Merrion Square Park

Name: Merrion Square Park
Address: Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Dublin, IE
Telephone: 01 222 5278

Overview

Merrion Square Park is the garden at the centre of Merrion Square, one of the finest and most intact Georgian squares in Dublin. Restored to its historic layout, it has lawns, flower beds, mature trees, a playground and a trail of public sculpture, including the famous Oscar Wilde statue lounging on a rock.

Leinster House, the Natural History Museum and the National Gallery of Ireland line the west side of the square, and the railings on the other sides host an open-air art gallery at weekends.

History

Building of the Georgian houses around Merrion Square began in 1762 and went on for 30 years. The square soon became a fashionable address: Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, George Russell and Daniel O'Connell all lived here, and many houses carry plaques to their famous residents.

The garden itself was private for most of its life. The Roman Catholic Church bought it from the Pembroke Estate in 1930 as the site for a cathedral, which was never built. In 1974 Archbishop Dermot Ryan transferred the land to Dublin Corporation, and it opened as a public park.

Sculpture trail

The park holds one of the city's best collections of public art, including:

Oscar Wilde Memorial (1997) by Danny Osborne, across from Wilde's childhood home at No. 1
An Dún Cuimhneacháin, the National Memorial to members of the Defence Forces who have died in service (2008), by Brian King
Éire Memorial (1974) by Jerome Connor
Joker's Chair, the Dermot Morgan memorial (2002), by Catherine Greene
Henry Grattan (1982) by Peter Grant, Michael Collins (1990) by Dick Joynt and George William Russell (1985) by Jerome Connor
Tribute Head II by Elisabeth Frink, Mother and Child (1985) by Patrick Roe, Bernardo O'Higgins (1995) by Francisco Orellana Pavez and The Victims by Andrew O'Connor

Markets and events

Artists hang their work on the square's railings at weekends, and the park hosts food markets and big events through the year. See what's on below.

Opening hours

Like most Dublin City Council parks, Merrion Square Park opens at 10am every day and closes around dusk, so closing time changes through the year:

January and December: 5pm
February and November: 5.30pm
March: 6.30pm, then 7.30pm once the clocks go forward
April and September: 8.30pm
May and August: 9.30pm
June and July: 10pm
October: 7.30pm, then 6.30pm once the clocks go back

Parks with several gates may start closing up to half an hour before these times.

Getting there

Merrion Square is in Dublin 2, a five-minute walk from St Stephen's Green and Grafton Street. Pearse DART station is about five minutes' walk away, and many Dublin Bus routes pass the square. Nearby are the National Gallery of Ireland, the Natural History Museum, Leinster House, Oscar Wilde House and St Stephen's Green.

Good to know

Free entry.
Facilities: playground, sculpture trail, food market.
Wheelchair accessible.
Run by Dublin City Council Parks: call 01 222 5278 with questions about the park.