Michael Cregan describes their primary use for the grazing of draft animals, as well as for recreation, play, seasonal celebrations and military training, and explains how significant population growth led to their demise by the beginning of the nineteenth century. The need for land was a crucial factor, as was the Enlightenment ideology of Improvement, which emphasized transforming crooked alleys into straight streets and a preference for rectangular squares. The aspiration was to transform Dublin into a beautiful city.

Ironically, the loss of the Greens meant that this improved Dublin was seriously lacking in open spaces. Today, there is an awareness that carefully planned public areas greatly contribute to the attractiveness of cities. Indeed, Dublin’s Greens may have been ‘ahead of the times’ by offering a wide variety of over-lapping functions in an unmanicured landscape.

'Deeply researched and richly illustrated . . . a definitive and fascinating account . . . that will be of great interest to social historians, urban planners, or anyone strolling through St Stephen’s Green.'  Professor James Shapiro, Columbia University