Examples of high quality playgrounds in Ireland

Iwannahurl

There is a sore need for a good playground in our neighbourhood.

The nearest one is manky and miserable, and not worth the long walk (or drive).

I'd love to have a good quality facility like the one pictured below (in Melbourne).

Does anyone know of similar playgrounds in Ireland, and if so who did the organisation and construction?

All leads gratefully received.

eviltwin

The only one I can think of that looks even remotely like that is in Dublin Zoo, I'm not sure who their supplier is.

littleredspot

Lots of good examples of great playgrounds in Fingal and Dublin City Council areas.

thomasm

Kennedy Park in Wexford has an amazing new playground. Stuff I've never seen before. Kids loved it.

Fenor in County Waterford has a great one too.

Not sure of your location. Sorry if these are too far away

Iwannahurl

Thanks.

Any specific locations, searchable on Google Maps?

Ickle Magoo

The OPW have recently created some really nice playparks, like the one in the Phoenix Park and Kilkenny Castle park - might be worth giving them a shout to see who did them?

Metar

Around Dublin, there are plenty of very good playgrounds:
Herbert Park - Ballsbridge
Newbridge House - Donabate
Visitor Centre - Phoenix Park
Ardgillan House - Balrothery
I hear they have refurbished the playground in St Stephens Green in the city centre.

vicwatson

Metar wrote: »

Around Dublin, there are plenty of very good playgrounds:
Herbert Park - Ballsbridge
Newbridge House - Donabate
Visitor Centre - Phoenix Park
Ardgillan House - Balrothery
I hear they have refurbished the playground in St Stephens Green in the city centre.

+1 on Ardgillan Castle - great playground

Apparently a cool new one in the JFK Arboretum near New Ross too

silverharp

Marley Park is very good and Cabinteely

Lisha

http://www.cavanaghplaygrounds.com/

Talk to Willie Cavanagh he did a playground in my area, and others in surrounding village's/towns too. They have a very wide range and are a pleasure to deal with. Also are great after to look after/ check/ equipment/etc

I also liked Go-play http://www.goplay.ie/, they are fantastic too, but we went with Cavanagh's in the end. But I know that goplays playgrounds are fantastic too.

Both above comapnys do wooden type units and in their website they have maps of playgrounds they did so this should help you.

We go funding from co council but we had to fundraise a lot too. It is also worth checking out for lotto funding, or another area regeneration type funding

Best of luck:)

melekalikimaka

cabinteely park is beautiful and playground is amazing

clappyhappy

Iwannahurl wrote: »

There is a sore need for a good playground in our neighbourhood.

The nearest one is manky and miserable, and not worth the long walk (or drive).

I'd love to have a good quality facility like the one pictured below (in Melbourne).

Does anyone know of similar playgrounds in Ireland, and if so who did the organisation and construction?

All leads gratefully received.

That one looks great, only problem with wooden ones is rain, idiots trying to burn them or just vandalise them. Read about a play ground recently where idiots ripped the little rocking horses from the ground, cut the big circular seat swing and burnt the swings. Mad!!!!

January

Newbridge House Playground and Malahide Park playgrounds are fantastic. Millenium Park in Blanchardstown is also good, and has a ranger on hand to deal with any vandalism etc.

Tabnabs

silverharp wrote: »

Marley Park is very good and Cabinteely

Two in Marley park, but the big one is a nightmare for keeping an eye on wandering kids. But on the plus side it has toilets.

Moonbeam

We have a lovely set of playgrounds in Maynooth.

How Strange

There's a huge lovely playground in Corkagh Park, Clondalkin and a couple of great ones in Ballyfermot.

Lola92

thomasm wrote: »

Kennedy Park in Wexford has an amazing new playground. Stuff I've never seen before. Kids loved it.

Agreed on this one! Cabinteely Park is also nice.

PammyD

http://www.laois.ie/media/Media,4679,en.JPG

Playground at the Leisure centre in Portlaoise, also had a smaller kids area on the far side..

Cat Melodeon

I know of a few of the Cavanagh built ones - biggish one in Templemore, Co Tipp, smaller one in O'Brien's Bridge, Co. Clare. They're very safe, sturdy and seem to be standing the test of time & weather. The one in Limerick opposite Castletroy College is lovely too, they've got some unusual stuff which would be similar to the Cavanagh stuff (what do you call playground 'stuff'???) although I don't know who built it. Also a really lovely one close to the train station in Limerick city - good for a mix of ages and really nice landscaping to make it pretty impossible for little kids to fall off anything high.

There's a wooden one in Ballina, Co. Tipp which I'm not too gone on. There's nothing in it for the under 3's, and splinters seem to be a common complaint.

Sleepy

Great playgrounds we'd bring the kids to regularly in Malahide Castle, Fr Collins Park in Balgriffin & Newbridge Demesne.

iguana

Cratloe Woods in Clare has a great one. It even has zip wires.

Iwannahurl

Thanks to everyone for the info. Extremely useful.

Three months in Melbourne and I didn't see a single instance of vandalism in a playground. Different story here, in some cases.

This prompts some new questions.

What are the likely barriers to developing a new playground, including costs and objections?

Money is scarce these days, and this country has a long (and in my view often ignoble) history of objecting to playgrounds.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/more-objections-to-playground-plan-than-to-incinerator-2271793.html

http://www.meathchronicle.ie/news/meatheast/articles/2010/07/28/3998852-pressure-forces-uturn-on-stamullen-playground/print

http://www.drogheda-independent.ie/news/playground-objections-reached-764-2276429.html

http://www.kerryman.ie/local-notes/castleisland-disappointment-at-playground-objection-1875596.html

http://www.sligochampion.ie/news/despite-objections-fair-green-playground-plan-gets-goahead-954106.html

http://www.waterford-news.ie/news/eyqlgbau/

http://www.waterford-news.ie/news/mhqlkfsnid/




EDIT: just found this other playground story on Boards, re Cratloe Woods playground (mentioned earlier). http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056575664

pwurple

That playground in castleisland that the article above is about went ahead a few years ago. It is a fantastic one. It was actually the first playground my daughter was in, at age 4 months. They have one of those sieve swings? I don't know what they are actually called, but it is like a giant colander that you can lie on. Suitable from newborn up to 80 I'd say. And you can fit a couple of kids on one swing. Love going on those myself!


Maybe it's the are you live, but I find we are very well catered for with playgrounds in Cork.

I find the Cork ones clean, fun, and generally well maintained. The county council maintains a good website on them as well. You can click on the town and see a photo of it, as well as the ages it is designed for.

http://www.corkcoco.ie/co/web/Cork%20County%20Council/Departments/Divisional%20Services/Coastal%20&%20Recreation/Recreation%20and%20Amenities/Playgrounds

The douglas one is probably most like your melbourne pic.http://www.corkcoco.ie/co/web/Cork%20County%20Council/Departments/Divisional%20Services/Coastal%20%26%20Recreation/Recreation%20and%20Amenities/Playgrounds/Douglas


Most of the big public parks have playground areas in them... Phoenix park, fitsgeralds park.

There are also many private playgrounds which are really fab. Fota wildlife park in cork has huge playgrounds that kids love. There is a great timber adventure playground in carlow in huntington castle. It is almost an assault course, older kids burn up a lot of energy there.

There are also some community based playgrounds around here, funded and maintained by the local residents.

You've been asked already OP, but what area are you talking about specifically?

Hannibal Smith

That looks like the small playground in marlay park. There are lots of great parks in Dublin...many already mentioned...but hidden valley in wicklow is great...if you're not staying on the site though you Kay have to pay in...not sure though

John Mason

there are two brilliant one in Newbridge House and Malahide Castle.

If you go to the golden pages and type in the word "playgroup" you will get a list of all the playgroup installers in ireland.

i see quotes and plans for plans on a daily basis at the moment you could be looking at anything up to 20k for one.

Wooden Delights are great

Davidth88

Living in Celbridge I can see the best and the not so good locally

As MoonBeam says , Maynooth is fantastic .

However Celbridge playground is terrible, it's plagued with vandalism ( items burnt down/destroyed/spraypainted etc ) , and older kids being a pain kicking footballs and cycling etc . I have had cause to basically eject some older kids when one of their number crashed their bike into my 6YO causing her pain etc .

You often find piles of cans/beer bottles around it.

I have a theory , which of course could be wrong.

Maynooth has seperate playgrounds for the younger kids , and one for the older kids which includes a basketball/football area where they can basically ' hang out '. , I have rarely witnessed problems with older kids as a consequence . I think this works well, and should be copied TBH.

As other posters have said , Newbridge hse/ Phoenix Park are also good examples.

I came across an interesting playground in Trim where they had deep gravel as the surface. It stopped the kids from running /cycling , thought it was a good idea.

vandriver

Dublin City Council have replaced the kids parks in Belgrave Square and Palmerston Park in the last year and both are fantastic now.

January

I think one thing you'll have to think about if you're serious about trying to fund raise for a playground locally is to factor in insurance costs. The local community centre here built a playground when they were building the main hall and they couldn't open it for ages afterwards as they couldn't get insurance for it.

Lisha

Just on the insurance issue, In my experience if the local county council take ownership of the playground after it has been finished then the county councils insurance covers the playground. This would happen if the local community and co council work in a partnership type agreement

OP, it sounds like you are at the early stage of considering organising a playground in your area.
First things to consider are (in no particular order)
#Meet your local area representative to see what funding is available, def talk to county council / udc etc
# form a group with like minded people with a view to getting a playground
#have you a place to put it, is there community property that could be used
# fundraising will need to be done, no grant/funding will ever cover 100%
# look at playground equipment suppliers, imho both cavanaghs and go-play are excellent
#target age group of kids, ie, for under 12s only or do you intend to cater for teenagers too, by using muga's (multiuse game area) chill/hang out zones etc
# planning permission might be needed too

Best of luck

Iwannahurl

pwurple wrote: »

You've been asked already OP, but what area are you talking about specifically?

Sorry, missed that.

West side of Galway City -- I don't want to identify the specific neighbourhood.

By the way, many thanks to all the posters for their really helpful and informative contributions. I haven't been able to keep up with all the info! But I will most certainly use this thread as a resource.

Lisha

HI OP,

As you are in west Galway there could be money available for area improvement type projects. Find out which organisations cater to your specific area. But def start with co council and local poliitician/td/councillor.
THey should point you in right direction. It is possible that a couple/few different orgs could co-fund project. But it will never be 100% funded.

Best of luck, it might seem like a huge task now, but we are never (weather permitting) out of our local playground.

Little My

The playgrounds around westside are pretty poor to be honest.

The playground at Salthill is alright, the one at the cathedral much better I think.

I haven't been to Cappagh Park but its supposed to be good. And McGrath's? Field, Knocknacarra?

Apparently the new one in Doughiska is pretty good, but its a bit of a trek.

Sleepy

McGrath's Field in Knocknacarra was done up only a few years ago and is quite good, if small.

Have taken the kids to Cappagh Park a few times as well and they certainly enjoyed it.

kwalshe

Lisha wrote: »

Just on the insurance issue, In my experience if the local county council take ownership of the playground after it has been finished then the county councils insurance covers the playground. This would happen if the local community and co council work in a partnership type agreement

OP, it sounds like you are at the early stage of considering organising a playground in your area.
First things to consider are (in no particular order)
#Meet your local area representative to see what funding is available, def talk to county council / udc etc
# form a group with like minded people with a view to getting a playground
#have you a place to put it, is there community property that could be used
# fundraising will need to be done, no grant/funding will ever cover 100%
# look at playground equipment suppliers, imho both cavanaghs and go-play are excellent
#target age group of kids, ie, for under 12s only or do you intend to cater for teenagers too, by using muga's (multiuse game area) chill/hang out zones etc
# planning permission might be needed too

Best of luck

I would love to get a playground built in my village. Thanks Lisha you may have just given me some inspiration.

Iwannahurl

kwalshe wrote: »

I would love to get a playground built in my village. Thanks Lisha you may have just given me some inspiration.

Inspiration indeed. Go for it!

The various examples given in this thread show what can be achieved.

If the Local Authority takes the initiative, that's great (with the caveat that there may be genuine or selfish objections).

If it's a local community initiative, whether started by individuals or an established group, then I expect it's essential to build support from the start. No point in taking such a project to an advanced stage if it's likely to be rejected. I heard of an instance near my locality whereby a small group of local residents (as few as ten, reportedly) succeeded in blocking a proposal to create a community garden with playground. They would permit one or other, but not both.

Lisha's point re target age group(s) is very important, IMO. In my area there are lots of kids under 12, but there are teenagers around too, and of course the children of today are tomorrow's teenagers. As is often the case there is little for them to do, and few places to go, so they're hanging around local shops, on waste ground and in secluded corners of commercial areas, crossing busy roads where speeding is rampant in order to do so.

Youth shelters are also available, but am I being overly pessimistic in expecting that local resistance to these could be massive? NIMBY, out of sight is out of mind, and all that?

Iwannahurl

Lisha wrote: »

HI OP,

As you are in west Galway there could be money available for area improvement type projects. Find out which organisations cater to your specific area. But def start with co council and local poliitician/td/councillor.
THey should point you in right direction. It is possible that a couple/few different orgs could co-fund project. But it will never be 100% funded.

Best of luck, it might seem like a huge task now, but we are never (weather permitting) out of our local playground.

I'm west of the Corrib but not specifically in Westside, if that's what you mean. I think I know what you mean by area improvement projects, and associated funding streams. I used to know about this stuff, but I'm a bit out of touch now. Which is ironic; being a parent of two kids under 5 means it's even more relevant now.

AFAICR there are funding programmes that are targeted at certain localities, depending on various socioeconomic factors. TBH I have no idea whether our neighbourhood would qualify.

You're right about starting with the Local Authority and/or elected representatives. I would hope local councillors and/or TDs would be delighted to associate themselves with such an initiative. Assuming it wouldn't harm their election prospects, that is!

Lisha

http://irishworkhousecentre.ie/about/project-team/

http://www.galwaycity.ie/AllServices/CommunityCulture/ProjectsandSchemes/GalwayCity4Funding/

http://www.galway.ie/en/Services/Leisure/Playgrounds/

HI OP,

I just did a quick google search on social funding in Galway and got the above links. It might help. Every area is allocated funding. Some get more than other s if they are considered disadvantaged. Your TD local councillor will be able to tell you what scheme is relevant for your area. (I dont know what they are called in Galway)
Def check out the third link, this states
Playgrounds

As part of Galway County Council's Play Policy, playgrounds have been provided throughout the County through either direct funding and/or the provision of insurance.
Listed below are the locations of playgrounds in County Galway.

So this will help too.

Lotto funding might be a possibility too.

Ask Co council if they do fund ye where else can ye get funding. It is possible to get grants from more than one source.

If ye have a local Community Centre talk to the committee, they just might want too or might even have a bit of land to put it on. (word of warning, if land is gaa owned it can be nearly impossible to get funding then. But land can be passed from one organisation to another if it suits)
To keep things kosher prob will have to form a playground committee. (No big deal)

On older kids faculities, it is definatley useful but can scare people a bit. One comprimise can be not to light it or turn off lights at an agreed time.

A hugely popular thing now is outdoor adult execcise equipment. This can be put in playground (seen it in Blarney near Cork and ballybunion in Kerry)
Or you can have an out door adult gym type setup (done in Mallow).

it is up to you to set the parameters of your project. It is worth asking funding bodies what are they interested in funding?? and tailor project to suit them

Sorry for sticking my beak in again, I personally found once we decieded what to do and put a plan in place then project gathered its own momentum. It s amazing how quickly you get into it.

all the best

dessierb

As you are in Galway, take a trip out to Lackagh. New playground there which is very nice. Don't know the specifics but think they got a grant towards it along with fundraising locally.

vandriver

http://www.dublincity.ie/RecreationandCulture/DublinCityParks/Documents/Palmerston%20Park.pdf

lynski

Co. Kildare has a few: Kildare town is great, Kildare Village shopping center is small but nice, St. Lawrences GAA grounds is fab and Kilcullen is great too

caprilicious

Woodstock gardens in Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny has a playground constructed very similar to the one you pictured OP.

http://www.woodstock.ie/

Unfortunately they don't have pics of it on their website which is surprising as it's a lovely facility

hiber

Hi,

here are most of the dublin playgrounds with photos: http://dublinfox.com/places/playgrounds.html
our favourites are: malahide demesne, marlay park, st stephen's green, palmerstown park (dublin 6), but there are quite a few others as well.