The 'Green' has been a haven of peace for over 125 years. But this year there are extra reasons to visit the park, writes Rosita Boland
It has to be the best-loved space in central Dublin. It's true that the national museums hold many priceless pieces from our heritage, but inside the railings of St Stephen's Green is Dublin's greatest civic treasure: 22 acres of flowers, ponds, fountains, trees, grass, and space, freely open to all.
On July 27th, St Stephen's Green - or "the Green" as it always been known - will have been open to the public for exactly 125 years. While it has always been appreciated by those who use it, it's likely that the Green has come to mean even more to Dubliners in recent years. With the ever-encroaching spread of housing and apartment blocks, the city's park is more than ever a rare, tranquil island of scented green. It's even considerably quieter in there: the trees that line the railings serve to muffle the sound of the outside traffic, so what you hear instead of cars and lorries and sirens are birds.
One of the many wonderful things about the Green is that there are no signs instructing you not to walk on the grass. You are free to walk - and sit, lie, picnic, sunbathe and read - on the grass almost everywhere, except the formal planted beds in the centre. It's open from sun-up to sundown, and the signal that the gates will be locked is still the tolling of a bell being rung by a warden as he walks around the park in the fading light.
"We've never done a count of the people who pass through every day, but the path from Leeson Street through Stephen's Green must be the most walked public path in Ireland," says Margaret Gormley, the park's resident superintendent. Gormley lives with her young family in the Queen Anne-style house on the Cuffe Street corner of the Green. The park superintendent has always lived here; the house comes with the job.
To mark the 125th anniversary, there will be various celebrations within the Green from July 20th until August 1st. However, the Green has been in existence as a park for much longer than a mere 125 years. There had long been a marshy common on the site, which was used for public grazing. In the early 19th century the area was redesigned; the walls which had surrounded it were pulled down and replaced with railings. A gate went up, and was kept shut and locked. All but local residents who lived in houses around the square were excluded from entry and it became accessible only to keyholders. Closing the Green to the public was not a popular decision, and it was openly resented. Sir Arthur Edward Guinness (Lord Ardilaun) grew up in what is now Iveagh House, on the Green, and was regularly brought there as a child. He was of the enlightened and philanthropic opinion that it should be open to all Dubliners, and not just to a privileged few.
In 1877, he secured the passing of an Act which took the Green out of the hands of those people who lived on the square and entrusted its upkeep and maintenance to the Commissioners of Public Works. Guinness also invested £20,000 of his own money into laying it out more or less the way it is today. He landscaped the gardens, and put in the fountains with their lovely cast-iron bulrush centrepieces, and the artificial ponds.
TEN YEARS AFTER it reopened, the bandstand went up, paid for by the Dublin Metropolitan Police to commemorate Queen Victoria's Jubilee. Among the many statues and memorials hidden away among the trees and shrubs are those of James Joyce, WB Yeats, James Clarence Mangan, Thomas Kettle, Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet, Countess Markievicz and Sir Arthur Edward Guinness. His statue was erected in his own lifetime, a fact which must have pleased him a lot, especially as it faces onto the side of his old home, Iveagh House.
The Fusilier's Arch which stands at the Grafton Street entrance was put up in 1907 to commemorate those men of the Royal Fusiliers who were killed during the South African war of 1889-1900. It was shot at during the Rising of 1916, and you can still see the large and distinctive marks left by the bullet holes in the arches. The Green was taken over, and trenches dug along the sides. The glasshouses were used as a hospital. Also in 1916, Countess Markievicz commandeered the park superintendent's house for a meeting and instructed that tea and sandwiches be provided. When asked by the then superintendent to whom they should send the bill, the Countess replied, "to the government of the Irish Free State".
In 2000, Bono and the Edge were photographed in the Green, exercising their rights as citizens who had newly received the Freedom of the City of Dublin. They had with them a lamb apiece: apparently a by-law exists that states Freemen of the City can graze their sheep on common ground in the city.
"When the Office of Public Works made their first report about the Green in 1880, it stated the Green was so populous that it was difficult to cut the grass," Gormley says. "It's still the same today."
Green party events guide
At the bandstand
July 20 Army No 1 band, 1pm
July 21 Manchester University Wind Orchestra, 1pm
July 22 Garda Band, 1pm
July 23-30 Face-painting, Punch and Judy, magic shows beside bandstand, 11am-1pm
July 25 West Coast Jazz, 1pm
July 27 World premiere of Enclave, composed and performed by Benjamin Dwyer and Vox 21, 1pm
Tours
July 26 Historical tour of Green with park superintendent Margaret Gormley, meet Fusiliers Arch, 1pm
Gardening/wildlife
July 23 Gardening talk with Gerry Daly, meet at bandstand, 1pm
July 28 Summer bedding demonstration with head gardener Eileen Brennan, meet at floral panels in centre, 1pm
July 29 Wildlife field trip looking at the Green's flora and fauna with Eanna Ni Lamhna, 1pm
• All events are free. More information from 01-4757816