The name Ranelagh applies to many geographical features. The stretch of road joining Sandford Road (which begins at the corner of Anna Villa) to Ranelagh Road (which begins at the railway bridge) is known as Ranelagh or Ranelagh Village.
The whole surrounding area is also popularly known as Ranelagh, stretching from Charlemont Bridge on the Grand Canal at the northern end of Ranelagh Road down to the junction with Milltown Road at the southern end of Sandford Road, and from Leeson Street to the East towards Rathmines to the West.
At the centre of Ranelagh is “Ranelagh Triangle”, semi-officially “the Angle”, which is the junction of Ranelagh Village and Charleston Road at Field’s Terrace. Nearby restaurant “Tribeca” references these geographical features (i.e., Tri-angle Be-low Ca-nal). To the North of the Triangle is the “Hill Area” of Ranelagh, which was the scene of Lee Dunne’s novel, “Goodbye to the Hill”. Ranelagh contains many fine Victorian streets such as those surrounding Mount Pleasant Square.
The townlands of Ranelagh North and Ranelagh South are in the civil parish of St. Peter’s and in the barony of Uppercross. They are bounded on the north by Harcourt Road and Adelaide Road, on the east by Sussex Road and an old irregular boundary from there to Chelmsford Road, on the south by Chelmsford Road, Ranelagh Village, Charleston Road, Oakley Road and Dunville Avenue, and on the west by Beechwood Park, Belgrave Square East, Mountpleasant Avenue Upper, Bessborough Parade, Rathmines Road Lower and Richmond Street South. The area, popularly known today as Ranelagh, also includes parts of the adjoining townlands of Cullenswood, Sallymount and Milltown.
Dartmouth Square Park is a significant historical park dating from the late Victorian/early Edwardian period. The square was originally part of the Darley Estate.
The park was developed as part of the terraces surrounding it and intended for the sole use of residents on the square. However, in 1926, it was leased and used by Loreto Hockey Club as a hockey pitch for past pupils only and then later for current pupils of Loreto College, St. Stephen’s Green. Hockey continued to be played there until the 1950’s.
In 1987 the residents’ association approached the Lord Mayor, Mrs Carmencita Hederman (Lord Mayor 1987-1988) for help to redevelop the park. Thanks to her intervention the City Manager, Mr Frank Feely and his office became involved with the local community.
The park became one of many ‘Dublin Millennium’ year projects in 1988. New designs and planting schemes were implemented to restore the park to a formal Victorian layout. An impressive new pergola was erected, its pillars modelled on the granite and brick detailing of the adjoining residential terraces.
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