say training a horse on sand shortens its stride.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30And they also said the horse couldn't quicken on sand.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32So a frontrunner had an advantage.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34So it is unpredictable, you could get
0:07:34 > 0:07:36an outsider that would come and win?
0:07:36 > 0:07:38- Yes you can, indeed. - Fantastic.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41It's fun, cos they're a holiday crowd and they back outsiders.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44We're very interested in Paris Sue, she's at 7/2.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48- Can I put a bet of 10 euros on Paris Sue? - Yes, er, 10? 10 euros.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50We want her to come in.
0:07:50 > 0:07:51'It's a six-furlong race
0:07:51 > 0:07:53'and the going is...well,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55'as good as it gets when the tide's just gone out.'
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Now, just wait until everybody's ready. Just wait.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04- < Come on! - Come on!
0:08:22 > 0:08:24With just two furlongs to go,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27Paris Sue is struggling to quicken her stride.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Come on!
0:08:30 > 0:08:32My 10 euros could be running into the sand.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36< Come on, Paris Sue!
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Close but not close enough. Paris Sue came in second.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50Blocked in behind the frontrunner she never found her true pace.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53And...there's always next year.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:08:55 > 0:08:57E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk