Date: Tuesday, 12TH February 2013
Location: The Merrion Room, RDS, Merrion Road, Dublin 4.
The Irish Georgian Society and the Irish Landscape Institute have arranged an all-day seminar on Victorian and Edwardian parks aimed at the landscape professional, the passionate gardener and the local historian alike.
Madame Olda FitzGerald will open the seminar and speakers include: Margaret Gormley, Parks Superintendent of the Office of Public Works and Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, expert on London historic gardens; Dr. Joanna Brück, writer of a study of the development of Dublin’s parks; Rob Goodbody who will examine planning issues and park conservation; and Leslie Moore, Senior Parks Superintendent, Dublin City Council.
Lunch in the RDS will be followed by a tour of nearby Herbert Park led by Dr. Mary Forrest of University College Dublin and Michael Noonan of Dublin City Council.
Price: €55 (including lunch)
Bookings can be made at www.igs.ie or on 01 6767053
Programme
8.30 am Registration
9.30 am Welcome
Madam Olda FitzGerald
SESSION 1: THE MOST REMARKABLE CURIOSITIES OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
Chair: Declan O’Leary (Irish Landscape Institute)
9.40 am Overview of Dublin’s Inheritance of Public Parks
Margaret Gormley (Parks Superintendent, Office of Public Works)
10.00 am A Social History of Dublin’s Victorian and Edwardian Parks
Dr. Joanna Brück (University College Dublin)
This presentation will consider the role played by parks (including landscaping, architecture and other features) in the creation of class, gender and colonial identities during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
10.45 am London’s Experience
Dr. Todd Longstaffe-Gowan (Landscape Architect)
Modern-day London abounds with a multitude of gardens, enclosed by railings and surrounded by houses, which attest to the English love of nature. These green enclaves, known as squares, are among the most distinctive and admired features of the metropolis and are England’s greatest contribution to the development of European town planning and urban form. Todd Longstaffe-Gowan will delve into the history, evolution, and social implications of squares, which have been an important element in the planning and expansion of London since the early 17th century. As an amenity that fosters health and well-being and a connection to the natural world, the square has played a crucial role in the development of the English capital and other European and American cities.
11.30 am Coffee break
SESSION 2: THE CARE, CONSERVATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF DUBLIN’S PARKS
Chair: Marion Cashman (Conservation Architect)
12.00 pm Conservation and Dublin’s Victorian Parks
Rob Goodbody (Consultant Planner)
This presentation looks at the essential character of our Victorian parks and what measures are available to ensure that this character can be safeguarded.
12.20 pm Devising a Plan for Conserving Dublin’s Parks
Leslie Moore (Parks Superintendent, Dublin City Council)
Leslie Moore will focus on Dublin City Council’s plan for an Open Space Strategy, one of the key objectives of which will be to conserve the heritage of Dublin City’s parks and to enhance the visitor experience. He will also highlight some of the challenges the Local Authority faces in balancing the diverse needs of citizens in Dublin City.
12.45 pm Discussion
Dublin City Council Conservation Officer, Nicola Matthews, will facilitate an open discussion to allow attendees to express opinions and to ask questions of the speakers.
1.30 pm Lunch
2.30 pm Field Trip: Herbert Park
Dr. Mary Forrest (University College Dublin) and Michael Noonan (Senior Executive Park Superintendent, Dublin City Council)
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Madame Olda FitzGerald is a native of London, but, since moving to Ireland in the 1970s, Olda FitzGerald has immersed herself in its life and culture. In 1999, Olda researched and wrote the handsome Irish Gardens, a book which highlighted the beauty of Ireland’s country house gardens. She has also written many articles about Irish houses, gardens and people for Harpers and Queen, World of Interiors and Vogue. Married to the late Desmond FitzGerald, the Knight of Glin, President of the Irish Georgian Society, she divides her time between Glin Castle, Co. Limerick, a fine Georgian Gothic house with an impressive walled garden and Waterloo Road, Dublin City. The proximity of her Dublin residence to Herbert Park makes it her local park, one where she often enjoys walking.
Margaret Gormley is a graduate in landscape horticulture from UCD. She has worked in Fingal County Council; was in charge of St. Stephens Green for some 7 years – the first female to occupy that position- before assuming responsibility for the Phoenix Park. In 2011, she oversaw the production of a Conservation Management Plan for the Phoenix Park. Her responsibilities within the OPW include advising the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht on matters concerning horticulture and landscape.
Declan O’Leary is a landscape architect with 25 years experience in Ireland and the United Kingdom and is Managing Director of Cunnane Stratton Reynolds, Town Planning and Landscape Architecture. He has worked closely with community organisations and statutory agencies to deliver local environmental, social and economic development. He has a broad range of experience of landscape issues in sensitive and heritage landscape and the development of policy to protect / guide development in those landscapes.
Dr. Todd Longstaffe-Gowan is a landscape architect with an international practice based in London. He is president of the London Parks and Gardens Trust, gardens adviser to Hampton Court Palace, and has recently redesigned Kensington Palace gardens in London. He is the author of The London Town Garden 1700-1840 (2001) and The London Square: gardens in the midst of town (2012), both published by Yale University Press.
Dr Joanna Brück is a senior lecturer in the School of Archaeology at University College Dublin. Although a prehistorian by training, she has recently been carrying out research on Victorian and Edwardian parks (funded by the Heritage Council) and the archaeology of the 1916 Rising.
Marion Cashman is a conservation architect with an interest in gardens, parks and landscapes, having done the diploma in horticulture at the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society. An active member of the Irish Georgian Society, in 2010 she was responsible for establishing and managing the Society’s annual Architectural Conservation Awards, as well as overseeing the funding and editing of the Society’s 50th anniversary book, The Irish Georgian Society: A Celebration (2008). She is the Secretary and Planning Advisor of Richview Residents Association, as well as a member of An Taisce and the Rathmines Initiative.
Rob Goodbody is a historic building consultant based in Dublin. He spent many years as a planner in local authorities in Britain and Ireland prior to establishing his own business in 2003. He is author of a number of books, most recently The Metals: from Dalkey to Dun Laoghaire (2010) and has co-authored The Martello Towers of Dublin and Bloomfield Hospital 1812-2012, both published in 2012. He is currently working on part 3 of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas for Dublin city on behalf of the Royal Irish Academy.
Leslie Moore joined Dublin City Council as City Parks Superintendent at the end of February 2012. A graduate of UCD, where he studied Landscape Horticulture (B.Agr. Sc), Leslie also has a Masters in Local Government Management from the Institute of Public Administration. While he previously worked with the former Dublin County Council and South Dublin County Council, most recently, he worked in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, where he led the planning, design and development of a number of significant improvements to parks, heritage and visitor facilities notably in Killiney Hill Park, Cabinteely Park and Marlay Park.
Dr. Mary Forrest is a Senior Lecturer and Associate Dean in the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science. Her textbook Landscape Trees and Shrubs was based on material used in courses on Landscape Trees and Shrubs and Landscape Management developed over many years. Her research interests include early 20th century Horticulture in Ireland and she has published on the topics of School Gardens, Allotments, Women’s Horticultural colleges and Herbert Park.
Michael Noonan B.Agric.Sc.(Land. Hort.), M.L.A., M.I.L.I. is a Senior Executive Park Superintendent with Dublin City Council’s Parks and Landscape Services Division. Having joined the council in 1997 he is currently responsible for the management of the public parks and open spaces in the South East Area of the City.
Nicola Matthews is the Conservation Officer for Dublin City Council, a position within the City Architects Department. Nicola’s work as Conservation Officer centres on the conservation of the historic built fabric of the city and entails advising on development control and planning policy, supporting the development of best conservation practice in Dublin City Council and informing on the technical repair of protected structures. A graduate of the School of Architecture, Dublin Institute of Technology Bolton Street, Nicola is a Grade I RIAI Conservation Accredited Architect and a member of the RIAI’s Historic Buildings Committee. Nicola also holds a Masters in Urban and Building Conservation from the School of Architecture, University College Dublin, where her thesis examined the evolution of Georgian Dublin and in particular focused on the chronological development of Merrion Square.
Source: The Heritage Council – Dublin’s Victorian & Edwardian Parks: Seminar
