The first to be donated to the city, Dunville Park was named after its benefactors, the owners of a famous whiskey distillery on the nearby Grosvenor Road.
Built on the site of an area of waste ground known as The Loads, Dunville Park was officially opened in 1892 by the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, who noted that the provision of such a park in an industrial area was symbolic of a new era when employers would think not only of the housing and sanitation of their workers but of their recreation as well.
In addition to donating the land in 1891, Robert Dunville contributed some £1,000 for railings, £665 for a fountain, £5,000 towards the laying out of the park and a further £1,150 on a gate lodge at the Grosvenor Road entrance, home to the Park Superintendent.
These sums were very substantial for the period, and reflected the vast wealth of the Dunville family, much of which came from their whiskey distillery, as well as from tea and cotton importing.
The park’s historic terracotta fountain, which once provided fresh drinking water, is now a vast flowerbed. The park itself today contains a community event space, floodlit sports pitch and changing pavilion, car-parking, playgrounds plus walking paths and landscaped areas for visitors to enjoy.
Dunville Park was extensively restored by Belfast City Council as part of its major Parks Improvements Programme, reopening in 2013. It remains a much-cherished jewel of West Belfast.
Ba í Páirc Dunville an chéad cheann a bronnadh ar an chathair, ainmníodh í as na tabharthóirí, úinéirí na drioglainne uisce beatha ar Bhóthar Grosvenor in aice láimhe.
Tógadh Páirc Dunville ar thalamh gan saothrú ar a dtugtar The Loads, d’oscail Marcas Dufferin agus Ava go hoifigiúil sa bhliain 1892 í. Luaigh sé gur léiriú é oscailt na páirce i limistéar tionsclaíoch ar ré nua ina mbeadh fostóirí ag smaoineamh ar fhóillíocht a gcuid oibrithe, ní hámhain ar thithíocht agus sláintíocht.
Chomh maith leis an talamh a dheonú in 1891, thug sé thart fá £1,000 fá choinne ráillí, £665 fá choinne fuaráin, £5,000 fá choinne leagan amach na páirce agus £1,150 fá choinne teach geata ag bealach isteach Bhóthar Grosvenor do Stiúrthóir na Páirce.
Ba shuimeanna nár bheag iad seo ag an am, agus léirigh siad saibhreas ollmhór chlann Dunville. Tháinig cuid mhór de sin óna drioglann uisce beatha, agus ó iompórtáil tae agus chadáis fosta.
Sa lá atá inniu ann, is ceapach mhór bláthanna é an fuarán stairiúil terracotta sa pháirc, ach chuir sé fioruisce ar fáil tráth. Tá spás d’imeachtaí pobail sa pháirc sa lá atá inniu ann, chomh maith le páirc spóirt faoi thuilsoilse agus pailliún feistis, carrchlós, clóis súgartha, cosáin siúil agus áiteanna tírdhreachaithe do na cuairteoirí.
Rinne Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste athchóiriú mór ar Pháirc Dunville mar chuid dá Clár Feabhsaithe Páirceanna, a tosaíodh arís in 2013. Tá sí ar na seoda is mó in Iarthar Bhéal Feirste.