Phoenix Park

Just 25-minutes walk from O'Connell Street, Phoenix Park is Europe's largest walled-in urban green space. More than twice the size of London's Hampstead Heath or New York's Central Park, Phoenix Park is truly a world-class parkland. Its expansive landscape contains a wealth of nooks and crannies worthy of exploration.

The park originated as priory lands, which were seized after the Reformation in the 17th century and made into a Royal deer park. The name is a corruption of fionn uisce or clear water, as a fresh water stream flows through its grounds.

Aside from its obvious open space amenities, Phoenix Park has several prominent attractions to take in. The Viceroy's lodge is now Aras an Uachtarain, the President's Residence. A 205ft obelisk erected in 1817 to the Duke of Wellington, a Dubliner by birth. More recently a Papal Cross was erected in 1979, commemorating the papal visit of Pope John Paul II. And Dublin Zoo, famous for breeding lions including the lion that roars at the start of the MGM movies, are all located within this massive park complex. (Oddly enough the MGM lion's roar is not real and had to be added later as the American audiences couldn't understand his `irish brogue.)

Natural beauty and history combine to make Phoenix Park a worthy attraction.