Phoenix Park
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Ireland_-_Dublin_-_Phoenix_Park_-_Wellington_Monument.jpg
Phoenix Park (in Irish, Páirc an Fhionn-Uisce) is a large park located to the north west of Dublin city centre, Ireland. It measures 7 km² (1752 acres / 712 hectares), with a walled circumference of 11 km. It contains large areas of grassland, tree-lined avenues and many areas of dense forest. The park is home to a herd of wild deer.
It has been cited as the largest enclosed city park in Europe but Sutton Park near Birmingham, England is larger and is also an "enclosed city park".
Phoenix Park contains the residences of both the President of Ireland (Áras an Uachtaráin) and the United States ambassador to Ireland (Deerfield Residence). The headquarters of the Irish national police force, An Garda Síochána, is located in the park, as is the State Guest House, Farmleigh. The park contains Dublin Zoo, several sportsgrounds including cricket and polo, the Wellington Monument, a 205 foot (62m) tall obelisk memorial for the Duke of Wellington and the Papal Cross. The cross was erected in the park for the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979. An estimated million people attended an open air mass in the park at the time.
The name is a corruption of the Irish fionn uisce meaning "clear water". The park featured prominently in James Joyce's novel, Finnegans Wake. It is occasionally used for open-air concerts and the annual Phoenix Park Motor Races.
Railway Tunnel
Platform 11, a rail lobby group, advocated the re-activation of the railway tunnel underneath the Phoenix Park for passenger use, linking Heuston Station with Connolly Station.
See also
External links
- A history of the Phoenix Park (http://www.chapters.eiretek.org/books/Chart/chart17.html), written in 1907.
- Architecture of key park buildings (http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/northcity/phoenix_park/index.html)
- Map of greater Dublin showing the placment and size of Phoenix Park (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.364258,-6.280657&spn=0.174072,0.262927&hl=en). It is the large green area west of the city centre, above the word "Kilmainham".nl:Phoenix Park