Discover your local community gardens

by Fionnuala Holohan

KEY TO MAP OF DUBLIN COMMUNITY GARDENS
COLOUR CODE	GARDEN TYPE
GREEN	Residential community gardens. Although independent of local authorities, some receive local authority funding.
PURPLE	Dublin City Council (DCC) sheltered accommodation community garden. Public access is restricted.
PINK	DCC-backed community gardening initiatives. Available to the public, but access may be restricted within some housing complexes.
YELLOW	Allotments within DCC catchment area.
PINK & DOT	Educational gardens within DCC catchment area.

An open day at the South Circular Road Gardens

Garden No. 5 – South Circular Road Community Garden

A recent example of a community pushing successfully for their own food garden is the South Circular Road (SCR) or Dolphin’s Barn community garden group.

They started in 2005 as food-growing ‘squatters’ on some land behind the White Heather factory, on the banks of the Grand Canal, but were evicted in 2006.

In 2007, the group set up on land beside Sally’s Bridge on a unused green field behind Dublin Mosque and were again asked to leave as they were trespassing.

Later that year, they finally secured legal use of an abandoned car parking lot on the SCR, on a site on loan from ST Salvage Company, across the road from the original factory site, and they have been there ever since.

The group is also the subject of a short documentary premiering in Barcelona in April this year. In it they talk about how they got to where they are now, and the joys of community gardening.

For more information, visit http://southcirculargarden.blogspot.com/

Garden No. 35 – St. Andrew’s Gardening Club

St Andrew’s Gardening Club is a club for the unemployed men of the area to learn and practice the art of gardening.

Every Wednesday from 11am to 1pm, the men tend the garden with the help of an onsite qualified gardener.

The garden is cultivated all year round – producing flowers and vegetables for the houses and tables of these amateur gardeners.

DCC come around one or twice a year with seedlings and advice for the garden.

For more information, contact Brendan at St Andrew’s Garden on 01 453 0744.

Garden No. 2 – Robert Emmet Community Development Project

The Robert Emmet Community Development project in Island Street has a thriving local community garden. It started in May 1998 and has been growing since, according to Máirín Ó Cuireáin, the project co-ordinator.

“Lots of people are out and about in this weather,” said Máirín, “we’re actually full now.”

The land for the garden was provided by DCC and is used to grow vegetables, some bulbs and soft fruit, which the local residents make use of themselves.

The group also has an area for playing football and cricket, amongst other sports.

For more information, contact Máirín at 01 670 8880.

Garden No. 8 – Sophie Housing Assocation Garden

The Sophie Housing Association garden is one the tenants themselves use to grow vegetables such as potatoes.

“It’s been going for 2-3 years,” said Niamh Cullen, “and it’s really a hobby for the tenants.”

DCC support the project, which started after the original garden tended by the Sisters of Mercy was abandoned when they left.

Map and photographs courtesy of Robert Moss at the Dublin Community Forum, the South Circular Road Garden blog, and St. Andrew’s Gardening Club.