Emerald Park (known from its 2010 opening to 2022 as Tayto Park) is a 22 ha (55-acre)

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

and

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

located in the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

of Kilbrew,

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, about northwest of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. Upon opening, the park was themed around the Irish

potato crisp Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep fried, baked, or air fried until c ...

brand Tayto (whose factory is adjacent to the park), and was originally conceptualised by Tayto’s then owner, farmer-turned-entrepreneur Raymond Coyle (d. 2022). The park includes Ireland's only wooden roller coaster, a Maxi Dance Party 360, adventure playgrounds and an exotic zoo.

History

The park opened on 24 November 2010. It was designed by Stewart and Sinnott Architects, landscaper Anthony Ryan and designer Milo Fitzgerald, with an €8.5 million investment from Ray Coyle, the potato farmer who established Largo Foods, and bought out the Tayto brand. The park developed 22 hectares of County Meath farmland into an American-style park. It is the sixth most popular paid-for attraction in

, with 750,000 visitors in 2015. Visitors to the park also had the option to visit the factory on certain days. During its early days, the park lacked rides and was much smaller, only containing the zoo area and playgrounds. Throughout the years, the park began to open rides beyond the zoo area and also became a full amusement park. In February 2022, it was announced that the park, along with its elements would be rebranded in 2023 after Tayto Snacks confirmed they would not be renewing their sponsorship agreement. On 29 September 2022, it was announced that the park would be renamed "Emerald Park" from 1 January 2023, with reference to Ireland's nickname of the "Emerald Isle."

Attractions

General attractions

Emerald Park has a range of attractions for a range of ages, including a playground and smaller play areas, a

maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...

, a "5D cinema", zip lining, and

arts and crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

, magic shows and face painting. There is also a circus tent.

Theme park rides

The park previously operated on a system of zones and payment tokens, with a paid option for unlimited usage, but moved to an all-access model (subject to age limits for certain rides—younger visitors are limited to the general attractions and some simpler theme park machines).

Junior Zone

The Junior Zone features a 10-metre high Junior Drop Tower (by

Zamperla Antonio Zamperla S.p.A. is an Italian design and manufacturing company founded in 1966. It is best known for creating family rides, thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The company also makes smaller coin-operated rides commonly found in ...

), a

steam train A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomoti ...

ride, a car driving experience manufactured by

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

, a spinning roller coaster manufactured by

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

, a spinning boat non-water ride and a leaping ride manufactured by Zamperla.

The Zoo

Emerald Park contains a zoo accredited with BIAZA and

EAZA The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) is an organisation for the European zoo and aquarium community that links over 340 member organisations in 41 countries. EAZA membership is open to all zoos and aquaria across Europe that compl ...

. It holds a diverse animal collection, with several conservation-dependent species. Access to the zoo is included in the entry to Emerald Park. The zoo, which has won awards, is committed to conservation education and research. The collection features animals including

big cat The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus ''Panthera'', namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard. All cats descend from the ''Felidae'' family, sharing similar musculature, c ...

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

s, exotic birds, rare breeds of farm animals as well as native Irish

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

. There are also three "visitor experiences": a "petting farm", the "World of Raptors" free-flying bird of prey display, and a "Lemur Walk" path through an enclosure.

Development plans

A new themed area of the park called "Tír na nÓg" was opened on 22 May 2024, based on

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed ...

. Plans for the area included two rollercoaster models from

Vekoma Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is an amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is a syllabic abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek (Veld Koning Machine Factory) which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld. History The company originally manu ...

, a Suspended Thrill Coaster and a

Family Boomerang Boomerang is a model of roller coaster manufactured and designed by Vekoma, a Dutch manufacturer. The roller coaster model name is from the hunting implement based on the traditions of the Indigenous Australians. , there are 55 Boomerangs op ...

Incidents

A number of minor incidents have occurred within Emerald Park. In June 2012, a former employee who was working as a tour guide broke her ankle after she went down a 60-foot slide. The slide was not open to the public at the time but she, along with other employees, were told to try it so that they could "get a feel of it". She sued Ashbourne Visitor Centre Ltd, trading as Tayto Park, as a result of the accident. She also sued Hags Aneby AB of Sweden and Spraoi Linn Ltd, the manufacturer and supplier of the slide respectively. The case was settled out of court. Following the accident, the ride was altered in relation to how steep it was and at the turns. In October 2016, a wooden staircase in one of the park's Halloween attractions, "House of Horrors" suddenly collapsed, injuring nine people.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
* Amusement parks in Ireland Tourist attractions in the Republic of Ireland Tourist attractions in County Meath Zoos in the Republic of Ireland