Merrion Square Park, Dublin

Merrion Square Park is the public garden enclosed within Merrion Square, a Georgian garden square in Dublin. The square was planned in 1762 by John Smyth and Jonathan Barker for Viscount FitzWilliam, while the gardens took shape through a design competition won by Benjamin Simpson in 1792, using drawings by John James Barralet. The railings and informal paths belong to a landscape arranged with contoured grass, tree groups and planting around the perimeter.

Look for the statue of Oscar Wilde among the park’s sculptures: Wilde lived in No. 1 Merrion Square from 1855 to 1876. The square also has an extraordinary flood story.

In 1792, the Duke of Leinster reached the square’s north-east corner by boat, travelling from Ringsend through an opening in the river wall. What is now an open public garden was once accessible only to residents with a private key, until 1974.