(Crider) Wandering Phoenix





One sunny afternoon during my second week in Dublin, I took advantage of a few hours’ downtime to appease my wanderlust.  Walking west along the River Liffey, I made my way towards Phoenix Park, not having looked at a map and completely unaware of how far it was from Trinity College.  Nearly forty minutes passed before I reached the park’s gates, but I was satisfied with having found my destination after guessing on a whim which turns would lead me there.  Though I managed to traverse the two miles from campus in reasonable time, a map would have been nice once I stepped into the 1,750 acre scatterplot of meadows, forests, cricket fields, and walking paths.  I only recently learned that a park map stands in front of the visitor centre, almost at the opposite side, through a dense row of trees…  But never mind the fact that Phoenix Park is one of the largest recreational areas in Europe and lacks sufficient directional information; the best adventures are always experienced when lost, anyway, and getting lost was at the top of my intentions from the start.  Half way across the park I abandoned the main road, negotiated an expansive meadow, and forayed into the trees.

 Phoenix Park offers the perfect destination for those who prefer to spend a pleasant day exploring wide-open space, without driving a hundred miles out of town to find it.  Well away from the bustling streets of central Dublin, the park covers nearly two thousand acres of lush grassland and verdant trees separated by numerous cricket and rugby fields, Dublin Zoo, the abandoned Magazine Fort, a garden café, and more.  The park can be reached by foot from Trinity College, but alternate transport is available by taking the red Luas Tram route to the Heuston stop and walking for a few blocks on Wolfe Tone Street past the round Defence Forces  Headquarters.  Bikes can be rented just inside the front gate for easier passage through the park, where colourful gardens and quaint ponds are accessible by paved trails branching off from the main road.    

While these spots are charming, some of the most gorgeous aspects of Phoenix Park require that one ditch the wheels and travel by foot.  Large patches of broadleaf trees simulate a walk through the woods and, depending on the location in the park, are only interrupted by grassy hills and empty roads save the occasional runner.  Gullies snake through the park along these roads with small creeks trickling through the grass.  I found this section of Phoenix Park to be among the more peaceful settings of Dublin and definitely a favorite among the dozens of fallow deer that graze there, unperturbed by visitors to their feeding ground.

Among the other hidden treasures within the park is the Magazine Fort at the south side.  Sir Edward Fisher built his lodge here in 1611.  Over the centuries the fort underwent various transformations, and was the site of the Christmas Raid in 1939.  James Joyce featured this section of Phoenix Park in the Dubliners story "A Painful Case."  Today it is merely an abandoned fort atop a hill, its perimeter outlined by an empty moat.  The buildings peering over the stone fortifications resemble concrete bunkers from either world war.  Having an interest in such structures I cased the fort for a way in but was impeded by the high walls, three consecutive fences lined by barbed wire at the front, and limited time.  I had spent over an hour wandering through the park and would soon be running late for some school activity.  Avoiding the long, meandering route that had led me to the fort, I cut across the sports fields between me and the entrance, referring to the 203 ft Wellington Monument peering through the trees for a source of direction.