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This fine Palladian mansion (1751) by Nathaniel Clements was the vice-regal lodge. In 1937 the lodge became the official home of the Irish president.

Lord Chesterfield erected this monument in 1745, topped with what has been described as a poor excuse for a phoenix, looking more like an eagle than the mythical bird.

Dublin Zoo dates back to 1830 – the second oldest in Europe. The latest addition is the 33-acre “African Plains”, providing larger paddocks for rhinoceros, giraffes and antelope.

Close to Park Gate and the Garda Siochana (police) headquarters, this is the only formal area of the park. Decimus Burton landscaped the area in the 1830s and the effect is gentle and restful, as the landscaped hedges and flowerbeds merge with the wilder hillocks and ponds.

The simplicity of the 27-m (90-ft) high stainless steel Papal Cross is part of its beauty. It was erected on the spot where Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in 1979, attended by more than a third of Ireland’s population (see Pope John Paul II).

Designed by Sir William Smirke in 1817, the money given for its construction was used up before it reached 30 m (100 ft). Work resumed in 1861 but the monument never realized its original design.

This beautiful 18th-century house was once the home of the British Chief Secretary for Ireland, Lord Cavendish, who was murdered in 1882 by an Irish nationalist. It is now the residence of the American ambassador.

The display here shows the changing face of Phoenix Park, from 3500 BC to the present day. It also features a reconstruction of the Knockmaree cist grave found in the park in 1838. On Saturday, free tours can be taken to Áras an Uachtaráin from here.

A visit to this elegant 17th-century tower house is included in the ticket to the Visitors’ Centre. Its claim to fame is that it was once owned by the family of John O’Connell, an ancestor of Daniel O’Connell. It has cunning features such as a “trip step” on the staircase and a “murder hole” by the door.

This former fort became the main arms depot after independence, but it has been secured and abandoned since the IRA raid in 1939, when more than one million rounds of ammunition were stolen. It is now sadly decaying.