Phoenix Park Run, Dublin (7.2 km)
An out-and-back run through Phoenix Park in Dublin — 7.2 km of park paths past the Wellington Testimonial, Áras an Uachtaráin and the wild fallow deer.
· 2 min read
Phoenix Park covers 707 hectares of Dublin north of the River Liffey, and this 7.2 km run crosses it and comes straight back. About 110 metres of climbing arrives almost entirely on the outbound leg. Both Hyde Park and Liverpool Docks are flatter.
The Phoenix Park run
Out and back on the same paths, retraced almost exactly.
Route
Ireland - Dublin - Phoenix Park
- Distance
- 7.2 km
- Ascent
- 110 m
- Max altitude
- 55 m
Works in Komoot, AllTrails, Garmin & most hiking apps.
- Start and finish: Parkgate Street, a short walk from Heuston station
- Distance: About 7.2 km (4.5 miles)
- Ascent: About 110 metres, most of it before the turn
- Terrain: Roughly half unsurfaced, nothing steep
Phoenix Park sits at fifteen metres by Parkgate Street and reaches about fifty-five at its far end, so the climbing is done early and the second half is downhill.
The Wellington Testimonial arrives inside the first half-kilometre — a 62-metre obelisk to Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, finished in 1861 and, the OPW reckons, the tallest in Europe. Chesterfield Avenue then runs alongside for two kilometres, named for the Earl of Chesterfield, who opened Phoenix Park to the public in 1747.
At around 2.2 km the paths skirt Áras an Uachtaráin, built in 1751 and the official residence of the President of Ireland since 1938. The Phoenix Park Visitor Centre passes a few hundred metres off, with a car park and toilets if driving out beats the train. Past two kilometres the tarmac gives out on and off, and the turn arrives at 3.6 km.
The deer
Phoenix Park was established as a royal deer park in 1662, when James Butler, Duke of Ormond, brought fallow deer over from Great Britain for Charles II. Their descendants have been here ever since and are still wild. The OPW asks people to stay at least fifty metres back and never to feed them, and warns that the bucks turn unpredictable during the autumn rut — worth remembering when the plan is to run past a herd rather than stand and watch it.
Running it
Navigation asks nothing of you: out, turn, back. Eleven kilometres of perimeter wall enclose Phoenix Park, one of the largest enclosed parks in any European capital, so the boundaries are never in doubt, and Chesterfield Avenue points you home for most of the second half.
Heuston station is a short walk from the start, on the Luas red line and the mainline trains, so this one is easy to reach without a car. Running it twice comes to a little over 14 km on almost no gradient, which makes Phoenix Park a better long steady session than anywhere in Dublin with real hills in it.
References
- Phoenix Park — Office of Public Works official park site
- Phoenix Park — OPW visitor guide
- Deer in the Phoenix Park — OPW frequently asked questions
- What to See in the Phoenix Park — OPW feature guide
- Phoenix Park — Heritage Ireland visitor information
- Phoenix Park Visitor Centre and Ashtown Castle — Heritage Ireland listing
- Áras an Uachtaráin — President of Ireland official house page
- Wellington Testimonial — National Inventory of Architectural Heritage record