Taplin’s Fields community garden

There are approximately 10 volunteers who are the regulars, and are there most weekends

Taplin’s Fields is more than just a place to grow flowers or vegetables, it’s a story of creativity, activism, and connection

Horticulture

18 December 2025

Starting as a guerilla garden, Taplin’s Fields has grown into a vibrant section of Bridgefoot Street Park and a symbol of the Liberties’ strong sense of community.

A haven for friendships, story-sharing, and the flourishing of nature in the midst of the city, the garden is run exclusively by volunteers and is about much more than just flowers and veggies.

There was previously social housing on the site, which was demolished in the mid-2000s to allow for new housing to be built. However, the economic downturn meant that the land was left undeveloped, and locals then moved in and started guerrilla gardening.

After a grassroots campaign, Dublin City Councillors approved the rezoning of the site from Housing to Open Space and approved the development of a new public park, including a community garden, which opened in 2022.

It changed a run-down, overgrown site into a shared green space where local people come together to grow vegetables, fruit, and wildflowers, all fully organically, and where they can also experiment in biodiversity.

A story of action, creativity, and connection unfolds at Taplin’s Fields, which goes beyond just a mere vegetable garden.

The garden, named after local community hero – Richie Taplin from the Oliver Bond flats, who began guerrilla gardening on the derelict site years before Bridgefoot Street Park existed, now serves as a symbol of what can happen when neighbours band together to reclaim green space for everyone.

This year one area was left almost wild to attract pollinators and support biodiversity. It worked so well that Taplin’s Fields community garden won an award for pollinators from Powerscourt Estate, called Working with Nature.

There are approximately 10 volunteers who are the regulars, and are there most weekends. But it is an open garden with no fee, so people might come for a few sessions and then move on. On a really good day, there might be even 20 people in the garden.

If you are interested in joining to do a little bit of gardening, you may do that on Saturdays from 11am – 1pm.