A Royal Hunting Park was created in 1662 by the English Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the time, Lord Ormonde. The park contained pheasants and wild deer, and a wall was built around the whole area to stop them escaping. The Park originally included more land which was to the south of the River Liffey. But when they started to build the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham in 1680, the Park was made smaller to the size it is today. It was opened to the people of Dublin by Lord Chesterfield in 1745.