Saint Enda's Park
St. Enda's Park is a mid-size public park in Rathfarnham, Dublin, Ireland. The park, which is approximately in size, contains the Pearse Museum and a café. It is held by the Irish state, and managed by the Office of Public Works.
History
St. Enda's was previously a private residence, and then a school. The property began as The Hermitage, the home of Dublin dentist Edward Hudson. The main house was built in 1760. The property was taken over by Patrick Pearse, later one of the leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916, and he ran a school there, St. Enda's School. Pearse, who was a teacher, bought the building in 1910 as his school in Ranelagh was getting too small. Pearse considered the site "ideal" as his curriculum had a heavy emphasis on nature. In the school, his brother, Willie Pearse, taught art and his sister Mary taught Irish. The Irish poets, Joseph Plunkett and Thomas MacDonagh also taught at the school. Both were executed after the 1916 Rising, as were 15 former pupils of the school.Leading up to the 1916 rising, the basement of the school was used as a bomb factory by Desmond Ryan and Liam Bulfin, both Irish Republican Brotherhood members. On Easter Monday, 1916, Padraig Pearse left the school for the last time and made the 5-mile march to the GPO.
British forces occupied the Hermitage after the Rising until 1919, when the school was opened once more by Margaret Pearse and her daughter Margaret Mary Pearse. The school closed its doors in 1935 due to a lack of support. When Margaret Pearse died in 1932, she wished that the building would be given over to the state after the lifetime of her daughter, Margaret Mary. She made only two conditions, that the house would be open throughout the year and that entry would be free of charge for the public.