Dublin’s “secret garden”
Tucked away behind the National Concert Hall, the Iveagh Gardens are among the finest, but least known, of Dublin’s parks and gardens.
They were designed by Ninian Niven in 1865 as the grounds for the Dublin Exhibition Palace.
The gardens contain a unique collection of features, which include rustic grottos, sunken formal panels of lawn with fountain centrepieces, woodlands, a maze, a rosarium, the American garden, rockeries and archery grounds.
With a history dating back over three hundred years, the Iveagh Gardens are located close to St Stephen’s Green Park in Dublin city centre.
From modest beginnings as an earl’s lawn, owned by the 1st Earl of Clonmell also known as “Copper-Faced Jack”, they were later sold and designed by Ninian Niven in 1865 as the grounds for the Dublin Exhibition Palace.
Many of the original landscape features are still in place or have been restored and conserved since 1995. These include the yew maze, the rosarium, and the fountains. The cascade is a stunning spectacle in summer.
This oasis of tranquillity and beauty, just a stone’s throw from the city centre, can justly claim to be the capital’s best-kept secret.
For more information on the Iveagh Gardens history click here.
Iveagh Gardens
