Saint Anne's Park
St Anne's Park (Irish: Páirc Naomh Áine) is a public park within Dublin City Council, situated between Raheny and Clontarf, both suburbs on the northside of Dublin, Ireland.
The park, the second largest municipal park in Dublin, is part of a former 202 hectares (500 acres) estate assembled by members of the Guinness family, descendants of Sir Arthur Guinness, founder of the famous brewery, beginning with Benjamin Lee Guinness in 1835 (the largest municipal park is nearby (North) Bull Island, also shared between Clontarf and Raheny). Features include an artificial pond and a number of follies, a fine collection of trees, a playground, parklands walks and recreational facilities including golf.
The estate was named after the Holy Well of the same name on the lands. Lands were purchased over time to build up an extensive property, and a large Italianate-style mansion house was commissioned and modified over several generations. The Italianate influence included references in the garden follies to ancient Roman sites and the import of actual antiquities.
Sir Arthur Edward Guinness (Lord Ardilaun), who inherited the estate in 1868, and purchased Manresa House next door, was the person most responsible for expanding and developing the estate and gardens and planted wind-breaking evergreen (holm) oaks and pines along the main avenue and estate boundaries, where they remain. Lady (Olive) Ardilaun, originally of Bantry House, County Cork, developed the gardens based on her interest in French chateau gardens, but also with eclectic influences of the Victorian era and the horticultural expertise of her Scottish gardener. Lord Ardilaun was also prominent in the Royal Horticultural Society.
Lord and Lady Ardilaun had no children and the estate passed to their nephew Bishop Plunkett in the 1920s. In 1937, he decided he could no longer maintain such a large estate and negotiations with Dublin Corporation resulted in the house and 444.75 acres (1.80 km2) of estate being sold to the Corporation for approximately £55,000 in 1939. Bishop Plunkett retained Sybil Hill (now St Paul's College) as a private residence with 30 acres (120,000 m²) of parkland, and it later became the site of St Paul's College, Raheny. In 1952 St. Paul's College acquired an additional 14 acres behind their school, in St. Anne's park, from Dublin Corporation to use as school playing fields . During the second World War, Dublin Corporation encouraged local residents to grow vegetables in allotment gardens in the estate.
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