Marlay Park
is a 121 hectares (300 acre) suburban public park located in Rathfarnham in the administrative area of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, in Co. Dublin, Ireland. Lying about ten kilometres (six miles) from Dublin city centre. The parkland comprises woodlands, ponds and walks. Recreational spaces include a nine hole par three golf course (note, however, that the course is currently being refurbished and it is unclear, when it will open again), tennis courts, BMX cycle track, fourteen football pitches, a cricket pitch, children’s playground and a miniature railway run by the Dublin Society of Model and Experimental Engineers. [1] There is also a craft courtyard with home craft shops and coffee shops.
Dublin County Council acquired the land in 1972 and developed it as a regional park. Opened in 1975, it is now administered by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. [2] Dublin Bus serves the park directly with the 16 bus, but the following buses are within walking distance: 14, 14A and 48A directly to the city centre. The 75 bus goes to Dún Laoghaire. [3] Since 2000 Marlay Park has become a popular music venue featuring both renowned national and international stars before an audience of 20,000 concertgoers.
Its name is commonly misspelled as Marley, most notably in nearby housing developments (see below).
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MARLAY PARK TICKETS
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Marlay House
Marlay House was built by Thomas Taylor and was known as ‘The Grange’. David La Touché, first governor of the newly established
Bank of Ireland acquired and extended the house in 1764 and renamed it for his wife Elizabeth Marlay.
The house, a fine example of
Georgian architecture, has many elaborate features including plasterwork by
Michael Stapleton. Marlay was sold in 1864 to Robert Tedcastle, a well known Dublin coal merchant,
whose family lived there until 1925 when Philip Love bought the house for £8,325. Love, a market gardener who was once Ireland's largest tomato producer, was also a
racehorse breeder whose famous horse
Larkspur won the 1962
Epsom Derby. He lived there until 1972 when it was donated to the Dublin County Council.
A 1.82 hectare (4.5 acre) walled garden was built near the house around 1794, and consists of a restored
regency ornamental and kitchen gardens.
The ornamental garden boasts an extensive display of period plants, ranging from
herbaceous borders to shrub beds. The Head Gardener's house,
orangery,
arbour and water features combine to create a distinctive atmosphere. Located just over the wall, the kitchen garden houses a fine collection of regency fruit trees, vegetables and associated
bothys.
Daily tours of the gardens are available in the summer months and by appointment at other times. Tea, coffee and other refreshments are available, year round, in the former gardener’s house.
Marlay Craft Centre
A number of small craft workshops are located in the courtyard adjacent to Marlay House including,
weaving,
glass cutting,
bookbinding,
furniture restoration,
copper craft,
pottery,
jewellery and
embroidery.
One of these was originally the residence of
Evie Hone whose stained-glass workshop was located in the library of Marlay House itself.
Wicklow Way
Marlay Park is the official starting point,
[4] of the 132 km
Wicklow Way an Irish
long distance walking trail, that begins at the car park adjacent to Marlay House. The trail wanders through the delightful sylvan surroundings of the park, before tunnelling under the
M50 motorway to begin its first ascent southwards towards the Dublin hills and the first of several forest vistas on its way southward over the
Wicklow Mountains to
Clonegal,
County Carlow. The Wicklow Way website estimates that walkers should allow 7 hours for the first 21-km section to
Knockree.
[5]
Marley Grange
Marley Grange, developed in the 1970s, is one of several
housing developments adjacent to Marlay Park and contains five roads named "
Marley
": Avenue, Drive, Walk, Close and Grove. Residents assume that the developer misspelled the name when naming the roads.
Concerts
The following is a partial list of performances:
- 1999: Westlife
- 2000: Samantha Mumba, Madasun, Naimee Coleman, Birth, The 4 Of Us, Girl Thing and Relish
- 2001: Van Morrison, Sting, Jeff Beck, David Gray,
- 2002: Santana, Bryan Adams, Paul Weller, Picture House, Meat Loaf and UB40
- 2003: R.E.M. (with Orager and Starsailor)
- 2004: Dido (with Scissor Sisters), The Frames (with Supergrass) and The White Stripes
- 2005: Oasis, Coldplay (with Morning Runner and Interpol) , The Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx, Underworld,Mylo and Anastacia
- 2006: Radiohead (with Beck and Deerhoof), Snow Patrol, Morrissey, Daft Punk, Faithless, Kasabian, The Dandy Warhols
- 2007: Crowded House, Peter Gabriel, Aerosmith, The Who, Chris Cornell, Foo Fighters (backed by Nine Inch Nails & Silversun Pickups), Damien Rice (backed by Fionn Regan, Willy Mason, Guillemots, and KT Tunstall), Kaiser Chiefs and The Fratellis (backed by Ash, The Blizzards and Royseven)
- 2008: Muse [6] [7] (with Kasabian and Glasvegas), Lenny Kravitz (with Alanis Morissette, OneRepublic and The Script), Metallica [8] [9] (with Tenacious D and Sweet Savage), The Killers [10] (with special guest Bloc Party [11] and Louis XIV), Lovebox Dublin Weekender
References
- Marlay Park Facilities
- History Of Marlay House
- Dublin Bus Route 16
- An Overview of the Wicklow Way
- Marlay Park to Knockree
- Muse to play Marlay Park..
- Exclusive: The Muse Interview..
- Metallica to play Marlay Park…
- Metallica are coming to Dublin..
- UPDATED: The Killers to play Marlay Park…
- Bloc Party added to Killers bill…