COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN, NEWCASTLE, RATHCOOLE, SAGGART AND BRITTAS AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

QUESTION NO.6

QUESTION: Councillor E. Ó Broin

To ask the Chief Executive for a progress report on the apple trees that were planted as part of the 300K Have Your Say initiative for Clondalkin and on subsequent LEA motions calling for other fruit trees and bushes such as pears, plums, goosberries and mulburries to be planted.

REPLY:

The Council planted 62 apple trees across four different locations in 2019.  The locations are set out in the table below along with the status of the trees.

 

Location	Details	No of trees planted	No of trees present	Reason for missing trees
Corkagh Park	Between cycle track and dog run	35	33	Failed to establish
Clondalkin Park	In wildflower meadow near R113/St John's Estate	5	0	Vandalised
Monastery Gate Close	Open space near Mount Talbot	15	10	Failed to establish
Riversdale estate	Open space between Crescent & Park	7	0	Vandalised

The Corkagh Park orchard has been enhanced by the planting of additional trees by Clondalkin Tidy Towns in March 2023 under the Orchards in the Community/DCs for Bees scheme, which is an initiative to help save the declining bee population.  Three apple varieties, a pear and a plum tree were planted.

The Monastery Gate Close orchard has been slower to establish but is growing well.  Additional trees were planted at this location during the 2023/2024 planting season to replace five trees that failed to establish.  These included pear and plum varieties.

Gooseberries (Ribes uva-crispa) are a soft fruit bush that require a bit more maintenance than fruiting trees.  Most varieties have prickly stems and would be more suitable to growing in an allotment or private garden where they can be pruned twice a year as required and their susceptibility for mildew can be monitored.

Mulberries (Mornus) are a deciduous trees and shrubs native to Africa, Asia and North and South America.  While frost hardy their tender unripened wood may be damaged by frost.  They are more suited to town or coastal gardens.