St. Kevin’s Park

Lovely hidden gem just off the beaten track. Decided to have a gander with the dog in the sun yesterday and this a great place to quietly enjoy the weather. Not even remotely as busy as Stephen’s Green, therefore even spaces left on the grass ;-)
Thanks Unilocal for helping me find the place, would never have come here if I hadn’t read about it!

I have started to come here occasionally to eat my lunch.
I realised today that even though it was probably one of the warmest days of the year, there were very few other people here on their lunch break. I was able to get a seat on a bench… all to myself!
There are loads of trees, so their is lots of shade in the summer for the fair skinned. There is a shell of a church and lots of headstones to peruse. You can even do a circuit around it, albeit a short one.
A gem of a park, just don’t tell anyone about it :)

If you fancy hitting a park during your lunch hour, steer clear of the obvious Stephens green for this little hidden treasure.
St. Kevins park is half park/​half cemetery, which adds a little creepy charm to the place. It’s rumoured to be haunted though, and I’ve been there at night. I was a little freaked out. And I don’t believe in ghosts…

St. Kevin’s Park is in a random little green space tucked off of the busy street where Camden turns to Wexford (or vice versa). When you enter it’s stone gate, you would never suspect that mere meters away is a bustling city.
The grass is the perfect spot to settle in for a snooze in the sun, while the little walking path is nice if you’re feeling keen for an amble. A few benches dot the park and are usually occupied by elderly couples very much in love. Or at least that’s how I interpret those old folks in my dreamy world.
I really love this little space and, after reading the previous review, I am so excited to learn that is supposed to be haunted! For some reason that adds to its charm.

St. Kevin’s park is rumored, among other things, to be both haunted and cursed. Early references to the Church here date back as far as the 13^th century (I know, but you can check it if you don’t believe me), however, it was later abandoned after repeatedly, and mysteriously, burning down. That was in 1820. Things got a bit darker from then on.
You see, the name St. Kevin’s Park is relatively new. Prior to that, it had been St. Kevin’s Cemetery. Worse, as the Great Hunger tightened its grip on our wee Island, St. Kevin’s became a famine graveyard.
Not just any famine graveyard mind, but a graveyard for those restless souls who either lacked the means to pay for a proper burial or those, even less fortunate, who could not be identified.
Which was all fair and good, but a trip to St. Kevin’s today and you’ll find that it doesn’t much look like a graveyard.
In a re-​development project some years ago the cemetery became the park. The Corpo offered the families of the dead a chance to have the bodies exhumed and moved to another, more permanent, resting place. Fine for some, but many bodies remained unclaimed and lie still in the earth underneath St. Kevin’s Park. Their families either wiped out entirely by the Hunger, or forced into exile.
The Headstones were removed, but you can see them propped up against the perimeter walls. Still waiting to be claimed. So don’t step on the grass…
Mwuh hah hah haaaaaah!