Guided tours of Georgian treasures

Walking tours of Dublin’s five main Georgian squares will be led by expert guides on Saturday as part of Dublin Civic Trust’s annual Dublin Garden Squares Day.

Visitors and locals can discover the history of these magnificent urban gardens, their plants, wildlife, the people that used them and the historic buildings that surround them.

Geraldine Walsh, chief executive of the Dublin Civic Trust, will lead the walk through Merrion Square, starting from the Oscar Wilde statue at 10.30am.

Karin O’Flanagan, secretary of the Mountjoy Square Society will take a tour of Mountjoy Square, starting from 54 Mountjoy Square West at 11.30am.

Graham Hickey, conservation director of the Dublin Civic Trust, will lead the walk through Fitzwilliam Square, starting from the Dublin Bikes station at noon.

Donal Raynor from the Office of Public Works will lead the tour of the Iveagh Gardens, starting at the Clonmel Place entrance at 1pm.

Conservation architect James Kelly will lead a walk in Parnell Square, starting at the gates to the Garden of Remembrance at 2.30pm; while Peter Keenahan, architect, will talk about the emergence of Renaissance Dublin on a walk through St Stephen’s Green, starting at the Fusilier’s Arch at the top of Grafton Street at 3pm.

A seminar on the history of Dublin’s Georgian Squares on Friday is fully booked out. Dublincivictrust.ie