The Botanic Gardens

The National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm in summer time. There are free guided tours every Sunday at 12pm and 2.30pm

In 2010 we visited Athens in August. It probably wasn't our wisest move as temperatures were touching 40°C. During a walking tour around the ancient sites we very nearly melted but for our very clever tour guide. He brought us through the Botanic Gardens which are in the center of the city. Along the way he explained how the gardens are always a few degrees cooler than the rest of the city due to shade and moisture in the soil. We returned there a few times during our visit to the city, it was bliss!

The Botanical Gardens in Athens - a welcome respite from the heat!

While our recent spell of good weather didn't quite touched 40°C it still sent Dubliners searching for the coolest places in the city. We have lots of parks but the best place to find some shade and to cool down in is our own Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin. Here you'll find plenty of trees and a great dense coverage. Good to remember if our hot weather ever returns!

The beautiful parkland in the gardens, I'm always amazed how all the colours blend into one another.

Some of the pretty borders.

The Royal Dublin Society established the gardens in 1795 and it has grown ever since to include numerous glass houses, alpine houses, an herbarium, a library and more recently a tea house. The Botanic Gardens now cover almost 50 acres. It has become a haven for biodiversity, sustainability and conservation. The Dublin Botanic Gardens also have the rather grim accolade of having discovered the blight which caused the potato famine. In August 1845 the curator of the gardens, David Moore, made the discover but unfortunately he was unable to find a remedy.

Some of the beautiful roses. The one on the bottom right is called Rosa Ingrid Bergman, it's one of my favourites.

The Tolka River makes it's way through the gardens.

I always start my visits to The Botanic Gardens in the rose gardens and at this time of year it's really special. The roses are all in full bloom and the smell is amazing. The rose garden is a nice place to sit and relax and watch everyone else pass by! From here I move on to the pond area and check out the ducks as well as saying hello to Socrates!

Some of the sculptures in the gardens.

The new biodiversity garden complete with bees and composters!

If you follow the Tolka River through the park it will bring you to the coolest part of the gardens and by coolest I mean temperature-wise! It's amazing how sudden the temperature drops as you enter under the shade of the leaf cover. This would be a perfect place for a summer picnic but unfortunately picnics are not allowed in the gardens.

In the cool shade of the trees.

Construction on the new walkway access between the gardens and the cemetery.

The Botanic Gardens shares a border wall with Glasnevin Cemetery, recently part of the wall was removed and construction is well underway to create permanent access between the two areas. I think this is a fantastic idea, when combined the two areas will cover over 170 acres. This will provide Dubliners and visitors with an amazing open green area in the heart of the city. What better way to spend an afternoon than to take a tour of Glasnevin Cemetery and then wander around The Botanic Gardens?

One for sorrow, two for joy, three for ... ah feck it ...

More of the stunning borders.

If you do take a trip to the gardens you can check out their lovely tea rooms which serves snacks, salads and full meals or you could take a trip around the corner and drop into the Gravediggers pub which has long been a favorite of Dubliners. They serve fantastic Irish food and are rumoured to have some of the best Guinness in the city.