North Of The Liffey - Dublin - page 283

The southern part of the park has many football and hurling pitches ; although they actually oc-
cupy about 80 hectares (200 acres), the area is known as the Fifteen Acres . To the west, the
rural-looking Glen Pond corner of the park is extremely attractive.
At the northwestern end of the park, near the White's Gate entrance, are the offices of
Ordnance Survey Ireland , the government mapping department. This building was originally
built in 1728 by Luke Gardiner, who was responsible for the architecture in O'Connell St
and Mountjoy Sq in north Dublin.
Back towards the Parkgate St entrance is the Magazine Fort (closed to the public) on Tho-
mas's Hill. The fort was no quick construction, the process taking from 1734 to 1801. It
provided useful target practice during the 1916 Easter Rising, and was raided by the Irish
Republican Army (IRA) in 1940 when the entire ammunition reserve of the Irish army
was nabbed (it was recovered a few weeks later).
FARMLEIGH HOUSE
Situated in the northwest corner of the Phoenix Park, opulent Farmleigh House ( www.farmleigh.ie ) can only be
visited by joining one of the 30-minute house tours. However, the real highlight of the 32-hectare estate is the
garden, where regular shows are held. There is also an extensive program of cultural events in summer, ranging
from food fairs to classical concerts.
At 709 hectares, the Phoenix Park dwarfs the measly 337 hectares of New York's Central Park and is lar-
ger than all of the major London parks put together.