The Iveagh Gardens

If you’re taking a break from studying English in Dublin and find the park in St. Stephen’s Green a bit too busy, then why not go up the road to the Iveagh Gardens?

This park is a bit off the beaten track and is an oasis of serenity in the busy city. It’s a great place for a picnic or a lunchtime chat over a cup of coffee. There’s lots of open grassy areas where you can also kick a ball around.

The Iveagh Gardens are located right next to the National Concert Hall. To mark the proximity, there is a statue of the famous Irish singer John McCormack in the park. It is also very near to the recently established MoLI, the Museum of Literature Ireland. The Luas stop at Harcourt Street is also just round the corner. It’s in the heart of the city, yet also a tucked away quiet enclave.

The Iveagh Gardens started life as an earl’s lawn, then went on to play host to the Dublin Exhibition Palace in 1865, designed by Ninian Niven. It reopened in 1995, with many of the original Victorian features still in place having been restored and preserved, such as the rose garden.

Many pieces of ruined statuary are dotted around the park and can be seen hidden in the hedges, made to look like relics of Greek and Roman antiquity. There are many attractive fountains plus a scenic artificial waterfall, the cascade of which is particularly fine in the summertime.

Also worthy of note is the hedge maze, with an antique sundial in the centre. The maze walls are very low, so it’s great for children to play in. If you go in, be careful that you don’t get lost!

The Iveagh Gardens is also an attractive location for cultural events to take place. In the summertime, open-air concerts are often held in the Iveagh Gardens. Sometimes there are also open-air presentations of Shakespeare plays. International food markets also sometimes set up their stalls. For instance, here is a list of some upcoming concerts that are scheduled to take place this year:

• July 9th: Caribou
• July 10th: Damien Dempsey
• July 11th: James Blunt
• July 16th: Aslan
• July 17th: Pixies
• July 18th: Sinead O’Connor

All in all, the Iveagh Gardens is an exciting and lively place to visit! If you’re looking for ways to spend your time when taking a break from studying English in Dublin this summer, you could not do better than go to the Iveagh Gardens. It’s rightly known as Dublin’s ‘Secret Garden’…