Phoenix Park

Phoenix Park
Type	Municipal
Location	Dublin
Coordinates	53°21′36″N 6°19′30″W
Opened	1662
Operated by	Office of Public Works
Status	Open all year

Phoenix Park (Template:Lang-ga) is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses 707 hectares (1,750 acres), one of the largest walled city parks in Europe,and according to Encyclopedia Britannica is the largest in Europe . It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth century has been home to a herd of wild Fallow deer. The English name comes from the Irish fionn uisce meaning "clear water".

History

After the Normans conquered Dublin and its hinterland in the 12th century Hugh Tyrell, 1st Baron of Castleknock, granted a large area of land, including what now comprises the Phoenix Park, to the Knights Hospitaller. They established an abbey at Kilmainham on the site now occupied by Royal Hospital Kilmainham. The knights lost their lands when Henry VIII confiscated monastic properties in 1537 and eighty years later the lands once more reverted to the ownership of the King's representatives in Ireland. On the restoration of Charles II, his Viceroy in Dublin, Lord Ormonde established a Royal Hunting Park in 1662 which contained pheasants and wild deer, therefore it was necessary to enclose the entire area with a wall. The Park originally included the demesne of Kilmainham Priory south of the River Liffey, but with the building of the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham, which commenced in 1680, the Park was reduced to its present size, all of which is now north of the river. It was opened to the people of Dublin by Lord Chesterfield in 1745.

Chief Secretary for Ireland Lord Frederick Cavendish, on the very day of his arrival to Ireland, was assasssinated, in the Phoenix Park, on 6 May 1882, in what was to become known as the Phoenix Park Murders.

Significant features

Deer grazing near the Papal Cross in the Phoenix Park

Áras an Uachtaráin

The residence of the President of Ireland (Áras an Uachtaráin) built in 1754 is located in the park. Originally named the Viceregal Lodge where the Lord Lieutenant lived for most of the intervening years until the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922.

Zoological Gardens

Dublin Zoo is one of Dublin's main attractions. It houses more than 700 animals and tropical birds from around the world and was founded in 1830 and opened to the public on 1 September 1831, with animals from the London Society, making it the third oldest zoo in the world. Within a year the zoo housed 123 species.

Papal Cross

The Papal Cross was erected at the edge of Fifteen Acres for the visit of Pope John Paul II on 29 September 1979. Over one million people attended an open air mass in the park at the time. The white cross, which dominates its surroundings, is 35 metres (115 ft) high and was built with steel girders. It was installed with some difficulty: after several attempts, the cross was eventually erected just a fortnight before the Pope arrived.

The Wellington Monument in the Phoenix Park

Monuments

The Wellington Monument is a 63 metres (207 ft) tall obelisk commemorating the victories of Duke of Wellington. It is the largest obelisk in Europe and would have been even higher if the publicly subscribed funding had not run out.

The phoenix monument is a Corinthian column with a Phoenix bird rising from the ashes at its pinnacle. It was erected by Lord Chesterfield in 1747.

Deerfield Residence

The Deerfield Residence was the former residence of the Chief Secretary for Ireland. It has been the official residence of the United States Ambassador to Ireland since 1927.

Phoenix Park Visitor Centre and Ashtown Castle

The oldest building in the park is Ashtown Castle, a restored medieval tower house dating from the 15th century. Restoration began in 1989 and it is located beside the Visitor Centre which houses interpretive displays on the 5,500 years of park and area history.

People's Gardens

The Gardens, located close to the Parkgate Street entrance, comprise an area of 9 hectares (22 acres), and were re-opened in 1864. These gardens were initially established in 1840 as the Promenade Grounds. They display Victorian horticulture, including ornamental lakes, children's playground, picnic area and bedding schemes. A statue is in the gardens dedicated to executed Easter Rising leader Seán Heuston. There is a plague in honour of the Irish American sculptor Jerome Connor on Infirmary Road, overlooking the Garden's which he frequently visited.

The opening hours are 8am till dusk. Closing times vary during the year.

Furry Glen

The south western corner of the park is known as the Furry Glen and has a series of short walks centred around a small lake with birds, plants and wildlife.

Magazine Fort

The Magazine Fort in the south-east of the Park

The Magazine Fort in the south east of the Park marks the location where Phoenix Lodge was built by Sir Edward Fisher in 1611. In 1734 the house was knocked down when the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset directed that a powder magazine be provided for Dublin. An additional wing was added to the fort in 1801 for troops. It was the scene of the Christmas Raid in 1939.

The magazine fort has been satirically immortalised in a jingle by Jonathan Swift (1667 to 1745, author of Gulliver's Travels) who proclaims:

"Now's here's a proof of Irish sense,
Here Irish wit is seen,
When nothing's left that's worth defence,
We build a Magazine."

Other places of interest

The State Guest House, Farmleigh, adjoins the park to the north-west.

The headquarters of the Irish national police force, the Garda Síochána, are located in the park.

The National Ambulance Service College is located at Saint Mary's Hospital on the Chapelizod side of the park.

The park also contains several sports grounds for football, hurling, soccer, cricket and polo.

At Conyingham Road, near the S.C.R. junction, the regular wall takes on an unusual arch shape before levelling out again this marks the point where the Liffey Bridge enters the Park via a tunnel that continues on beneath the Wellington monument.

Phoenix Park in the summer

A rail tunnel runs underneath the Park joining lines from Heuston Station to Connolly Station. It is used regularly for freight traffic, and by certain limited special passenger services on match days to carry GAA fans from southern lines to Connolly for Croke Park.

Nature and biodiversity

There are 351 plant species in the Park; three of these are rare and protected. The park has retained almost all of its old grasslands and woodlands and also has rare examples of wetlands. Deer were introduced into the park in the 1660s; the current 400–450 fallow deer descend from the original herd. 30% of the park is covered by trees, mainly broadleaf.

A Birdwatch survey in 2007-8 found 72 species of bird including buzzard, sparrowhawk, kestrel and jay.

The park also holds several streams, tributaries of the River Liffey.

Pressures and threats on the Park

In July and August 2006, the Health Minister, Mary Harney, issued three orders exempting two new community nursing units, to be built at St. Mary's Hospital in the Park, from the usual legally required planning permission, despite the Phoenix Park being a designated and protected national monument. The Department of Health said the decision was made because of what it called the department's "emergency response to the accident and emergency crisis at the time", although the nursing units, in use since 2008, are mainly for geriatric care.

In a 2009 Conservative Management Plan for the Park, the Office of Public Works (a Department of Finance agency) commented, "...the erection, without the necessity of resorting to normal planning procedures, of two major developments in St. Mary's Hospital illustrates the vulnerability of The Phoenix Park to internal development, which impacts significantly on the essential character of the Park and its unique value as a historic designed landscape." In a section entitled Pressures and Threats on the Park, subsection Planning Issues, the document expressed concern that, "Without appropriate planning designation, there is a risk that development can take place which is not in line with the co-ordinated vision of this Plan." The document warned of similar risks to the integrity of the Park such as "uncoordinated building and construction...and the current condition of certain historic buildings such as the Magazine Fort, the farm buildings below St. Mary's Hospital and Mountjoy House in the Ordnance Survey Complex."

Events

Motor racing

Motor racing first took place in the Phoenix Park in 1903 when the Irish Gordon Bennett Race Speed Trials were held on the main straight for both cars and motorcycles. This was followed in 1929 by the Irish International Grand Prix; the first of three Irish motor racing grands prix. Racing took place between 1932 until the beginning of World War II in 1939 and was revived again in 1949 with a sprint on the Oldtown circuit followed the next year by a full racing meeting again and has been used virtually continuously until today. Over the years seven different circuits have been used, two of which are named after the famous Ferrari World Champion racing driver Mike Hawthorn.

Automatic lighting gas street lamps line the main avenue of the Phoenix Park

Irish International Grand Prix winners

Season	Date	Race Name	Location	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine
1929	12 July	I Irish Grand Prix (Saorstát Cup)	Phoenix Park	Boris Ivanowski	Alfa Romeo 6C	Alfa Romeo
1929	13 July	I Irish Grand Prix (Éireann Cup)	Phoenix Park	Boris Ivanowski	Alfa Romeo 6C	Alfa Romeo
1930	18 July	II Irish Grand Prix (Saorstát Cup)	Phoenix Park	Victor Gillow	Riley 9 Brooklands	–
1930	19 July	II Irish Grand Prix (Éireann Cup)	Phoenix Park	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes SSK	Mercedes-Benz

Great Ireland Run

The Great Ireland Run, a 10 km running competition, has been held annually each April in Phoenix Park since 2003. It includes races for professional runners and the public and the 2010 edition attracted over 11,000 participants. Athletes such as Sonia O'Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan are among the race's past winners.

Concerts

Music concerts have been performed in the park by such acts as U2, Coldplay, Duran Duran, Robbie Williams, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ian Brown, Justice, Kanye West, Arcade Fire and Tom Waits.

Phoenix Cricket Club

Phoenix Cricket Club, the oldest cricket club in Ireland, founded in 1830, by John Parnell, the father of Charles Stewart Parnell is located in the park. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1970s, it was the dominant club in Leinster cricket.

Popular culture

The park is featured prominently in James Joyce's novel, Finnegans Wake, and tangentially in Ulysses. It is occasionally used for open-air concerts and the annual Phoenix Park Motor Races.

In general, Dublin postal districts on the Northside are odd numbers, while Southside codes are even. One exception is the Phoenix Park, which is on the Northside but forms part of an even-numbered district (Dublin 8).

See also

• Gardens in the Republic of Ireland
• Phoenix Park Murders
• Phoenix Park Racecourse

Further reading

• The Phoenix Park: Conservative Management Plan: Consultation Draft, Office of Public Works, March 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2010. Contains detailed history and description of the Phoenix Park, its amenities, landscapes, fauna and flora, archaeology, architecture, and other Park matters.

External links

• Official site
• Architecture of key park buildings
• Map of greater Dublin showing the placement and size of the Phoenix Park. It is the large green area west of the city centre, above the word "Kilmainham".
• Satellite Photo of the Phoenix Park