DLR are inviting views on the naming of the public park which is located beside One South County, at the entrance to South County Business Park, Leopardstown Racecourse and Leopardstown Park Hospital. The park came into being when the Leopardstown Link road was constructed, but it was never given a name.
Local councillors have agreed a shortlist of names for the park which they are now inviting the public to consider:
- Blackberry Park (Páirc na Sméar) – In 1938, a local schoolgirl, who attended St. Brigid’s School in Foxrock, described the paths in this area of Sandyford as being “overgrown with blackberry bushes”. Máire Ní Lideadha’s essay forms part of the UCD National Folklore Collection and provided the inspiration for this suggestion.
- Páirc an Locháin Lile (Lily Pond Park) – Also from Máire’s essay, there is reference to a number of ponds in the locality. The ‘Round Pond, The Lily Pond, and the Island Pond’ are all noted. Of these three, the Irish version of Lily Pond Park is proposed for this space.
- Tipperstown Park (Páirc Bhaile an Tipéaraigh) – Tipperstown is the historical name of the townland immediately to the north/west of the open space. The name goes back to at least 1541 and is named after a landowning family, Tipper.
- Overend Park (Páirc Overend) – The area around this new park has long had a strong connection to medical and care institutions. Among these is the nearby LauraLynn Children’s Hospice, formerly the Children’s Sunshine Home which dates from 1923. The Overend family, of Airfield House and Estate, donated the site that the LauraLynn Hospice now occupies.