St. Stephen's Green: A Garden Oasis in the City Centre
Once grazing land on the edge of Dublin's medieval city limits, Georgian-era improvements and a host of now-famous statuary make St. Stephen's Green a must-see stop for Dublin residents and visitors.
The green began its modern history as a private area for property owners in the surrounding houses. Access to the park was withheld from the public until 1877. What those homeowners guarded so fiercely (and which only an edict from the government could force them to share), was an exceptionally designed green space with a history dating back to ancient times.
Modern improvements have done little to change the Georgian layout and features of the park – including a large lake and ornamental gazebo – all created through an initiative of Sir A.E. Guinness, member of the influential brewing family behind the synonymous Dublin stout. Areas of today's park are carefully maintained and landscaped, including a garden for the blind with scented plants labelled in Braille.
The population of interpretive and representative statues in St. Stephen's Green include sculptures of cultural reference, political heroes (or, case depending, villains), artists and others. Here, Yeats and Joyce share space with Countess Markiewicz, while The Three Fates welcome Leeson Street visitors and Wolfe Tone's monolith guard the Merrion Row entrance.
As with many local landmarks in Dublin's city centre, St. Stephen's Green played host the Easter Rising in 1916. As bullets flew, members of the Irish Citizen Army took positions inside the park to fight off advancing British troops. Eventually the position proved to be a poor one and the fighters were forced to retreat to a nearby building to the west of the green.
Today, visitors today can enjoy outdoor concerts, family fun days and many weekend events planned each summer by local councils. On quieter days, the park's resident water fowl are happy to provide entertainment and feeding local ducks, swans and gulls are enjoyed year-round.
Posted on Mar 8, 2011 by Bridget Reilly
