Overview
Sean Moore Park is a flat, roughly ten-hectare (about 24.7-acre) green space on the coast at Ringsend, on the south side of the River Liffey. Locals tend to place it in Irishtown or Sandymount rather than the Docklands proper, but the setting is pure Dublin Bay: open grass and low mounds, a paved path along the shore, and the red-and-white Poolbeg chimneys standing over the whole thing. It’s free, flat and easy to reach, which is why it works equally for a family afternoon, a lunchtime run, or a winter’s morning watching geese.
If you do one thing here, make it the coastal loop out to Irishtown Nature Reserve, best of all on a Saturday, when the parkrun is on.
A history in the name
The park remembers Seán Moore (1913–1986), a Ringsend man through and through. He grew up in Irishtown, a short walk from where the park now sits, went to the vocational school in Ringsend, and went on to a long political career as a Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin South-East, Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1963–64, and later Government Chief Whip and a Minister of State. Naming the local park after him keeps him on his home ground.
Walking, running and the parkrun
The park’s flat, paved paths suit any pace. The signature route is the Sean Moore Park and Irishtown Nature Reserve loop, a 2.7-mile (4.4 km) circuit with barely 12 m of climb, hugging the coast with the Poolbeg chimneys in view for most of it. There’s a shorter loop of about 0.7 miles (1.1 km) entirely within the park for a quick lap.
Every Saturday at 9.30am a free, timed 5k parkrun sets off from near the playground and heads out along the coast, open to anyone, walkers included, and one of the friendlier ones in the city. The park also joins the Dublin Port Greenway, a traffic-free route running north towards the city and south towards Sandymount Strand, so it slots easily into a longer walk or cycle.
Playground and pitches
The Adventures by the Seashore playground, built by Hawthorn Heights Ltd, is the family draw: a lighthouse climbing frame, a zip wire, monkey bars, trampolines, swings, tunnels, musical toys and grassy hills, free and pitched at a wide range of ages. Right beside it are Gaelic games courts, home ground for Clanna Gael Fontenoy, whose footballers and hurlers train and play here through the week. There’s also an outdoor gym a short walk away at Sandymount Green.
Wildlife and the geese
The park’s eastern edge merges into Irishtown Nature Reserve, a former landfill that’s been turned into productive habitat. Its shallow wetlands and eelgrass beds pull in swans, mallard, greylag geese and a range of waders. The seasonal highlight is the light-bellied Brent geese: from December to March they arrive off the reserve after migrating from Arctic Canada, feeding on the eelgrass before heading back north. Blackbirds, robins and chaffinches work the scrubby corners, and foxes turn up at dawn and dusk. Early morning and late afternoon are the best windows.
Facilities and getting there
Here’s the honest caveat: there’s very little on site. There are no toilets and no café. Dublin City Council planned a container café and public toilet beside the playground for mid-2024, but the project is on hold, with Uisce Éireann securing a wayleave for the nearby Glass Bottle housing development, and no new date has been given. Bring water and a flask, or walk into Ringsend or Irishtown, both a few minutes away, for cafés and pubs.
- Public transport: Dublin Bus routes 68, 68A and 151 stop at Ringsend and Irishtown, a short walk from the Sean Moore Road entrances.
- By car: on-street parking along Sean Moore Road is limited; the Ringsend car park, about five minutes’ walk away, is more reliable but fills at weekends.
- Tide safety: the shoreline path floods on high tides, so check tide tables before walking the seawall.
Nearby
- Poolbeg Lighthouse – walk east along the shore for the lighthouse and the mouth of the Liffey.
- Sandymount Strand – a wide tidal beach off the park’s eastern edge; check the tide, as the sand goes out a long way.
- Aviva Stadium – the national stadium, a short cycle or bus ride away, runs guided tours.
- Samuel Beckett Bridge – the harp-shaped cable-stayed span across the Liffey, a quick photo stop on the way into town.
Time a winter visit for December to March if the Brent geese are the target, and a weekday morning if you want the running paths to yourself before the weekend crowd.