The Iveagh Gardens are among Dublin's best-kept secrets — a series of walled Victorian gardens hidden behind the National Concert Hall, designed by Ninian Niven in 1865 and given to the State by the Guinness family (Earls of Iveagh). The gardens include a cascade waterfall, a rosarium, archery grounds, a rustic grotto, and a sunken fountain garden.
Because they lack a prominent entrance and are little-known outside the city, they are far less crowded than St Stephen's Green a few hundred metres away. The café in the gardens is open in summer.