Discover Alone
“Deer judging your outfit”
Phoenix Park is huge, lads. We are talking seven hundred and seven hectares, which is a lot of grass to get lost in. The perimeter wall is eleven kilometres long, so do not try to run it unless you enjoy regret. The Duke of Ormond turned it into a hunting ground back in 1662, but wild fallow deer have been living there since the seventeenth century. Dubliners only got the key to the gate in 1745, so you are welcome to walk in now. You will see the Wellington Monument, with plaques made from captured Waterloo cannons. A very practical way to use metal, I think. There is also a zoo and Áras an Uachtaráin, the President’s house, but do not knock. The deer are the real owners, so watch from a distance. Bring time, not a map, because you will not see it all before lunch.
Photo: self, Public domain
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Then Tom went looking for the oddest places around it.
Stop 2 · A few steps on
The Phoenix Monument
“Burnt toast, says bishop”
The Phoenix Monument in County Dublin is a statue that keeps rising from the ashes but mostly just looks like it’s been through a lot of roadworks. The local bishop refused to visit because he said it looked too much like a burnt toast slice. It’s got that resilient spirit of something that knows it will be repainted again next year. Give it a pat on the way past, it's had a long life.
Recorded as: Statue.
From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) n292180677Photo: N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0
More about The Phoenix Monument →
Stop 3 · 5 minutes down the road
Saint Jude's Church
“Tower on the move”
Saint Jude's Church in County Dublin is basically a tower because the rest moved house. Built in 1862, it was dismantled and rebuilt in Kildare, so it’s been on tour. The spire looks lonely but very stylish with its wrought-iron wind vane.
Freestanding square-plan three-stage tower, built 1862-4, originally part of Saint Jude's Church. Octagonal-plan spire, with carved trefoil vents, and wrought-iron wind vane. Snecked rock-faced rusticated Ardbraccan limestone walls, with cut limestone quoins…
From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 50080040Photo: Regier, CC BY-SA 4.0
More about Saint Jude's Church →_-_20190913115148.jpg){kind=link}
Stop 4 · Round the corner
Kilmainham Gaol — Inchicore Road
“Goat ate the paperwork”
Kilmainham Gaol, Inchicore Road in County Dublin was once ruled by a goat that just decided to sit on the throne and eat the paperwork. The east wing has ninety-six cells arranged around a central atrium, so you can imagine how much chaos that one animal could have caused. Tell your friends about the time silence was broken by a very loud bleat.
Attached multiple-bay three-storey over part-raised basement former new prison wing, built c.1860, having apsidal east end. Now in use as museum. Pitched slate roof with central vaulted rooflight, and wrought-iron coping to parapet. Red brick chimneystacks…
From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 50080047Photo: Nol Aders, CC BY-SA 3.0
More about Kilmainham Gaol — Inchicore Road →
Stop 5 · Hop back in the car, 10 minutes
Dunsink Observatory
“Wellies, low expectations”
Dunsink Observatory’s telescope is on its own foundation so wind doesn't shake it, which is very high maintenance. The bishop who refused to visit probably just didn't want to smell the copper roof. Bring wellies and low expectations, leave delighted.
Snecked limestone rotunda housing telescope, built 1868, with copper-roofed dome and projecting entrance porch. Retaining original fenestration. The shaft of the telescope has a foundation independent of the walls to prevent transmission of external…
From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 11354009Photo: JP, CC BY-SA 2.0
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The whole day on one map
See everything else around Phoenix Park →
Over a million places across Ireland and Britain, all free. Explorer Tom has a story for nearly every one.