St Anne's Park

St Anne's Park (Irish: Páirc Naomh Áine) is a public park and recreational facility, shared between Raheny and Clontarf, both suburbs on the northside of Dublin, Ireland.

The park, the second largest municipal park in Dublin, is part of a former 202 hectares (500 acres) estate assembled by members of the Guinness family, beginning with Benjamin Lee Guinness in 1835 (the largest municipal park is nearby (North) Bull Island, also shared between Clontarf and Raheny). Features include an artificial pond and a number of follies.

History

The estate was named after the Holy Well of the same name on the lands. Lands were purchased over time to build up an extensive property, and a large Italianate-style mansion house was commissioned.

Sir Arthur Edward Guinness (Lord Ardilaun), who inherited the estate in 1868, was the person most responsible for expanding and developing the estate and gardens and planted wind-breaking evergreen (holm) oaks and pines along the main avenue and estate boundaries, where they remain. Lord and Lady Ardilaun had no children and the estate passed to their nephew Bishop Plunkett in the 1920s. In 1937, he decided he could no longer maintain such a large estate and negotiations with Dublin Corporation resulted in the house and 444.75 acres (1.80 km²) of estate being sold to the Corporation for approximately £55,000 in 1939. Bishop Plunkett retained Sybil Hill (now St Paul's College) as a private residence with 30 acres (120,000 m²) of parkland, and it later became the site of St Paul's College, Raheny, with extensive private playing fields.

In December 1943, the main residence of St Anne's, "The Mansion", was gutted by a fire while being used as a store by the Local Defence Force and the ruins were demolished in 1968. In the meantime, just over 200 acres (0.8 km²) of the estate were developed for public housing with the central and most attractive portion comprising about 240 acres (1.0 km²) retained as parkland and playing fields.

Features

The park has a number of features, from the small Naniken River to the Duck Pond, a number of follies, a walled garden, and grand avenue, all built by the Guinness family, and from more modern times, a rockery, a famous Rose Garden and newer miniature rose garden, and Dublin's city arboretum, with 1,000 varied trees.

In early 2009, Dublin City Council's Parks Department proposed the removal of both the Rockery (which had already commenced anyway) and of the New Pond, which had been built in the 1970s, with a fountain added in the 2000s. Both developments proceeded without any public notice or consultation, and were completed by mid-2009.

Follies

The follies include a Herculanean Temple on the banks of the Duck Pond and a viewing tower (once part of the estate's mansion house) and three fortifications. An ornamental bridge high over the Naniken River had its central portion removed in the 1980s, though the Roman-style building at the mansion-side landing point remains, while a "Druidic Circle" of Giant's Causeway basalt was lost at an earlier stage. The viewing tower has been closed for many years.

Buildings

The elaborate Tudor red brick Ardilaun stables survive, and have been modernised as the Red Stables Art Centre, with public facilities (see below).

Gardens

The walled garden, including a fruit garden added to the estate by Bishop Plunkett, is now chiefly a 12 acre (49,000 m²) plant nursery for the Parks Department. Thousands of bedding plants, shrubs, trees, and floral tubs are produced annually in the nursery. There is a herbaceous garden area open during limited hours, and a fine clock tower, restored to working order in 2007. It has been proposed in early 2009 that some allotments be made available in part of the walled garden.

In 1975, St Anne's Rose Garden was opened to the public. In 1980 it was given a Civic Award by Bord Failte and the Irish Town Planning Institute, and since 1981 it has been a centre for International Rose Trials.

Sporting facilities

The park is intensively used by the public through its 35 playing pitches, 18 hard-surfaced tennis courts (some managed by Raheny Tennis Club), and a par-3 golf course. Woodland paths provide for walkers and joggers.

Visitor facilities

The red stables on market day

The Red Stables were renovated in the 1990s, and now hold artists' residences, an exhibition space and the Tir na nOg Caife open 7 days a week from 9:30am, Farmers' Market is held in their courtyard at the weekend.

Fauna

Mammals present in the park include badgers, hedgehogs, rabbits, fox, red squirrels, grey squirrels, house mice, field mice, pipistrelle bats and brown rats. Birds include sparrow hawk, woodcock and jay.

Squirrels

A grey squirrel in the park

Red squirrels were formerly numerous in the park, which was one of the last strongholds of the species in Dublin. Grey squirrels were first noticed at the Sybil Hill end of the park in 1998 and Dublin City Council were notified but no action was taken. The grey squirrels have since spread throughout the park and numbers of reds have been drastically reduced. The population of red squirrels in St Anne's is probably no longer viable^{[citation needed]} but control measures are planned.