Sports & Outdoor

Have you heard the story of the Irish Lighthouse keeper’s wife, who helped save thousands of lives on the Normandy coast? In 1944, along the west coast of Ireland, a lighthouse keeper’s wife sat down and recorded the weather. It was a routine report that fed into the Atlantic weather forecast. The kind of report filed every day at stations around the Irish coast. But this one was different.

Dublin’s parks have undergone a renaissance in recent years. Once a location for a quiet game of frisbee or a poetic wander amongst the flowerbeds, they have of late been injected with a new vitality. Food stalls, open-air cinema, yoga, and family events are now a given and in the summer months, Dublin’s parks host free lively festivals and original evening events that give the city’s pubs and clubs a run for their money. RUN FOR FUN, WALK FOR HOPE Every Saturday, in parks all over Dublin, early birds can enjoy a free 5k timed parkrun courtesy of parkrun.ie. Operating since 20

The UCD AIB Superleague, within the amateur footballing community of Dublin, is renowned for both the disorganisation and passion of its teams. Often referred to as, The Hangover League, matches take place on Saturdays and Sundays with teams of misfits and football enthusiasts who don’t have the commitment to play for a ‘real’ team in the Dublin league. In college, football is often a decent ice-breaker when meeting new people. In fact, that rule applies to all walks of life, not exclusively college. The conversation often leads to the question, “So, do you play for a team?” If you respond with, “Oh yeah, I play in the

Most people who visit Bull Island from week to week probably don’t realise that it’s part of one of the biggest biospheres in Europe. So, what’s a biosphere? Quite simply, a biosphere is an environment where people, nature and culture  connect and co-exist. Imagine the biosphere as the perfect cup of tea, with people as the water, nature as the tea leaves and culture as the milk. The tea leaves are rich and unique, but need the water to be hot so they can release the flavour, while the milk is added to make it more drinkable. In the same way, nature and culture within the biosphere can add value to people, but only where it is protected and

Mary Louise ‘Maz’ Reilly, a sports development officer with Dublin City Council, plays rugby for Ireland. She was on the Grand Slam-winning side of 2013 and plays in her third World Cup tournament, hosted by Ireland, this month. It was always soccer and Gaelic football at home. No one played rugby. One day a friend asked me to jump in and give a dig out and I was like ‘there is not a hope, that sport is way too rough’. Anyway, she got the better of me and I got involved and realised that I actually really enjoyed rugby. For me, in work, it’s the same thing. Whether I’m out cha

Most seasoned Dubliners probably feel like they’ve seen all the city has to offer: all the lush parks and historic Georgian rows, every cobbled street, arching bridge and Victorian pub. The familiar can be taken for granted though. So what if we told you about a new way of seeing the city? We’re not talking about a rickshaw or a longboard. Instead, we’re talking about kayaking – on the Liffey. Getting ready for some Liffey kayaking Dublin’s City Ka

Down by the Secret Garden On the south side, the secret garden was always the Iveagh Gardens. However,  music, comedy and food festivals have taken place there in recent years, meaning that the garden isn’t so secret anymore. These days, to find the city’s true secret garden, you have to head north. Up O’Connell Street, then North Frederick, across Dorset Street and on up Blessington Street until you come to black wrought iron gates. In you go. And you’re there. What to expect at Blessington Street Basin The Blessington Street Basin

Cricket is enjoying a surge in popularity across the county, so Dublin.ie visited a few of the burgeoning clubs to find out more. Kamil Mahajan moved from the Punjab region of India to Dublin in 2001. He had been a keen cricket player in his home country, but for his first few years in Ireland he was busy with work and didn’t have much time to spend on the sport that he loved. Then, in 2009, he moved to Adamstown, near Lucan in the west of the city. Adamstown is “a new development”, Mahajan says. “A lot of Asian people” – from south Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – “had moved there around 2007/2008”. A cricket club would

A 15 minute boat ride from Howth on Dublin’s northside lies Ireland’s Eye – a beautiful and mostly untouched island. The only signs of human activity are two structures: a Martello Tower and the ruins of a church. A sanctuary for wildlife However, the island is a hive of activity otherwise. The wildlife on offer is incredible – notably the many species of nesting birds. The most spectacular natural feature, however, is the huge freestanding rock called “the Stack”. Located at the northeastern corner of the island, it plays host to a large v

There’s a lot of history at Lansdowne Road. Including the fact that 73,000 pints were sold on a single day match day recently. Dublin.ie stopped over for a visit to learn more. Ireland versus England at Lansdowne Road. One of the great sporting occasions at one of the great sporting arenas. But when these sides first met here, in 1876, it wasn’t rugby they were competing at. It was athletics. We won four events to their nine victories, one of which was the tug of war. The Lansdowne grounds, established by Henry Wallace Dunlop, opened in 1873 and soon provided a home for a brand new rugby club, Lansdowne, of which Dunlop was the founder. But the place als

A closer look at Howth Nestled in the wild and bushy hillsides, overlooking the sea in north county Dublin, you’ll find Howth. A world away from the hustle and bustle of the city, it’s one of those precious resorts that make Dublin so unique. This seaside sanctuary attracts many Dubliners and tourists on the weekends. There are lots of treasures to enjoy here – history, hiking and seafood amongst them. A brief history of Howth The name Howth is thought to be of Norse origin. ‘Hoved’, meaning head, eventually became Howth. Originally an island, a sandy tombolo now joins it with the mainland.

Mentions of Dublin’s Canals, both the Royal Canal and the Grand Canal, pour aplenty through Irish poetry and song. To each canal, a poet’s statue: The Royal has Brendan Behan, turned to look at you if you sit beside him; Patrick Kavanagh is on the Grand Canal, arms crossed and pensive. To each canal, a lyric: the passionate ‘Auld Triangle’ for the Royal; the contemplative ‘Canal Bank Walk’ for the Grand. They are the arteries running through the heart of Dublin unfurling into the countryside. The Grand bracing the city on the southside, stretching west 144km to the Shannon river and The Royal, on the northside, winding 146km to the same river. Yet despite their romantic depiction in poem and song – and perhaps as a result of their everyday lunch-breakiness – they’ve tended to get overlooked. All that is about to change. A small steady ‘friends of the canal’ movement is gaining momentum and these waterways encircling our city may soon be the focus of artful appreciation once more.