Dublin Attractions

Venue: Phoenix Park    When: Daily

Phoenix Park, Dublin's famous recreational wilderness, fills its 1752 acres with plenty to do.

It boasts wonderful zoological gardens, Dublin Zoo, cricket and polo pitches as well as the tallest obelisk in Europe (205 feet), commemorating the exploits of the Dublin-born "Iron-Duke", Arthur Wellington.Look out for the bronze plaques beside it which are made from casts of cannons captured in the battle of Waterloo.

The Park has been home to a herd of fallow deer since 1662 and forms an important sanctuary for birds as well as more than 300 varieties of flowering grasses, ferns and wild flowers. With the exception of the residencies of Ireland's President (once the British Viceroy's Palace) and the USA Ambassador, the entire park is open to the public, criss-crossed with nature trails.

Though Dublin is hardly a smog-ridden city, it is a capital nonetheless and a visit to Phoenix Park makes a delightful respite from the city-centre. It has not always been so. Famously, on May 6 1882, the British Chief Secretary to Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish and his Under-Secretary, T.H. Burke were stabbed on their way to see the Viceroy as they strolled through Phoenix Park by a stringently Nationalist group called The Invincibles.