The area of St. Mary’s Park is located on the northern
half of King’s Island to the north of the known alignment
of the city walls. The island is formed by the River Shannon
to the north and west, and the Abbey River to the east and south.
This area was originally accessed from the walled Englishtown
in medieval times via a gate in the wall called Island Gate.
St. Mary’s Park
was completed on 19 August 1935 when
the residents of a number of slums in Lady’s Lane, Parnell
Street, and in Palmerstown, were re-housed. Click
here to read how it was reported in 1935 by the Limerick
Leader.
St Mary's Park currently
consists of:
- 463 houses, of
which 273 (59%) are privately owned, and 190 (41%) are local
authority owned.
- A frontage of
approximately 2 km on to the Shannon and Abbey rivers, with
an embankment to control flooding that also functions as an
attractive riverside walk.
- A Special Area
of Conservation of 10.7 hectares along the eastern edge of
the Island, fronting on to the Abbey River, which extends
along the banks of the Abbey and Shannon rivers.
- Two soccer clubs
on a combined site of 3 hectares, with short term leases from
Limerick City Council.
- A military cemetery
of 0.6 hectares dating from the 1850’s.
- A modest community
centre in the south-west corner with crèche adjacent.
- Extensive open
space that is low lying and generally neglected
St Mary’s Park
was originally to be regenerated by Limerick City Council, who
had appointed consultants in May 2007:
Following a public
meeting in St. Mary's Park and inspired by the Weston Gardens
Residents' Assocciation's open letter to Regeneration CEO Brendan
Kenny, a united group of Community and Voluntary organisations
wrote an Open Letter to City
Manager, Tom Mackey . The letter was also signed by TD's
and councillors.
Soon after, it was
announced in December 2007 that St. Mary's Park was to be included
in the remit of the Northside Regeneration Agency. This news
was initially welcomed by residents, who were distrustful of
Limerick City Council intentions.
Brendan Kenny, CEO
of the Limerick Regeneration Agencies has described St. Mary's
Park as "the prize, the prime piece of real estate in
the city".
On the 27th of May
2009 the first demolition in St. Marys park took place at No.
1 St. Columcille street. It took two days to demolish the mass
concrete house (click
here to view).
