Dundalk's Marian Park community gearing up for 65th anniversary

The residents of Marian Park in Dundalk are gearing up for major celebrations this September, as the Dundalk housing estate marks 65 years since its first tenants took residence in 1959.

The newly established Marian Park Residents Committee has been incredibly active since November 2023, ensuring the place remains tidy and preparing for the upcoming celebrations. The Dundalk Democrat spoke to James McCrave of the resident's committee, who shared some of the remarkable background to the history of the estate and the plans for the 65th anniversary celebrations.

The construction of Marian Park first began in the mid-1950s, with the first tenants taking residence on April 3 1959. Marian Park takes its origins from the Marian Year started by Pope John XXIII, when many estates and shrines around the country were named after the Virgin Mary. Construction commenced around 1957, it was finished in four phases.

James tells the Dundalk Democrat that Marian Park was a great place to grow up. Over the past number of weeks he has been compiling some of the history of the estate, with the help of old news and community archives in preparation for the 65th anniversary. He has uncovered a wealth of information about the various variety groups from Marian Park, and the activities that took place in the estate over the years.

“A lot of things happened over the years here, you would be surprised”, he reveals. “They used to have discos, the variety groups used to win competions in Ireland, there's a lot of history there. Marian Park used to have a variety group here, years and years ago, it used to be run by a Councillor who lived here, Jimmy Bellew. He used to run the variety groups. There used to be teams coming down from the North, there was a team called Ballygawley used to come down in the 70s, they used to always beat us!”

Revealing some of the history he uncovered during his research, James says that “they used to have a lot of Irish dancers, they used to have beekeepers, they used to have loads and loads of stuff. There's loads of history, you could be talking about it the whole day.”

James adds that back in the day, “people from all over the town wanted to go into Marian Park because there was that much happening in the street. That's what I was told from a few of the past residents. People would travel from different parts of the town to see what Marian Park were doing because they were doing that much. There's a load of history there.”

Last November a new residents committee was set up in the area. “The residents committee used to do a lot of things years ago for the residents, that's how all that stuff came about, day trips and all that kind of thing as well. But there hasn't been any residents committee here since the late 80s, it kind of got disbanded. All the residents were getting older. Also, the people who were running it had their own families and hadn't got time to run it, so it's only now, last year, that we put together a Marian Park Residents Committee.”

James has shared with the Dundalk Democrat, some of the photos and stories of Marian Park, that he uncovered while carrying out his research, including some old Dundalk Democrat archives. See next week's Dundalk Democrat for more stories and archive photos of Marian Park over the past 65 years.

The committee has plenty in store this September for the 65th anniversary celebrations. On Saturday 7 September from 11:15am – 12:15pm, the St Brigid Pipe Band will march around the streets in Marian Park and play some tunes. Also on the Saturday, from 1pm to 5pm, there will be a Family Fun Day at the Redeemer Resource Centre for residents, kids, and grandkids. There will be a fun course, bouncy castles, slides, and face painting.

On Sunday 8 September at 2pm, there will be an outdoor mass for deceased residents of Marian Park on the astro pitch. The parish priests will bless the street after mass. This will be followed by a street party from 3:30pm to 6:00pm.

Then on Friday 20 September, starting at 6.30pm, there will be a Marian Park reunion for past and present residents at the Lisdoo Arms on the Newry Road. Expect live music and a disco by Paddy Mac, with special guest Beki Hemingway and husband guitarist Randy Kerkman. Tickets are €20 and are available now. Contact James at 087 2202173 for more.