University College Dublin is a town in itself, with over 30,000 students attending the 300 acre campus in Dublin 4. As such the campus has many little-known areas and facilities hidden around its fringes. Walkers through the woods at lunchtime might come across the running track, the School of Archaeology’s experimental archaeology site or…a field of cows. One of these hidden areas is UCD’s Eden, the Rosemount Environmental Research Station, which is generally closed to the public but held an open day yesterday.
Rosemount is UCD’s centre for plant research, with lots of fascinating studies taking place in its glasshouses. It also hosts the historical Irish apple collection i.e. an orchard with lots of different apple varieties, and the UCD bees which are producing Rosemount honey. The sunny pictures below give an idea of what sort of research is going on and the general bucolic pleasantness of the place.
The Rosemount Orchard and historical Irish apple collection
Research greenhouses and polytunnels at Rosemount
Research with Bord na Mona assessing if organic by-products of the Agrifood industry can be used as compost
Research investigating the GHG emissions of the invasive Gunnera tinctoria plant
Enjoying Rosemount’s natural classroom
