Harold's Cross Park

Name: Harold's Cross Park
Address: Harold's Cross Road, Dublin 6W, Harold's Cross, Dublin, IE
Telephone: 01 222 5278

Overview

Harold's Cross Park is a three-acre Victorian park at the centre of Harold's Cross in south Dublin. It keeps its original 1890s layout of paths, lawns and trees, and has a children's playground and tearooms.

The green it stands on appears on the oldest maps of the area, and it has a colourful history, from gallows to maypole dancing.

History

Harold's Cross takes its name from a cross that marked the boundary between the lands of the Archbishop of Dublin and those of the Harold clan of Rathfarnham. The cross probably stood near today's junction with Kenilworth Road. The Celtic Cross at the northern tip of the park was put up in 1954.

The archbishop kept a gallows on the green to keep the Harolds at bay. It was later replaced by a maypole, the centre of dancing and festivities every May until the middle of the 19th century.

In 1893 the Harold's Cross Improvement Association persuaded the Rathmines and Rathgar commissioners to buy the three-acre green for five shillings, and local businesses gave £500 towards a new park. It was designed by William Sheppard, the landscape gardener credited with St Stephen's Green and Palmerston Park, built in two months, and opened on 1 May 1894.

Getting there

The park is on Harold's Cross Road, Dublin 6W, about 2km south of the city centre, and Dublin Bus routes run along Harold's Cross Road. The Grand Canal is a short walk north, and Rathmines Library is about 15 minutes' walk east.