Recently I came across the following online review many times: “This defunct bandstand is the stage in the park’s natural amphitheatre. In recent years it has unfortunately become a haven for drug addicts and alcoholics from nearby Crumlin and Mount Tallant.”

Towards the east of the park, not far from the duck pond, there is this bandstand. It’s fan-shaped in plan and opens out at the base of a slope, like a natural amphitheatre set into the landscape.

Back in 2019 the structure was transformed by street artists but it looked a bit worn and sad when I visited on the morning after Christmas [2021] and it was no better today [2 November 2023].

Dublin City Council Community, Culture, Recreation and Economic Services has commissioned Howley Hayes Architects to develop a design for a contemporary tearoom with careful consideration of placement, scale, materials and proportions and its relationship within Bushy Park, the proposed Dodder Cycle way and the wider Terenure/Rathfarnham/Rathgar areas. In addition, the development of a design for the currently redundant bandstand. The bandstand will be refurbished in a similar palate of materials to the tearooms to create a vibrant civic space for the park. Timber and steel elements are proposed to form the new roof and screens to the back stage area. The new accessible ramp and stage area will match the materials used in the external areas of the tearoom.