482 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



liiniself to improve it, seems to have resided at the Castle during Ms 

 visits to Dublin. 



From this time for\vard the place ceased to be valued except for 

 the extensive gardens attached to it, which Tvere abundantly stocked 

 ■with fruit-trees and vegetables. The house f eU year by year into ever- 

 increasiug decay ; and the State records contain many piteous appeals 

 from its custodian for the execution of the repairs necessary to prevent 

 absolute dilapidation.^ Ultunately, on the arrival of the Duke of 

 Bedford in 1758, it was determined to dispense with the residence, 

 and the King's House was two years later given over to His Majesty's 

 Eegiment of Ai'tillery as quarters for the officers of that corps. As 

 such it contiaued to be utilized for the next sixty years or so, and 

 readers of Le Fanu's tale of "The House by the Churchyard" will 

 remember references to the King's House in this capacity. In 1832 

 the place with its adjoining ground was sold by the Government, and 

 thenceforward the very name of the King's House was lost save as a 

 local tradition, though it is still retained on the maps of the Ordnance 

 Survey. The building itself was destroyed by fire and replaced by a 

 modern house, and only some outhouses, the pigeon -house already 

 referred to, and an ornamental pond in the grounds, survive to mark 

 the site of the last royal residence in Ireland. 



Though Chapelizod as a residence began to go out of fashion with 

 the opening of George the Second's reign, the Park, as a place of resort, 

 continued popular, and efforts were made by more than one Lord 

 Lieutenant to contribute to its improvement. In the public mind no 

 name is so closely associated with the Phoenix Park as that of the 

 Earl of Chesterfield, but curiously little evidence remains to attest his 

 shai'e in the improvement of the Park and the interest he undoubtedly 

 took in it, beyond the substantial memorial which the Phoenix Pillar 

 still affords, and in which he embalmed that misconception of the 

 origin of the name of the Park which he was the first to consecrate 

 with official authority. The tradition of the true origin of the name, 

 ali'eady mentioned, was doubtless lost through the transference of the 

 Viceregal seat from the Phoenix House to Chapelizod, and the non- 

 residence of the Viceroys for a long period. The Irish Court of the 

 first half of the eighteenth centuiy knew little and, if possible, 

 cared less about Irish etymology, and the confusion of the name 

 with the mythical bird was a natural one in a nobleman who affected 

 a classical elegance in his correspondence. Even before Chester- 



1 British Departmental Corr. , Irish Record Office. 



