The brothers Arthur and Benjamin Lee Guinness built up an estate of nearly 123.75 hectares from 1835 onwards in the Clontarf/Raheny area and called the estate St. Anne's after the Holy Well of the same name on the lands. Sir Arthur Edward Guinness (Lord Ardilaun) was the person most responsible for expanding and developing the estate and gardens and planted evergreen (holm) oaks and pines along the main avenue and estate boundaries. Lord and Lady Ardilaun had no children and the estate passed to their nephew Bishop Plunkett in the 1920s. In 1937, he decided he could no longer maintain such a large estate and negotiations with the Corporation resulted in the house and estate being sold to the Corporation for approximately £55,000 in 1939. Bishop Plunkett retained Sybil Hill (now St. Paul's College) as a private residence with 30 acres of parkland. In December 1943, the main residence of St. Anne's "The Mansion" was gutted by a fire and the ruins demolished in 1968. In the meantime, just over 200 acres of the estate were developed for public housing with the central most attractive portion comprising about 270 acres retained as parkland. The elaborate Tudor redbrick Ardilaun stables survive, as do most of the follies. The walled garden, including a fruit garden added to the estate by Bishop Plunkett, is now a 12-acre plant nursery for the Parks Department. Thousands of bedding plants, shrubs, trees, and floral tubs are produced annually in the nursery. The park is intensively used by the public through its 35 playing pitches, 18 hard-surfaced tennis courts, and a par-3 golf course. Woodland paths add to the charm of the park as does a sunken garden constructed in the early 1970s. In 1975, St. Anne's Rose Garden was opened to the public. In 1980 it was given a Civic Award by Bord Failte and the Irish Town Planning Institute and since 1981 it has been a centre for International Rose Trials. To celebrate Dublin’s Millennium year in 1988, the Parks Department in co-operation with the tree council of Ireland, initiated the Millennium Arboretum. Consisting of 16 acres located between the main avenue and St Anne’s housing estate, the arboretum is planted with over 1000 types of tees and was sponsored by 1000 participants. The park also has a model car track and green waste recycling facility. More recently, improvements to the park include the refurbishment of the Red Stables, providing and Arts Centre and Restaurant and new entrance gates and piers at the end of the Main Avenue. Ongoing works to upgrade the existing Par 3 Golf Course to an 18 Hole Course are expected to be completed during 2008.
