I was in Dublin with work recently, I was walking to a meeting and had parked my car in the Phoenix park. As parks go the Phoenix park is really impressive and boasts a total size of 1750 acres which is extremely impressive in Capital city, where land is at a premium. Indeed The Irish Government is trying to ensure it remains unspoilt parkland and is in advanced talks with UNESCO to give the park world heritage site status, which would be great and would prevent any future governments looking to develop any part of the park for housing or industry.
The park has an interesting history and like many townlands and villages around the country the name Phoenix park is derived from our mother tongue Gaeilge - fhionnuisce which literally translates as still water is where the name came from. Dublin was founded as an urban centre and trading post by the Vikings in the 9th century and over the following centuries feuds between the Irish high kings and the Vikings ensued and ownership of Dublin changes hands numerous times, until the Normans eventually took over in the twelfth century.
Indeed it was a Norman, Hugh Tyrrel, 1st Baron of Castleknock, that paved the way for the park we see today, which is the heartbeat of the city. He granted a large area of land, including what now comprises the Phoenix Park, to the Knights Hospitaller. Again it changed hands many times over the next nine centuries and today is the property of the state and as I said, they are pushing for it to become a UNESCO heritage site which would be marvellous.
So, now that I have that bit of history explained, I'll tell you what I happened upon after parking my car. I was walking to my meeting and off to my left I heard a rustling in the trees.
Any ideas what it was that caught my attention off to the right as I made my way to my meeting? See can you spot anything in the trees?
Yep, that's right......
I don't know what it is about squirrels, but I just love the little guys. Maybe it's the big bushy tails? Maybe it's there happy looking little heads?
So not only were these squirrels cute, but they were also super talented little fellas, hopefully these photos convey their impressive acrobatics as they jumped from tree to tree at high speed and at break neck heights.
The phoenix park is also home to Dublin zoo, which we went to last month and here are a few photos from that fun filled visit.
Something else that can be found in the Phoenix park is the home of the President of Ireland which is known as Áras an Uachtaráin in Irish which literally translates as the house of the president.
With the park stretching to 1750 acres, there's plenty of room for everyone and everything and you'll never drive through the park without seeing dozens of jogging, walking or running. I don't have photo of the Áras to hand, so here is one from https://heritageireland.ie/places-to-visit/aras-an-uachtarain/. Just the 92 rooms, so if you're ever in town give Michael D. Higgins our president a shout and he might put you up!
The photos used throughout this post are all my own taken on my Samsung smart phone, except for the last one of the Áras
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