Bushy Park provides a sanctuary for nature-lovers.

Bushy Park provides a sanctuary for nature-lovers.

A NEW Terenure Walking Trail Map & Guide is to be launched on Saturday, September 2.

Starting at St Joseph's Church and ending at Bushy Park Market, this free tour lasts approximately 90 minutes.

Now this is one for the diary, the I Love Terenure group announced on Facebook.

We are soooo excited! After nearly a years work we are absolutely delighted to announce that the Terenure Walking Trail Map & Guide has just gone to print and we will be launching it at 12 noon.

Well done to all involved in compiling the content, especially our very own Ciara Quinn, Pat Liddy and of course Dublin City Council.

The new tour takes in one of the gems of the Southsides many beautiful parks - Bushy Park.

Part of an extensive open space network along the Dodder, Bushy Park extends to 20.5 hectares.

The park originated in 1700 when Arthur Bushe of Dangan, Co Kilkenny, Secretary to the Revenue Commissioners, built the house known as Bushes House on a site of four hectares.

A John Hobson became owner in 1772 and changed the name to Bushy Park, possibly after the park in London of that name.

Purchased by Abraham Wilkinson in 1791 who added almost 40 hectares to the estate, he gave it as a dowry to his daughter Maria when she married Robert Shaw in 1796.

George Bernard Shaw was a distant relative, his grandfather being a nephew of Sir Robert Shaw (1st Bart).

The Shaws were connected with Bushy Park for the next 155 years until 1951 when they sold the estate to Dublin Corporation.

In 1953, the Corporation sold eight hectares to the Sisters of Religious of Christian Education but later re-acquired two acres of woodland in 1993.

The park is noted for its woodland walks, ornamental ponds and beautiful Dodder Walk as well as catering for football, tennis boules, and children's play.

Dublin Citys first public skatepark was opened in 2006 in Bushy Park.

It consists of a concrete bowl surrounded with typical street elements. The park is open to skateboarders, in-line skaters and BMX bikes.

It also boasts a kiosk, a nature trail, boules (pentaque) pitches and 11 tennis courts that are managed in association with Dublin Parks Tennis League.

There are also band performances in the park, historical leisure walks, a pavilion, a playground, a river nd pool, a sea shelter, sports fields and wildlife.

The Terenure Village Market opens every Saturday in Bushy Park from 11am to 4pm.

The market has a mix of stalls selling artisan food products, organic vegetables, pastries, breads, confectionary, arts and crafts and much more.

There are also occasional music performances and family fun events associated with the market.

Bushy Park Native Tree Trail will help to introduce you to a selection of Ireland's native trees.

There are 15 native tree signposts in Bushy Park. To find them you can navigate your way around the park using The Native Tree Trail booklet.

They can be downloaded from http://www.dublincity.ie/main-menu-services-recreation-culture-dublin-city-parks-visit-park/bushy-park

Dublin City Council Parks Department commissioned MosArt to prepare a Landscape Masterplan and Management & Development Plan to identify management, maintenance, development and landscape design objectives for Bushy Park.

The brief required a set of consolidated guidance documents to provide the direction for future design and management decisions relating to the park.

The project was divided into two stages with the first one being a combination of professional evaluation and public consultation.

The second stage was the development of design and management objectives based on the findings of stage one.

MosArt presented their Landscape Masterplan to the South-Central Area Committee and it can be downloaded from the same address.

Read more:
New Terenure map takes in a Dublin gem - Dublin People