TOMORROW MORNING WILL see the opening of a rail tunnel under the Phoenix Park to regular passenger traffic.
The almost 700-metre-long rail tunnel was built in 1877 but until now it has never been used for daily passenger services.
From tomorrow, seven new morning trains will come from north-eastern Kildare to the capital with eight going in the opposite direction during evening peak hours.
With the heightened news coverage of the tunnel, has come discussion about what else lies under the park.
If you grew up in certain parts of the capital or with family members prone to spreading apocryphal stories, you may have heard something like this.
The basic story goes: the IRA had a network of tunnels under the Phoenix Park.
Twists on the story include a staircase in the Wellington Monument, munition dumps under the Magazine Fort and a tunnel network around Áras an Uachtarán.
Indeed, the Wellington Monument is also subject to legend that a dinner was held inside before being sealed for good.
However, ahead of the tunnel opening tomorrow, TheJournal.ie asked the Office of Public Works if there were any tunnel networks, but it appears the stories may just be myth.
“The only known tunnel in the Phoenix Park is the existing train tunnel which was recently in the news in relation to the proposed additional train services to be provided by CIE.”
So they’re either not there, or they are so secret even the State doesn’t know about them.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say