Name: Phoenix Park
Rating: 5.0

Phoenix Park

Phoenix Park, Dublin 8, Ireland

1-90 Years

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Description

Phoenix Park is one of the largest enclosed public parks in any capital city in Europe, located just a short distance from Dublin city centre. Originally created as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, it is now a large green space open to everyone. With wide open landscapes, historic landmarks and roaming wild deer, it’s a perfect destination for relaxation and outdoor activities.

Visitors can explore a wide range of attractions including the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre, Dublin Zoo, Victorian People’s Gardens, Ashtown Castle and the iconic Wellington Testimonial. The park offers plenty of activities such as walking, cycling, running, orienteering and sports like cricket and polo. There are also scenic spots like the Furry Glen and Glen Pond, along with playgrounds, bike hire, guided cycle tours and beautiful gardens to enjoy.

Entry to Phoenix Park is completely free, making it an excellent value destination for all visitors.

With its mix of natural beauty, wildlife, history and recreational activities, Phoenix Park offers something for everyone. Whether you’re enjoying a peaceful walk, exploring landmarks or spending time with family, it’s a must-visit outdoor space in Dublin.

Features

Free
Host birthday parties: No

Features

The Park is also home to the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre, Áras an Uachtaráin, Zoological Gardens, Victorian Flower Gardens, a Biodiversity Information Centre, Phoenix Park Café and Tea Rooms. The Phoenix Park is only a mile and a half from O’Connell Street. Both passive and active recreational pursuits may be pursued such as walking, running, polo, cricket, hurling and many more.

Bike Hire: Phoenix Park Bikes are located just inside the main gate on Parkgate Street. With the availability of a wide range of bikes designed to cater for all ages, and the newly extended network of fourteen kms of cycle trails, it really makes for a safe and enjoyable way for family, friends and visitors to experience and explore the Park.
Group Bike Rentals: Phoenix Park Bikes offer the facility for large group bookings. Bike Rental in the Park is a great activity for groups. At Phoenix Park Bikes you can avail of their challenge package which will create teams and competitive group fun no matter what the group age.
Guided Cycle Tours: Join Phoenix Park Bikes for a 2 or 3 hour guided cycling tour around the Park which will include stops for photo opportunities, information on features, a 25 minute audio/visual on the Park content and history at the Visitor Centre and more. Tours can include coffee stop at the Phoenix Café if requested.
Doctors Orders - A Park Prescription: Some doctors are issuing ‘Park Prescriptions’ to encourage their patients to exercise outdoors. Benefits of being out and active in green spaces include; reduction of tension and stress, lower blood pressure, improved immune system responses, and milder ADHD symptoms in children. Regular exercise in a park also reduces obesity, chronic disease and mental health issues.
Orienteering: Orienteering is a competitive international sport that combines running with navigation. It is a timed race in which individual participants use a specially created, highly detailed map to select routes and navigate through diverse terrain and visit control points in sequence. There are twenty-one Irish Orienteering clubs with approximately 1,100 members ranging in age from nine to ninety.
Playgrounds: The universal access playground located west of the Victorian Walled Garden at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre was opened in early 2008 and has proved a huge success with our younger visitors. The imaginatively themed design of this playground is bright and attractive with a great variety of play units, including provision for children with disabilities.

Facilities

Parking: Car parks and car parking spaces are provided for visitors to the Park.
Food & Drinks: The Phoenix Park Cafe is located in the grounds of the Visitor Centre adjoining The Walled Garden and Ashtown Castle. The café serves a wide range of delicious dishes using locally sourced ingredients, with a welcoming ambiance for all guests.

What to see

The Magazine Fort: 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 when the Duke of Dorset directed that a powder magazine be provided for Dublin. An additional wing was added to the fort in 1801 for troops.+
Prehistoric Burial Chamber: West of St. Mary’s Hospital, on the hill of Knockmary, stands a prehistoric burial chamber over 5,500 yrs old. The tumulus, which covered it, was opened in 1838 and skeletons, pottery and other relics, now in the National Museum were discovered.
The Papal Cross: The Papal Cross is a simple large white cross that was erected near the edge of the Fifteen Acres for the Papal visit of Pope John Paul II on the 29th September 1979. On this day, before travelling to Drogheda, Co. Louth, Pope John Paul II delivered an open-air sermon to more than 1.25 million people.
The People’s Gardens: The Victorian People’s Flower Gardens comprise of an area of twenty-two acres, which were laid out around 1840 and opened in 1864. They provide an opportunity to display Victorian horticulture at its best. A large ornamental lake, children’s playground, picnic areas and Victorian bedding schemes are just some of the attractions.
The Phoenix Monument: The Phoenix Monument was erected by the fourth Earl of Chesterfield in 1747. The column was carved in Portland stone. It is in the shape of a Corinthian column with a Phoenix bird rising from the ashes at its pinnacle.
The Wellington Testimonial: The Wellington Testimonial was designed by Robert Smirke as a testimonial to Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, who is reputed to have been born in Dublin. It was completed in 1861 and is the tallest obelisk in Europe at just over sixty-two metres tall.
Ashtown Castle and Demesne: Ashtown Demesne accessed off the Phoenix roundabout on Chesterfield Avenue, has numerous attractions for young and old alike. These include Ashtown Castle, a two and half acre Victorian Kitchen Walled Garden, the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre, the Phoenix Café, toilets, car and coach parking, woodland walks, picnic areas and a universal access playground.
Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden: The Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden is a two and a half-acre garden set in the grounds of Ashtown Castle (next to the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre). The Walled Garden is currently being restored to its original mid-Victorian layout. The garden will inspire and educate the public on the horticultural skills involved in the design and layout of a Victorian Kitchen Garden, as well as the growing of fruit, vegetables and flowers, with colourful summer displays.

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Price

Price: Free

Birthday Parties

Offer Birthday Parties: No

The Phoenix Park is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round.
The main gates at Parkgate Street and Castleknock Gate are open twenty-four hours.
The side gates to the Park are open from 7am until 10.45pm approximately.

Address: Phoenix Park, Dublin 8, Ireland

Post Code: IE

Council: Dublin

County: Dublin

By Car: Car parks and car parking spaces are provided for visitors to the Park. All car parks close one hour before dark, except for the two car parks on the Upper Glen Road and inside Knockmaroon Gate, which are open twenty-four hours a day.
By Bus: The No. 99 Dublin Bus runs every 30 minutes, between 9.00am and 6.00pm, seven days a week, between Parkgate Street and the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre.