July is the month of roses, and the annual Dublin City Rose Festival provides the perfect excuse – should we need an excuse – to celebrate these exquisite flowers.
Held in the city’s biggest rose garden, situated within the 270 acres of St Anne’s Park in Raheny, the festival is a showcase for all things horticultural and environmental as well as a great family day out complete with puppetry, music and goodness knows what else.
Our photo, taken in February 1962, shows the great house which once stood on the grounds of this former Guinness estate. The Italianate residence, known locally as “The Mansion”, had been in the ownership of Dublin Corporation since 1939, bought – along with 444.75 acres of land – for what now seems like the modest sum of £55,000.
The house was being used as a store by the local Defence Force when a fire broke out on Christmas Eve 1943 and, despite the best efforts of the fire brigade, raged for three days.
The shell of the building was finally demolished in the summer of 1968, leaving an absence at the heart of the park which can’t quite be filled by an abundance of exuberant follies, a thriving arts centre in the Red Stables, a healthy allotment culture and the creation of pathways along the banks of the Naniken river.
Few photos of this particular great house survive, so it’s interesting to see it.
Still, it’s a spine-chilling image. The bigger they come, the harder they fall, cry those boarded-up windows and the chaos of detritus on the facade of what must – in the late 19th century – have been the hub of one of Dublin’s most vibrant and elegant social scenes.
So solid is it, despite the fire damage and general decay, that it’s hard to believe St Anne’s House has simply vanished from the earth.
But the park is still very much there, and anyone can go along, join the vibrant social goings-on on July 21st and 22nd – and enjoy the roses.
Arminta Wallace
