{"id":629730,"date":"2026-08-10T07:15:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T07:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/629730\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T07:15:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T07:15:17","slug":"people-look-over-the-fence-taking-photos-the-pros-and-cons-of-living-in-the-phoenix-park-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/629730\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018People look over the fence, taking photos\u2019: The pros and cons of living in the Phoenix Park \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Phoenix Park<\/a> in Dublin is a place of great beauty and joy. Sadly, though, it has also been the scene of tragedy and trauma. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a city park at the end of the day,\u201d says Declan Bermingham, the park\u2019s horticulture foreman. \u201cYou really never know what you\u2019re going to come across.\u201d <\/p>\n

An employee of the Office of Public Works<\/a> (OPW), which manages the park, Bermingham moved three years ago from the \u201cnoise, buses and traffic\u201d of Blanchardstown in northwest Dublin<\/a> to the \u201ctotal, night-time silence\u201d of the Kitchen Garden Lodge in the park.<\/p>\n

He and his partner Fidelma share the Cotswolds-style, beige-brick, two-up two-down lodge within a walled orchard with a pretty planted garden and working beehives. It is on the grounds of \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in, residence of President Catherine Connolly<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s also an old, protected structure with single-pane windows. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is beautiful, but very hard to heat in the winter,\u201d Bermingham says. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0The future of Phoenix Park: How it is facing challenge of an expanding cityOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He pays rent to the OPW. In return, he is contactable round the clock. <\/p>\n

\u201cA constant presence of OPW staff is fundamental to the functioning of the park,\u201d says the Phoenix Park\u2019s chief park superintendent Margaret Gormley.<\/p>\n

Governed by bylaws set out in the 1925 Phoenix Park Act, the park needs people in situ to ensure the rules are being upheld. <\/p>\n

The rules include a prohibition against fires being set in the park, while driving on grass is also not permitted. Additionally, the park\u2019s 600-strong wild deer population must not be chased, disturbed or injured.<\/p>\n

The 1,750-acre amenity, with its 11km perimeter, is open to the public 24 hours a day every day of the year through multiple road and pedestrian routes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt benefits me and the park for me to be here because I can react quicker to situations,\u201d says Bermingham. \u201cI can be on the scene to assess and call the right people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DeclanDeclan Bermingham at his home, Kitchen Garden Lodge, in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n

Recalling Storm <\/a>\u00c9owyn<\/a> in January last year, he says: \u201cThat was a big event and it was good to be on site that day. I couldn\u2019t move out of the house until the weather warning was over, but when I got out there was a lot of damage. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo staff could travel in for hours, so as soon as I could move, I was doing a list of what needed to be done \u2013 clearing trees, checking for damage to trees, roofs. Once the staff got in, we could get roads clear and sites opened up again and make sure it was safe for the public to come in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bermingham manages planting, tree care, evolving biodiversity policy and garden maintenance in the park and in nearby OPW-managed properties. As well as this, he <\/b>could be called at any hour to deal with an alarm going off, a fallen tree blocking a road, a car crash or, distressingly, a suicide.<\/p>\n

Terry Moore is a colleague and neighbour who lives on the other side of the park. Moore is head ranger and deer keeper. He has lived in the Deer Keeper\u2019s Lodge for a number of years with his wife and their children. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was in Ballymun before, so it is a change,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

His home, of lime-plaster and horsehair with Tudor-style windows, has three bedrooms and an acre or so of land. <\/p>\n

Purpose-built in the 1800s for the keeper of the then-royal herd, its venison outhouses retain their meat hooks and ventilation flaps, but are now used to store bikes. There is also a \u201chouse\u201d, which was used in the past for injured deer or fawns. <\/p>\n

\"ParkPark ranger Terry Moore with his dog Lucy in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n

Moore is in charge of 12 rangers. Between them, they cover shifts from 6am to 11pm seven days a week. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe look after the whole park . . . The rangers are here to observe, report and make sure the park is running safely and that everyone is safe and having a good time,\u201d says Moore.<\/p>\n

Two rangers \u201cminimum\u201d are needed in the mornings and nights \u201cto get the park opened and closed\u201d, he says. Though pedestrian entrances and the main vehicle gates at Parkgate Street and Castleknock are always open, side entrances for vehicles open at 7am \u2013 \u201cthere\u2019s always a queue of cars waiting\u201d \u2013 and are locked at 10.45pm. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen we open the institutions \u2013 the walled garden, the people\u2019s gardens, the playgrounds. We check on them all, make sure there\u2019s no overnight damage, sort things if there is any problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a couple of hundred big events in the park each year,\u201d says Moore. \u201cConcerts, sporting events, Bloom, Darkness into Light, running events, cycling events. They all mean roads being closed, roads reopened, routes being inspected, all trees on routes being inspected. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd after [the events are finished], we inspect to make sure everything has been put back the way it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s presidency of the Council of the European Union, until December, will mean \u201crolling road closures\u201d when events are hosted at Farmleigh House or \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in.<\/p>\n

There is a humanitarian aspect to the team\u2019s work. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn a daily basis, we check areas where homeless people might be, to make sure everything is okay. We ask how they are getting on and we\u2019d communicate then with the Dublin Simon (which operates a rough-sleeper outreach),\u201d says Moore.<\/p>\n

Gormley says rangers recently were aware a young woman was being sexually exploited by an older man with whom she shared a tent. \u201cThe rangers engaged with her a number of times, talked with Simon and they got her accommodation so he couldn\u2019t get near her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attempts by The Irish Times to speak to homeless people in the park were unsuccessful. Evidence of people sleeping rough was visible far into fenced off areas, with discarded sleeping bags, blankets and empty food containers. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, there are about four homeless people in the park and they\u2019re not here long term,\u201d says Moore. \u201cPeople sleeping in their cars used to be a regular thing, but not so much now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the job, he says, \u201cunfortunately is coming across tragedies\u201d. Rangers have been provided with training to deal with the trauma of being first on the scene of a suicide.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a procedure. First and foremost is to call Dublin Fire Brigade and the guards. They take over and we\u2019d stay just to make sure the scene is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore recalls one \u201chappy outcome\u201d where he was on patrol with a now-retired colleague. \u201cWe saw a fella acting erratic, moving around. When we looked closer, it was obvious he was trying to gee himself up to [harm himself]. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe got over to him and said, \u2018ah mate, please don\u2019t do that. Please\u2019. We got on to the services, on to Pieta House and a counsellor spoke to him straight away on the phone. The guards came, ambulance and he went off. He came back a couple of months later and thanked us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both men say living in their place of work can make it \u201chard to switch off from work\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"HorticultureHorticulture foreman Declan Bermingham at his home, Kitchen Garden Lodge, in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always thinking about work anyway,\u201d smiles Bermingham. \u201cI\u2019d be at home thinking about a tree that needs attention. I love my work and take pride in it. I\u2019m here at weekends and I can have a list of jobs ready for the lads first thing Monday morning. They probably curse me.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are restrictions on their and their families\u2019 lives, however. The teenagers in Moore\u2019s household sometimes feel isolated from friends and hobbies, and his wife \u201chas become a constant taxi driver bringing them places and back\u201d. <\/p>\n

When park roads are closed for events, friends and family can\u2019t get to them by car, and they cannot leave except on foot. <\/p>\n

They have to accept a level of curiosity about their pretty homes in such idyllic settings. \u201cPeople do look in over the fences, taking photos. The houses function to be ornamental as well,\u201d says Moore. <\/p>\n

The nearest shops and public transport links are in Chapelizod village \u2013 about a 15-minute walk from Moore\u2019s house. <\/p>\n

Their homes come with jobs requiring them to be on-site. But what happens when they retire? <\/p>\n

\u201cI presume I\u2019ll get a few months\u2019 notice to get our stuff out,\u201d says Bermingham with a laugh. <\/p>\n

Moore wonders aloud if there are any OPW properties in Lanzarote he could retire too. <\/p>\n

There are \u201cpros and cons\u201d to living in the Phoenix Park, they say. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut mainly pros. It is a beautiful place to work and to live,\u201d says Bermingham. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Phoenix Park in Dublin is a place of great beauty and joy. Sadly, though, it has also…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,52,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,105969,54487,10475,7,8],"class_list":["post-629730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-dublin","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-office-of-public-works","tag-opw","tag-phoenix-park","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117069986141115248","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}