The Liberties has a number of great local parks and restful gardens to enjoy. Ongoing investment by Dublin City Council has seen some older parks refurbished, while two new community parks – Weaver Park at Cork Street and Bridgefoot Street Park – have been developed. The area’s green spaces and gardens offer a wide range of different attractions and amenities, and many have historic settings.
This beautiful city park, situated beside Saint Patrick's Cathedral, is considered by tradition to be the site where St. Patrick baptised some of the first Irish Christians, using water from the River Poddle which now flows underground. Developed by Edward Guinness, Lord Iveagh under the St. Patrick's Park Act of 1897, this formal garden was completed in 1904 to a design by Arthur Dudgeon. With the stunning backdrop of the Cathedral, the park includes a playground, formal planted areas set around a central fountain, the Dublin Literary Parade featuring well-known Dublin writers and their works, some wonderful sculpture and a small cafe and public toilets. The park is open daily and features a Books & Browsables Market each Sunday .
Weaver Park is one of two community parks recently developed in the area. The park includes a skate bowl and integrated features for skateboarding, a playground modeled on the historic gable houses once common to the area, an open lawn and beautiful planted areas. The main park entrance evokes the traditional weaving looms of the area. The park is open daily.
This small park, which has been recently restyled, forms a beautiful setting to the medieval church of St Audoen's, the city's oldest surviving parish church. The park includes a sunny terrace, a series of sensory play pieces to amuse young and old alike, and a number of historic markers and features uncovered as archaeology during its recent refurbishment. The park also includes the most imposing remaining section of the Anglo Norman city walls of Dublin, including St Audoen's Gate. A memorial at the west end of the park remembers children who lost their lives in the events of Easter Week 1916. The park is open daily.
The Peace Park on Christchurch Place was originally laid out in 1988 to mark Dublin's millennium. The park has been recently restyled and now offers a lovely respite along the busy Dubline tourist trail through the city. At its centre, a simple raised lawn grows in soil from the Fields of Flanders as a touching marker to the dead of World War I. A sculptural piece at the rear of the park represents the Tree of Life. The adjoining ruin is the former Church of St Nicholas Within. The park is open daily.
This small park off Thomas Street was originally the graveyard attached to St Catherine's Church. The park includes a simple formal layout of paths, some fine trees and a series of 18th & 19th century gravemarkers. The sculptural piece Adult and Child Seat by Jim Flavin was installed in 1988 as part of a Dublin Millennium art commission. The east wall is the oldest feature of the park and dates to the 17th century. It was recently conserved by Dublin City Council.
This sunny terrace is formed by part of what was the north churchyard of St Luke's Church - a local parish church that closed in the 1960s and languished as a ruin for a number of decades. The old church has been conserved and repurposed as a contemporary office. The small park includes beautiful seasonal planting displays and seated areas. The park is open daily.
The historic graveyard to the rear of the former St James's Church of Ireland is among the most historic in the city. The old church is now Pearse Lyons Distillery, having been beautifully restored by the Lyons family in 2018. A conservation programme is now underway to restore the graveyard and open it as an historic site. One of the city's oldest graveyards, St James's is estimated to hold up to 100,000 burials. Set on a steep hill running down to the Liffey valley, the graveyard includes many fine memorials and some notable internees. St James's is expected to reopen to the public in 2023.
This small urban square is part of the Tenters estate, one of the first public housing schemes completed by the new Irish State after independence. The simple square includes cherry trees and small lawns with wildflower planting.
The Liberties' newest amenity at Bridgefoot Street is one of Dublin's most sustainable new parks. Embracing an ethos of recycle and reuse, the park is filled with quirky recycled features, a textured landscape including a spectacular mound, over 180 trees and beautiful wildflower planting. The park includes a cafe and toilet, a community garden called Taplin's Field in memory of local activist for green spaces Ritchie Taplin and a playground. The park is open daily.
Running along the south boundary of St James's Hospital and tracing the original alignment of the Grand Canal from the old harbour alongside St James Gate Brewery to Suir Road Bridge, this linear parkland is an important amenity area for Rialto. The parkland is now being reinvented in phases, blending walkways, active and passive play areas, new planting with a new cycleway and functional areas at Luas stops. A small cafe can and terrace can be found at Fatima Luas stop.