It’s been a shocking long while since I’ve posted here or anywhere else for that matter. However I have a very good excuse – I’ve been busy increasing the population of Dublin!

Since I started contributing to Dublinblog.ie I have been meaning to write reviews of playgrounds. (Picture, left, is the playground in Marlay Park, which I will review in the future.) As a parent this is the kind of information I would love about a city I’m living in or visiting. There’s nothing like a playground to retrieve some of your sanity when you’re hanging out with kids. You can sit down with a book or a coffee and they can vent their energy. However it can all go wrong if you rock up and all the equipment looks perilous for your little darling. I am also always interested to hear about developments in parks in the city because, recession or no, there has been some interesting developments in Dublin parks recently. No doubt they were planned and paid for before things began to slide. Swings and roundabouts eh? (Expect much more playground wordplay ) Also, as your kids grow, certain playgrounds lose favour or playgrounds that were once too challenging are now just challenging enough. I’ll also try and include some essential info for parents (proximity of hot beverages, picnic tables, benches etc.; y’know essential!) Please, as always, share your thoughts or comments because I may not notice what you might notice about a playground.

The only possible problem with the series is that I’m a southsider and with 3 small children it will definitely be the summer before I make it to any northside playgrounds, if I make it at all. If you are based on the northside and have children and would like to contribute please leave a comment below and we’ll get in touch. Also I refer to my children as Nipper 1.0 (Boy, 6ish, kind of cautious), Nipper 2.0 (Boy, 3ish, bonkers) and Nipper 3.0 (Girl, Shiny, shiny, new, new!)

With no further ado I’m going to kick off with Rathfarnham Castle Playground. (Map) This was discovered by Nipper 1.0 when he and his classmates were brought here by his school. He was mad keen to revisit so we have been back a couple of times since then. The playground here seems to be very new and unlike many in Dublin does not use bark chip as a weed suppressant/ falling child catcher. The ground directly under the various equipment is covered with a soft rubbery, faux tarmacadam and elsewhere a bright hard tarmacadam like composite. I understand the attraction of bark chip but it gets very messy when wet and while it hasn’t rained for a good while in Dublin this is not the norm. But more about bark chip when we get to it!

When we were at Rathfarnham castle today it was quiet enough. Last time we were there during the Easter Holidays and it was busier. What I like about this playground as a parent is that while it is sizable enough so that you are not sitting on top of the other families that are there, it is still small and flat enough to see from one side to the other, thus allowing you to keep an eye on the kids without shifting from your seat. Also the fact that it is big enough means that the equipment isn’t packed together so it is easy to see around it. I forgot to take photos today but future posts will include more. (And if i’m back in the meantime I’ll add photos. Obviously I have to be careful not to include other people’s kids so it can be a little challenging if the playground is busy!)

There are about 5 main pieces of equipment and then a variety of swings and, for want of a better word, twirlers. The five items include a spiderweb style rope climbing frame that rises in a pyramidal shape to about 15ft. This is quite a challenging item although Nipper 1.0 told me today that a girl in his class climbed to the top and got in trouble when they were there with the school. He wouldn’t dream of doing this but I would say it’s only a matter of time before Nipper 2.0 is shouting at us all from up there. There is a piece of equipment that involves stepping stones on springs, balancing and reaching, which would be suited to older children. There is set aimed at toddlers and ambitious wobblers with bridges, platforms, steps and slides all placed at a lowish level. Finally there is a large castle with rock-climbing style walls, slides, steps and various games, tables, windows, a portcullis (non-operational boo hiss) and the ground also includes blue fauxmacadam in the shape of a moat. It is attached by a rope bridge to the spiderweb rope frame. The castle appeals to both the nippers and because it is accessed by steps and has wide bridges and large platforms it is very easy for parents with toddlers to use it as well. As mentioned there are a variety of swings including a large disk into which a number of children (or adults, I daresay!) can fit. Also I recommend you give the twirlers at the gate a go. You hold what is for all the world like a steering wheel that is nearly parallel to the ground but about 6ft up and place your feet on a disk that is also skewed off the horizontal and the next thing you are spinning. The pic right are the nippers twirling on the bottom part. A lot of the playgrounds have variations on these clever twirlers and they can be great fun until somebody pukes!

There are also quite a few simple but not uncomfortable red benches and enough bins. I think it’s a pity that the benches aren’t two sided so you can face either way and so capacity is increased. I also noticed that there isn’t a bin beside the gate into the playground which is always handy so you can dump your rubbish as you leave. You might laugh about me commenting about the bins but this can be an issue in some parks. There are no picnic benches i.e. benches with tables, which is a pity but this is not a deal breaker for me. We were there for about an hour today and could easily have stayed longer without the boys getting bored. The park itself is very simply landscaped and of course contains Rathfarnham castle itself. There are tearooms in the castle but at the time of writing and during my previous visit they were closed. Rathfarnham village is just across the road and through the archway. We were there on Good Friday so trading was a little funny but there’s a good sized Spar where you can get takeaway coffee or ice cream for the kids! I think there are public toilets available in the castle as well and will confirm on my next visit. There is parking available just off Rathfarnham Rd. directly after the traffic lights. It is 50c/hour, max. stay 3 hours. According to DublinBus.ie you can take the 15n, 16, 16a, 17, 48n, 74a or 75 to Rathfarnham but do check their site to find the most convenient bus for the park.

Also housed in the park grounds is the Tree Council of Ireland. You can read more about Rathffarnham on Wikipedia.

As Dec mentioned yesterday, the Google Streetview cars are in Dublin at the moment, taking advantage of the good weather whilst it lasts!

Now that I live on the other side of the world, I for one can’t wait to see when the Dublin imagery is uploaded!

But, I thought we could have a little fun with this here on the blog. Whilst the streetview cars are out and about taking pictures of Dublin, why don’t we grab some pictures of them doing their thing. If you do happen to spot some cars around the place, grab a picture and then post it to our flickr group. We will post a selection of the best / funniest / strangest images here to the blog over the coming days and weeks.

This Friday. Unfortunately I think there are no pirate parties in town this year.