Compiled by
BERNICE HARRISON
EVEN ON AN ordinary day there’s enough to do in Dublin’s Herbert Park to while away several hours – tennis on the smart new courts, clamouring on the well-equipped modern playground or just feeding the ducks.
And that’s not to mention the walks, the fun of running around the bandstand and just being part of the atmosphere because the Ballsbridge public park has to be one of the best-used greens in the city.
Tomorrow (August 21st) the park will mark its centenary with a free family fun day from 1pm to 5pm. Activities will include a children’s model train for rides, a carousel and a climbing wall. Chess champions will be available to challenge anyone daring enough and there will be more than 40 model boats bobbing away on the pond. At the bandstand, the Army Band, Paddy Cole the Past Times band will play for the afternoon.
The Dublin 4 fields became a formal park after the Dublin International Exhibition which was held in Herbert Park for six months and is said to have attracted crowds of over 2.5 million from all over the world. The highlight of the event was the visit by King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra and Princess Victoria.
When the exhibition was finally cleared around 1909 it was decided to gate the area and landscape the grounds. Herbert Park was formally opened in 1911 by Lord Aberdeen, the Lord Lieutenant at the time.