Press release
Minister O’Donovan announces Steering Group for Phoenix Park Transport and Mobility process and celebrates 9 Green Flags for OPW sites nationwide
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Published on
Last updated on
Earlier today, Minister for the Office of Public Works, Patrick O’Donovan TD, announced that he had established a steering group to oversee the process of developing new transport and mobility plans for the Phoenix Park. Following the reopening of the side gates in the Park in July, work has been ongoing between key stakeholders - the National Transport Authority, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council and the Office of Public Works. The CEOs of all 4 organisations will make up the Steering Group that has been asked to report back to the Minister this Autumn with a range of options to address transport and mobility challenges in the Park.
Speaking from the Walled Garden in the Phoenix Park, the Minister said he was pleased that these agencies had agreed to work together with the OPW to develop options to bring forward to public consultation in the months ahead.
The Minister was also on hand to mark the announcement today of 9 Green Flag awards to OPW managed sites. The Green Flag Awards, administered by An Taisce in the Republic of Ireland, recognise and encourage the provision of good quality parks and green spaces that are managed in environmentally sustainable ways. The awards are marked on eight criteria, including horticultural standards, cleanliness, sustainability and community involvement.
St. Stephen's Green Park, Castletown Demesne, Derrynane Historic Park, Fota Arboretum & Gardens, Garinish Island, Grangegorman Military Cemetery, the Irish National War Memorial Gardens, the Iveagh Gardens and the Phoenix Park were awarded the Green Flag today.
In addition to the Green Flag award, the Irish National War Memorial Gardens is the only site in the Republic of Ireland to have been awarded Green Heritage Site Accreditation. The Victorian Walled Garden, Phoenix Park is the category winner for walled gardens and Castletown Demesne was the category winner for country parks in the 2020 Pollinator Project Awards.
The Green Flag Award and Green Heritage Site Accreditation is a great catalyst for delivering improvement and engaging with the needs and expectations of visitors.
Welcoming the news, Minister O’Donovan said
I am delighted to see that the OPW has been awarded these flags which highlights the wonderfully diverse parks in our care. I particularly would like to congratulate all the OPW staff whose dedicated work and commitment to each property has contributed towards these Awards. The OPW places great importance on the sustainable management and conservation of the State’s Heritage sites, and the Green Flag Awards scheme is a wonderful way of recognising and celebrating these high standards.
The Green Flag Award Scheme supports best practice management of parks and green spaces across 15 countries including Australia, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States of America., and has been running in Ireland since its pilot in 2015.
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A full list of OPW Heritage Sites are available on heritageireland.ie
For further information, please contact pressoffice@opw.ie
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Located in the heart of Dublin City, St. Stephen’s Green Park is Ireland’s premier Victorian Square. At just under 10 hectares in size, the ‘Green’, as it known to all Dubliners, is enjoyed by millions of visitors annually, yet it is also valued for its sense of peace and tranquillity in the centre of an urban metropolis.
Today’s layout is credited to Lord Ardilaun, of the Guinness Brewery Family, who introduced the St Stephen’s Green Act 1877 and set about its re-design to include lakes, fountains, waterfall, lodge, walks and plantations.
The Office of Public Works has been responsible for the conservation and management of the Green for the last 135 years, and continues to conserve and present this wonderful Victorian park for today’s citizens. The children’s play park, ‘Garden for the Blind’, floral displays, herbaceous borders, lime walk and extensive tree and shrub plantings make for a pleasuring of the senses.
Seasonal events such as historical re-enactments, family and tree days, and lunchtime musical performances in the bandstand not only show off the site’s flora and fauna but the strong, cohesive force of an urban landscape bringing together a local community and visitors from further afield. The Green has truly national and international appeal.
Castletown Demesne is the designed landscape that surrounds Castletown House. It is an area of approximately 90 hectares consisting largely of a mixture of grassland and woodland on the outskirts of Celbridge, Co. Kildare.
Castletown House was built for the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, William Conolly, between 1722 and 1729. Castletown House was Ireland’s first house built in the Palladian style.
The eighteenth century Castletown landscape has survived remarkably well and it is still possible to stroll along Lady Louisa’s river Liffey walks and see the Temple and the remains of the Bathing House. The Meadow in front of the house is a semi-natural meadow and flowers from February – October, which hosts many wild flowers including pyramidal orchid and lady's bedstraw and provides an important habitat for butterflies and bees from very early spring to autumn. The parklands and river walks are open every day throughout the year.
Many events take place in Castletown Demesne every year, including National Dawn Chorus Day, National Drawing Day, Farmers’ Market and the host of cultural and musical events which are held in Castletown House.
Derrynane House, situated on the tip of the Iveragh Peninsula at Caherdaniel in County Kerry, is the ancestral home of Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847), lawyer, politician, statesman, and one of the great figures in modern Irish history.
Derrynane was transferred to the state in 1964 and most of the old demesne is now included in Derrynane National Historic Park, an area of approximately 120 hectares managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW). The lands are rich in natural and cultural heritage, with a unique combination of archaeological, architectural, horticultural, botanical and ecological features.
Derrynane National Historic Park has 1.5km of shoreline with sand dunes and beaches, including a Blue Flag beach. The dunes contain rare animal and plant species including Natterjack Toads and the Kerry Lily, as well as a suite of native orchid species. There are a variety of trails throughout the grounds, including a section of the Kerry Way, a Seashore Nature Trail and a Mass Path.
The gardens have a plant collection of great significance and endangered plants from South America have been established as part of the National Botanical Collection in partnership with the Royal Edinburgh Botanic Garden.
The surrounding area is rich in archaeological sites and the park itself contains an Ogham stone, a small ring fort, souterrains, a Mass Rock and the ruins of Ahamore Abbey, on Abbey Island (dating to 10th Century).
The property is very family friendly and has great tourism value and potential. Derrynane House and National Historic Park is a Discovery Point on Fáilte Ireland's highly successful Wild Atlantic Way route.
Fota House, Arboretum and Gardens are located 12 km from Cork City in the shelter of Cork harbour. The Arboretum contains an extensive collection of trees and shrubs extending over an area of approx. 11 hectares (27 acres) and includes features such as ornamental pond, Italian and walled gardens. The internationally recognised arboretum and gardens are open all year round and are a haven for relaxation and enjoyment. “Fota” is derived from the Irish “Fód te” meaning warm soil – perfect for the growing and cultivation of rare trees and exotic plants.
The delightful and tranquil gardens at Fota were laid out by James Hugh Smith-Barry in the first half of the 19th century and include the palm walk, orangery, and the atmospheric Victorian fernery. The arboretum has a world-renowned collection of rare tender and exotic trees and shrubs from the southern hemisphere. The development of the Arboretum coincided with the great plant hunting expeditions around the world bringing back wonderful specimens from exotic locations. Not only do they play a major role in educating and informing visitors, this is a stunning recreational area for all to enjoy the beauty and richness of one of the finest collections of rare and tender trees and shrubs grown outdoors in Ireland and Britain.
Located in the sheltered harbour of Glengarriff in Bantry Bay, Ilnacullin / Garinish Island is a small island (15 hectares) known to horticulturists and lovers of trees and shrubs all around the world as an island garden of rare beauty. The gardens of Ilnacullin (Island of the Holly) owe their existence to the creative partnership of John Annan Bryce and Harold Ainsworth Peto over a century ago.
Bequeathed to the Irish people in 1953 and managed by the OPW, Garinish Island (Ilnacullin) is a designed historic garden of international significance, with a world renowned plant collection and unique architectural heritage. Much of the plant collection post-dates the original creation of the gardens and can be attributed to Murdo McKenzie and Roland Bryce.
The property is a destination for local, national and international visitors. In excess of 65,000 people visit Garinish Island annually and enjoy its gardens and also Bryce House, which was fully restored and opened to the public in 2015.
The gardens are extensive, incorporating a range of features e.g. annual bedding, herbaceous borders, heather banks, hedging, shrubberies, tree plantations, bog garden, fern garden, ponds, glades, lawn and walled gardens.
Ireland’s largest Military Cemetery, Grangegorman Military Cemetery, was opened in 1876 to serve as a graveyard for the soldiers and their families, of what was then Marlborough Barracks (now McKee Barracks).
Grangegorman Military Cemetery is an oasis of peace and tranquillity, a near picture perfect Victorian garden cemetery. The mature tree collection of over twenty-six species in this small site adds to its solemn and reflective atmosphere. From mature copper beech to coastal redwoods, the trees stand like guardians throughout the grounds.
Grangegorman Military Cemetery contains the graves of soldiers who served in the Crimean War 1854-1856, World War I 1914-1918, World War II 1937-1945, War of Independence 1919-1921 and the Easter Rising 1916. The Graveyard contains six hundred military burials, including a memorial to the Unknown Soldier and 140 service men that lost their lives with the sinking of the R.M.S Leinster mail boat off the coast of Dublin.
These gardens are one of the most famous memorial gardens in Europe. They are dedicated to the memory of 49,400 Irish soldiers who died in the 1914 – 1918 war. The names of all the soldiers are contained in the beautifully illustrated Harry Clarke manuscripts in the granite book rooms in the gardens.
The gardens are not only a place of remembrance but are also of great architectural interest and beauty. They are one of four gardens in this country designed by the famous architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) (the others being Heywood Gardens, Lambay Island, and those in Howth Castle).
Sunken rose gardens, herbaceous borders and extensive tree planting make for an enjoyable visit to the gardens in any season.
The Iveagh Gardens are among the finest and least known of Dublin's parks and gardens. They were designed by Ninian Niven, in 1865, as an intermediate design between the 'French Formal' and the 'English Landscape' styles. They demonstrated the artistic skills of the landscape Architect of the mid 19th century and display a unique collection of landscape features which include Rustic Grotto's and Cascade, sunken formal panels of lawn with Fountain Centre Pieces, Wilderness, Woodlands, Maze, Rosarium, American Garden, Archery Grounds, Rockeries and Rooteries.
The conservation and restoration of the Gardens commenced in 1995 and to date most of the features have been restored, for example the Maze in Box hedging with a Sundial as a centre piece. The recently restored Cascade and exotic tree ferns all help to create a sense of wonder in the 'Secret Garden'. The pre 1860s rose varieties add an extra dimension to the Victorian Rosarium.
The Phoenix Park at 707 hectares is one of the largest enclosed recreational spaces within any European capital city. The Park was established in 1662 as a Royal Deer Park by James Butler, Duke of Ormond, on behalf of King Charles II. The Park is located 2.5km west of Dublin City, is bounded by a stonewall 11km in length and has 22kms of roads.
The Park represents a unique natural and cultural landscape that is both a historic park and a city park and which provides a setting for a range of activities and amenities and acts as a location for a number of important public institutions and residences. As a natural and built historic park, enclosed over 300 years ago by a demesne wall, The Phoenix Park is unique in Ireland.
The Park has been managed by the OPW as a National Historic Park since it was so designated in 1986. The conservation and management of the park is guided by the Florence Charter on historic gardens as set out by ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites).