Corkagh Park (, from ''corcach'', meaning "marsh") is a park situated in

Clondalkin Clondalkin ( ; ) is a suburban town situated 10 km south-west of Dublin city centre, Ireland, under the administrative jurisdiction of South Dublin. It features an 8th-century round tower that acts as a focal point for the area. Clondal ...

in South Dublin, between the N7 and the Old Nangor Road. The

River Camac The River Camac (sometimes spelled ''Cammock'', or, historically, ''Cammoge'' or ''Cammoke''; Irish: or ) is one of the larger rivers in Dublin and was one of four tributaries of the Liffey critical to the early development of the city. Cour ...

flows through it and within the grounds of the park there are fishing ponds. A caravan park can be found near the parks N7 entrance. The area, once Corkagh Demesne, contained two large houses, and historically also featured mills.

History

Formerly, the park was known as Corkagh Demesne, on which two large houses stood, and gunpowder mills were run. When Lewis Chaigneau bought Corkagh in the 1720s he leased a portion of the estate to Nicholas Grueber for the establishment of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

mills. Grueber ran the mills from 1716 to 1733. The gunpowder mills on Corkagh Estate, active during the 18th and 19th centuries, were regarded as a nationally important centre for the production of gunpowder and provided employment for many local people. Most of the mill buildings were situated in Kilmatead which adjoins Corkagh. Explosions were common occurrences at gunpowder mills. However, an explosion in 1787 was so big that it was felt as far away as the city and caused damage to buildings around Clondalkin. The mill building itself was completely destroyed. The

Arabin Arabin is a family name originating in Provence in the south of France, as d'Arabin or D’Arabien. Bartholomew (or Barthélemy) d'Arabin fled France after the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685. He settled in Ireland, where his descendants ...

family ran the mills in the 1790s. Corkagh Park was purchased in 1983 by

Dublin County Council Dublin County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Bhaile Átha Cliath) was a local authority for the administrative county of County Dublin in Ireland. History The county council was established by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. Its headquart ...

, and since 1994

South Dublin County Council South Dublin County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Átha Cliath Theas) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of South Dublin, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities created by the Local Government (Dublin) Act ...

have managed the park. Notable residents and visitors of the Corkagh estate included Arthur Wolfe and

Elizabeth Bowen Elizabeth Bowen CBE (; 7 June 1899 – 22 February 1973) was an Irish-British novelist and short story writer notable for her books about the "big house" of Irish landed Protestants as well her fiction about life in wartime London. Life ...

Recreation

Ireland's only purpose-built cycle track is located in Corkagh Park.

Criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time, ...

cycle races are commonly held here during the summer. The park includes other recreational facilities including a playground, pet farm, and sports pitches.

Environment

There are over 390 different species inhabiting Corkagh Park, with 20,000 trees planted in the early 1980s and 1990s. Tree specimens include Fraxinus (ash),

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ...

(oak), Tilia (lime),

Juglans Walnut trees are any species of tree in the plant genus ''Juglans'', the type genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are referred to as walnuts. All species are deciduous trees, tall, with pinnate leaves , with 5–25 leaflets ...

(walnut),

Cedrus ''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, is a genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae (subfamily Abietoideae). They are native to the mountains of the western Himalayas and the Mediterranean region, occurring at altitudes of 1,500 ...

(cedar),

Fagus Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

(beech),

Aesculus The genus ''Aesculus'' ( or ), with species called buckeye and horse chestnut, comprises 13–19 species of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae. They are trees and shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with six spe ...

(Chestnut) and

Sequoiadendron ''Sequoiadendron'' is a genus of evergreen trees, with two species, only one of which survives to the present: * ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'', extant, commonly known as wellingtonia, giant redwood and giant sequoia, growing naturally in the Sierr ...

. The

Common frog The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog, is a semi-aquatic amphibian ...

and Pipistrelle Bat, protected species under the 1976 Wildlife Act, are both found in the park.

Kestrel The term kestrel (from french: crécerelle, derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviou ...

s and other

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s have been found nesting in trees. The

hawfinch The hawfinch (''Coccothraustes coccothraustes'') is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Coccothraustes''. Its closest living relatives are the Chinese grosbeak (''Eophona migratoria'') ...

is an occasional winter visitor. The great spotted woodpecker, Ireland's newest breeding species, has been seen here recently.

References

{{Green Dublin Parks in Dublin (city)