Dalymount Park

Dalymount Park: Mapping a Unique Architectural Space is a collaborative mapping project developed by Jackie Bourke and Dorothy Smith. It was funded through The Arts Council of Ireland, Engaging with Architecture Scheme.

Dalymount Park is an iconic football stadium in Phibsborough, Dublin. Originally built in 1901 Dalymount has since been in an almost constant state of flux, through adaptations, new additions, and general wear and tear. Today it is a haphazard mix of structures and detail. Under city development plans it will soon be knocked and a new municipal stadium built in its place. The project has captured a moment in time, a range of memories and strong emotional attachments. Using photography, interviews and drawing we mapped out the architectural heritage and everyday experience of this space. The project comprises Drawing Dalymount: The Colouring Book which is a playful book of drawings made by workshop participants, and Dalymount: Bigger Than The Game, a projection of images and text drawn from interviews with people who have rich associations with the space.

Drawing Dalymount: The Colouring Book

Dalymount Park, home to Bohemians Football Club for over 100 years, is located in the urban village of Phibsborough, north Dublin. On a cold wet Saturday morning in November 2018, over 40 people of all ages and drawing abilities gathered in Dalymount Park to draw the architecture of this unique space.

The drawing day was facilitated by Dorothy Smith and Jackie Bourke. Drawing Dalymount: The Colouring Book comprises a series of drawings produced that day. It marks a moment in the stadium's evolution from the perspective of a diverse group of people. The drawings in the book breathe new life in to the architecture of the stadium and the many stories it has to tell. Read more about the history of this fascinating space and look at those drawings in the colouring book by clicking on the image below.

Dalymount: Bigger Than The Game

This evocative slow paced series of projections maps out the layers of place attachment, socio-cultural history, and fascinating architectural detail at Dalymount Park. It is a site which holds generations of memories rooted in its haphazard mix of structures and places. Layering memory, place, attachment and belonging through image and text, Dalymount: Bigger Than The Game draws viewers in to share precious moments mapped out across time and space; to reminisce, to reflect and reimagine the idiosyncratic features of this stadium.