Phoenix Park

Phoenix Park (in Irish, Páirc an Fhionn-Uisce) is a large park located 3 km to the north west of Dublin city centre, Ireland. It measures 712 hectares (1752 acres), 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 Fallow deer.

It is one of the largest enclosed city parks in Europe. Richmond Park in London, England is larger at 2,500 acres (10 km²).

The residence of the President of Ireland (Áras an Uachtaráin), the residence of the United States ambassador to Ireland (Deerfield Residence), and the headquarters of the Irish national police force, An Garda Síochána, are located inside Phoenix Park. Also located inside the park is Dublin Zoo, several sportsgrounds for football, soccer, cricket and polo, the Wellington Monument, a 62m (205 foot) tall obelisk memorial for the Duke of Wellington, and the Papal Cross, erected 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. It also contains the Phoenix Park visitor centre and Ashtown Castle, a restored medieval tower house. The State Guest House, Farmleigh, adjoins the park to the north-west. The South-Western corner of the park is known as the Furry Glen and has a beautiful series of walks centred around a lake with lots of birds, plants and wildlife.

The name is a corruption of the Irish fionn uisce meaning "clear water". The park is featured prominently in James Joyce's novel, Finnegans Wake. It is occasionally used for open-air concerts and the annual Phoenix Park Motor Races.

This article is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Phoenix Park".