Falkinek — TJiePhceiiix Park, its Origin and early History. 483 



field's time, JVIrs. Delany, in the letter already quoted, displayed 

 the same misapprehension of the meaning of the name, and wrote 

 of "the Park, justly called the Phoenix," as though the title had 

 been chosen in boastful assertion of the superiority of the Park 

 to all other places of the kind. Lord Chesterfield undoubtedly did 

 a good deal to improve the appearance of the Park by judicious 

 planting, and greatly increased its utility to the citizens of Dublin by 

 forming the central road from the Park gate to Castleknock, which 

 was long known as, and still deserves to be denominated, Chesterfield 

 Eoad. But neither his published letters nor those still extant in 

 manuscript in the JN'ewcastle Papers at the British Museum contain any 

 references to the improvements he e:ffected. 



For many years after the abandonment of the King's house the 

 representatives of the Crown in Ireland remained without any official 

 residence, and the improvidence which had surrendered Chapelizod 

 must have been lamented by Lord Townshend and his successors 

 when, in 1667, Chatham ordained that the King's Lieutenants should 

 reside in Ireland. Townshend apparently entertained some idea of 

 building a mansion in the Park, but did not remain in the Government 

 long enough to give effect to it.'- His successor, Lord Harcourt lived, 

 at St. Wolf Stan's near Lucan; and it was not until 1781 that steps 

 were taken by the then Yiceroy, Lord Carlisle, and his Chief Secretary, 

 William Eden, afterwards Lord Auckland, towards acquiring the 

 residences of the Park officials for the use of the Grovernment. Of 

 these there were then four ; viz. : the lodges respectively belonging 

 to the Ranger and the Bailiff, the Keeper, and Charles Gardiner, after- 

 wards Lord Mountjoy. The third was then occupied, as already 

 explained, by the Under-Secretary in his capacity of Keeper, while the 

 fourth was in the possession of Gardiner, by whom it had been built, 

 and who had retained it as private property after the sxuTender of a 

 Patent as Keeper which he had obtained in 1756. The Banger at this 

 time was the Bight Hon. Nathaniel Clements, father of the first Lord 

 Leitrim, who, shortly after his appointment in 1751, had built on the 

 site of the old lodge of Newtown, the present Viceregal Lodge. 

 Negotiations for the acquisition of this house for the use of the Lord 



1 Just before this date the Hibernian School was founded. The original grant 

 of land by the Crown in 1766, was " a piece of land, part of our Phoenix Park, 

 next adjoining to our Garden at Chapelizod containing 3 acres Irish measure." 

 But a year later, it being pointed out that the low situation selected was unwhole- 

 some, the present site of the School was granted instead. 



