There is an interesting and varied collection of old Dublin lamp posts scattered randomly along the pathways of Merrion Square Park. Unfortunately, as sections of the park could not be accessed today due to construction work and events I was unable to photograph all of them.

Someone contacted me to enquire if Merrion Square Park is in fact ‘square’. The short answer is … I don’t know. The park is located in Merrion Square which may be square. In Ireland an area may be called a Square when in fact it forms a Triangle an example being Brighton Green.

Here is a comment that I came across: “The parks department is obviously keen on ‘arrays’. By far the most inappropriate is the ‘array’ of old lamp standards, culled from the city’s streets and re-erected here in haphazard fashion. Of the 25 standards, only a few appear to have had gas lamps, most have no lightbulbs, and of those with glass lanterns nearly all have broken panes. Some are relics of an era when Dublin had real local government, with cast-iron bases stamped “Rathmines Urban District Council 1900” or “Pembroke Electric Supply”. Other old standards are topped by lamps of much more recent vintage, such as the hideous orbs that lit the Ha’penny Bridge in the 1980s, when we knew no better” - Frank McDonald [Irish Times 2009]

I am not sure that I fully agree with Frank but I do agree that many of them are in poor condition and some appear to consist of unrelated parts. Also the collection as a whole gives the impression as not being quite right. I have failed to locate as many as 25 and for various reasons I have been unable to photograph all that I did find during this visit but I do plan to visit again in a few weeks.