An astonishing wildflower meadow in Mount Merrion, County Dublin

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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There are very few opportunities to get a sense of a wildflower meadow in Dublin, but if you are near to Mount Merrion, it's well worth a detour to see an absolutely astonishing display.

It's a small strip of land between St Teresa's Catholic Church and the primary school. I have rarely seen such a display anywhere in the country.

I was there yesterday and there were three species of orchids. There were hundreds of a few and a

The Common Twayblade appears some years, but I could not find it yesterday.
 
Thanks Brendan, I dropped up to see it today. Small and lovely. Incidentally there is a new almost continuous woodland walk around the inside periphery of UCD Belfield now open. Some wildflowers but mostly woodland canopy.
 
Brendan can you give rough directions to St Theresa's Catholic Church (is it off Mt Merrion Avenue?), I live somewhat near Mt Merrion but no idea where this is but I'd love to go for a walk there at the weekend.

Laramie, if we were to drive in from the dual carraige in the main gate, where would we find the woodland walk? Sounds like a really nice walk for the family.
 
The church in Mt. Merrion is in Mount Merrion, right in the middle at practically the highest point. It is opposite Kiely's Pub and Flanagans furniture store. It is not off Mount Merrion Avenue. That's a road. Mount Merrion is an area of residential houses.
The wildflower garden is directly to the rear of the church right beside the road.

The woodland walk in UCD runs along by the running track all the way around the grounds. Park in the main car park to the right as you enter or the small car park overlooking the running track. Or enter from the gates half way along Fosters Avenue, the track runs along either side of the gates. A word of warning, some car parks are Pay and Display. Some are not. Choose carefully. Do not park in a non designated parking space. You will be clamped, absolutely guaranteed.

If you are bringing a dog, please keep it on a lead and clean up after it. Unfortunately because the walk is well hidden others are not cleaning up.

Bring some bread for the ducks. They are in the artificial lake area in the middle of the campus. There are lots of baby ducks and baby swans there at the moment.
 
Thank you for the detailed info. That's sorted my plans for the weekend if the weather is good.
 
Here is a map of St Teresa's Church with directions.

[broken link removed]

Mount Merrion Woods is just across from the orchids and you could do a nice short walk there as well.


Brendan
 
I was there this afternoon, and it's a blaze of glory.

Well worth a visit if you are in the neighborhood.

There is a guided tour on Saturday
"If you like wild flowersyou may like to take a look at a small but brilliant patch of species-diverse limestone grassland, This has survived in a suburb right next to a busy school!
Lots of beautiful flower there at the moment - the orchids are early, this year!
We'll be holding our annual guided walk on Sat 24 June at 1 pm.
Rear of St Therese church, North Ave.
GPS -- 53.295534,-6.210621"


Brendan
 
The walk along by the Dodder I used to love (from Clonskeagh back to Milltown etc), Blackrock Park (along by the Dart) while small is nice. Also the park at the end of Sandymount strand. Some great nuggets of nature in our cities.
 
If you want to see a stunningly beautiful wild flower garden close by, then head to the grounds of UCD Belfield. The garden is located where the old running track used to be, opposite where the old Montrose Hotel was located.
 
Grizzly said:
If you want to see a stunningly beautiful wild flower garden close by, then head to the grounds of UCD Belfield. The garden is located where the old running track used to be, opposite where the old Montrose Hotel was located.
Click to expand...

For those interested - St Enda's Park (near Marley Park) has turned over quite a bit of space to wildflowers. It's really lovely. Was also in Cabinteely Park recently and they have done the same

I have to say - they are much more interesting and attractive than the "mown lawn" look. I'd guess both are Dun Laoghaire County Council managed. They deserve some kudos
 
That wildflower meadow is obviously managed if its that good, it's probably topped high and wildflowers planted in it for effect and most importantly noxious weeds like ragworth, giant hogweed , thistles and dock weeds kept out, in other words it requires work as well. People think that they will get spectacular wildflower meadows by letting their lawns and gardens go wild are mistaken, this is because they will be colonized by opportunist and noxious weeds that can take over.
Obviously in the best locations the wildflowers will be properly managed but in less desirable locations I can see it descending into thistles, hogweed and ragworth (which is an illegal weed by the way) along with illegal dumping which will.be easier to hide. That's the reality of humans and nature
 
The Mount Merrion Meadow is at its best at the moment.

1624798776664.png

I saw three different species this morning.
Pyramidal Orchids - hundreds
The Bee Orchid - just one
Common Spotted - just one

Even without these, it's a feast of colour with lots of other colourful plants.

Well worth a trip.

Just enjoy the colour, but if you do want to identify the plants, you can use the https://www.picturethisai.com/ app

Brendan

Brendan
 
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