Ranelagh Gardens

Nice spot for all ages. This little park is well used by locals. The ducks are a draw for little kids and it’s easy to access from behind Super Valu or off Ranelagh, under the Luas.

A little bit of a hidden gem, this is! A friend told me about it so I brought Mrs M here when we were out for a walk yesterday. It feels a lot more secluded than it is, given it’s proximity to the Ranelagh Road but it is very peaceful. I could see myself spending a lot of time sitting on a bench watching the ducks and fish go about their daily business!

You have to pass under a massive stone arch to reach this place, and the result is a «secret garden» feeling. At first. Deeper, the park opens up a good bit and is overlooked by apartment blocks. So the secret is spoiled. But in return you get a lake sporting swans, ducks, and surprisingly large fish. I’ll call it a fair trade.
If you can catch a few moments of sunshine, this is a reasonably nice spot to grab some lunch. There are benches set around the water, but people tend to prefer the grass embankments that rise away from the pond. From up high it feels like you are in a stadium where people have gathered to watch to geese settle their differences.
So, that’s fun.

The original Ranelagh Gardens were part of five hectares of pleasure gardens developed in 1775 by a businessman who called them after Lord Ranelagh from Co. Wicklow. (Lord Ranelagh had similar gardens next to the Thames in London.) However, the fun was not to last and the gardens were eventually sold to nuns, who became an enclosed order in 1840, thus denying the public their right to boat.
Today, the Gardens have been partially restored, but are much smaller than they used to be, consisting mainly of a bit of parkland and a nifty rectangular duck pool. During the summer months, it’s a nice place to eat a packed lunch, but if you linger too long on one of the benches, drunks are likely to come and hit you up for money.

Ranelagh Parks are hidden behind the shops in Ranelagh village between Bistro Bianconi and the AIB and can be accessed from under the railway bridge through a giant, gated arch.
It has recently come to my attention, via a history graduate friend of mine, that parks generally have a long and illustrious history and, of course, Ranelagh Parks is no exception.
Originally built, not by Lord Ranelagh to big-​up his lordiness, as you may have thought but by some 18^th century business man who must have been a big fan of the dear Lord Ranelagh or of his other gardens in London.
Now, here’s why the Ranelagh Gardens are four stars in my book: it was here that, in 1785, only two years after it’s invention, the first manned hot air balloon flight in Ireland happened. The man responsible was Richard Crosbie, a Wicklow man and a former Trinner. So, for historical reason, I will personally propose that Ireland’s first manned space mission be launched in the Ranelagh Gardens.
Back on Earth, Ranelagh Gardens are a nice place to hang for a while, although, a local resident I know tells me, there can be some young roughians around from time to time and to my eye, the parks, particularly around the entrance, could be slightly better maintained. The big pond is lovely and full of ducks. Also, if you look it up on a satellite map, or if in a couple of years you happen to be Ireland’s first astronaut, you’ll see that, from space, it’s basically a giant exclamation mark.
So four stars for a nice park with a great history and only one removed pending Ireland, at long last, joining the space race.

Dublin 6 doesn’t lack green spaces (Dartmouth Square, Mount Pleasant Square and Belgrave Square are within five minutes’ walk), but few are as secluded as this one.
Economic with the use of backlands beside the Luas station and between Victorian lanes and 1970s apartment blocks, the park is an elongated pond with some pleasantly leafy spaces at either end. Come in and feed the ducks, the pigeons, even what looked like a water vole when I was in there… Maybe opt to get a take-​away from Diep Noodle Bar and feed yourself too.
Like any good city park, it manages to feel sufficiently open and enclosed all at once.