Dublin’s Rose Gardens
It’s high summer in Dublin which usually means warm weather and hazy sunshine interspersed with soft grey clouds and rain. But this week we are having extraordinary July weather with temperatures reaching 27-28 degrees making it possible to really enjoy the gorgeous parks we have in Dublin. And there is so much you can do from feeding the ducks in St Stephens Green, being literary and hanging out with Oscar Wilde in Merrion Square or finding peace in the gorgeous green-ness of the Iveagh Gardens. And in these lovely parks the roses are out in abundance, and what better weather to reveal their heady scent. If you fancy a spot of Rose-spotting in the city’s finest parks now the weather is fan-didily-tastic, here’s my top 5 favourite Rose Gardens to visit in Dublin.
The most famous and talked about Rose Garden in Dublin is in St Anne’s Park in Raheny/Clontarf. A former Guinness residence it has an amazing array of varieties all laid out in a stately fashion.
2. The Rose Garden, Trinity College Dublin
In a quiet corner of Trinity away from the hustle and bustle of Front Square near the Rugby and Cricket fields lies a sheltered spot behind cherry trees which has benches dotted around- this is the Rose Garden. There are roses rambling up the wrought iron railings and along the borders from wild Irish to perfect garden varieties, its a pretty place to read a book or have a lover’s tryst.
While Merrion Square does not have a dedicated space to roses they can be found intermingled in different beds throughout this lovely Georgian square. (See picture above of yellow roses taken in the park). While it might lack a Rose Garden Merrion Square has Oscar Wilde himself perched in a corner and what better man to peruse and contemplate the beauty of a rose with?
“Be happy, cried the Nightingale, be happy;
you shall have your red rose.”
The Nightingale & The Rose, Oscar Wilde
4. Powerscourt Gardens, Co Wicklow
Ok, so Powerscourt Gardens in Co. Wicklow are not technically in Dublin but as its so easily accessible and it has such a fine Rose Garden I thought it must be included in my top 5. There are a number of individual gardens which make up the glorious Powerscourt Gardens, but the Rose Garden is magnificent, the roses are just beautiful and wonderfully fragrant and set into colour categories; a favourite of mine being the deep ruby, red rose patch. (See below)
Painting the Roses Red, Rose Garden, Powerscourt
5. The Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin
The magnificent National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin has been growing roses since 1795. There is a spectacular circular rose garden which makes you feel like you are in the children’s storybook Alice in Wonderland. Other claims to fame is the ‘Last Rose of Summer’, grown from a cutting taken from Jenkinstown House, Co. Kilkenny. The traditional tale says that it is the rose that inspired the famous ballad written by Thomas Moore.
Wild Rose, Trinity Rose Garden, Dublin
All photographs by Ruaruth