Grattan Crescent Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Grattan Crescent Park | |
|---|---|
 The park in June 2024 | |
  Grattan Crescent Park  Grattan Crescent Park | |
| Type | Municipal |
| Location | Grattan Crescent, Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53°20′34″N 6°16′17″W / 53.3428°N 6.2714°W |
| Area | 2.366 acres (0.96 ha) |
| Operated by | Dublin City Council |
| Open | all year |
| Website | www |
Grattan Crescent Park (Irish: Páirc Corrán Grattan) is a public park located between the suburbs of Kilmainham and Inchicore in Dublin, Ireland. The park is bounded by Grattan Crescent road to the west and the River Camac to the east. The park closes at different times of day during the year, dependent on the hours of dusk.[1]
Originally used as a mill pond (as per an early 20th century Ordnance Survey map) to serve the nearby Kilmainham Mills via a mill race, the site was later repurposed as a park for public use. Like adjacent Grattan Crescent, the park was named after Irish politician and lawyer Henry Grattan (1746-1820) who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century from Britain.
In May 2013, Dublin City Council began advertising locally for interested parties to sign up to lease one of 40 allotments which were to be installed on a 1,600 hectare site adjacent to the park next to the River Camac.[2] Allotment holders would each pay a lease of €120 per annum to the council and a refundable key deposit of €50 to access the allotment from the park. In September 2013, Dublin Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn officially opened the Grattan Park Allotment, announcing "This allotment allows local people in Kilmainham and Inchicore to experience the pleasures of growing their own fruit, vegetables and flowers in an urban setting. It also involves locals in improving their communities and gives them greater ownership of it. Allotments are also a great way for young and old to mix and for the wider community to socialize."[2][3] According to the Dublin InQuirer, as of June 2021, there were 45 people on a waiting list to lease one of the park's (then 48) allotment plots.[4] The allotment area is fronted to the river by a small group of trees, the result of a community grafting initiative named Hard Graft.[5]
In November 2021, Grattan Crescent Park was chosen by Dublin City Council as one of five parks in the Dublin 8 area in which a 5-month pilot scheme[6] known as "Civic Dollars" would be trialled in an effort to encourage outdoor exercise. The scheme allowed visitors to any of the five parks to earn digital currency ("dollars") for every 30 minutes they spent in a park by way of a phone app through which Dublin City Council would track their park use. The dollars could then be used to receive discounts in a number of local businesses.[7][8]
