A little over 125 years ago there were no public parks in Dublin, other than the Phoenix Park which had been opened by The Duke of Carlisle in 1865. There had, of course, despite our uncertain climate, been pleasure grounds devoted to outdoor amusements, places that people frequented in large numbers. But after a while these pleasure gardens fell out of favour.

There were some lovely squares, these were private and for exclusive use of the residents, for example Merrion Square. The population of the city was around 400,000. Conditions were very overcrowded and despite the introduction of public recreation grounds, following very serious agitation in 1830 no action was taken by the then Dublin Corporation.

However Sir Arthur Guinness, under an Act of Parliament in 1877, acquired the privately owned St. Stephen’s Green and opened it to the public in 1879. This was at a cost to himself of £40,000, a lot of money at the time.

The first public park under Dublin Corporation was Queen’s Square, so named in 1840 for the young Queen Victoria, then three years on the throne. It is now known to us all as Pearse Square.

The square was built between 1838 and 1855, comprising some 48 houses and with amenities such as piped water, main sewerage and of course a private green area for the residents. Following negotiations with the owner, the Queen’s Square Green area was purchased by Dublin Corporation at a cost of £200 and this area was laid out in typical Victorian pleasure garden style, informal paths, sunken feature, bandstand, planting of various shrubs and trees. It was officially opened to the public on 23rd April 1889 and all at a cost of £1,570.

We are all familiar with the slow deterioration of this small park from the 1950s onwards. The play ground area, tarmacadam pitch, the concrete building, the ugly fenced frontage became dilapidated and an eyesore in the area.

Today, all is different and a beautiful inner city park enhances the area for the benefit of all the residents and passers by. The new design by Patrick Curran, Senior Executive Parks Superintendent of the City Council, takes as its basis a formal layout which he noted on the 1838 Ordinance Survey map of the area.

He included a sunken cruciform path system edged with Wicklow granite leading to a raised central feature surrounded by formal planting. The three pedestrian gates are defined by the antique granite piers. I had the pleasure of selecting these with Mr. Curran, the designer.

Cast iron seats were installed at suitable vantage points and the paths were defined with castle stone pavoirs. The planting of this park comprised 90% evergreen and 10% deciduous using trees and shrubs, combined with heathers, grasses, spring and summer bedding and to complete the whole area, Pat Curran on behalf of the City Council and in conjunction with the Pearse Square Residents Association commissioned Sandra Bell to design a piece of contemporary Irish sculpture in bronze entitled ‘Harmony’. This defined the central feature. The project cost approximately £100,000. This lovely small park was reopened on July 2nd 1998.

Just one final thought– I would love to see a monument erected to the great Patrick Pearse, our great President of the Provisional Government and Commander in Chief of the Army of the Republic in this park which bears his name.