Emerald Park

Emerald Park (Irish: Páirc Smaragaide), known from 2010 to 2022 as Tayto Park, is an amusement park in Ireland, originally themed based on the Irish potato crisp brand Tayto. It is located in the townland of Kilbrew, in County Meath and was founded by farmer-turned-entrepreneur Raymond Coyle (d. 2022).[2][3]

Emerald Park
Previously known as Tayto Park (2010–2022)

LocationKilbrew / Curraha, near Ashbourne, County Meath, Ireland
Coordinates53.545377°N 6.459375°W / 53.545377; -6.459375
StatusOperating
Opened24 November 2010 (2010-11-24)
Attendance750,000 (2015)
Area55 acres (22 ha)[1]
Attractions
Total18
Roller coasters4
Water rides1
Websitehttps://emeraldpark.ie
Emerald Park is located in County Dublin
Emerald Park
Location of Emerald Park (red dot) in Ireland, relative to Dublin.

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 and includes Ireland's only wooden roller coaster, a Maxi Dance Party 360, adventure playgrounds and an exotic zoo.[4][5] It is the sixth most popular paid-for attraction in Ireland, with 750,000 visitors in 2015.[6]

In February 2022, it was announced that the park would be rebranded in 2023 after Tayto Snacks confirmed they would not be renewing their sponsorship agreement.[7] 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."[8][9][10]

General attractions

Emerald Park has attractions for all ages, including playgrounds, mazes, vortex tunnels, a 5D cinema, zip lining, arts and crafts, magic shows and face painting.[11]

Zones

Eagle Sky Adventure Zone
Name Picture Additional Information
The Cú Chulainn CoasterA wooden roller coaster, manufactured by The Gravity Group, opened on 6 June 2015.[12][13]
The RotatorA Maxi Dance Party 360.
Air RaceManufactured by Zamperla.
Viking VoyageContains 1.7 million litres of water.[14]
Endeavour
Flight SchoolA steel roller coaster opened in 2019.

Junior Zone

The Junior Zone features a 10-metre shot tower manufactured by Zamperla, a steam train ride,[15] a car driving experience manufactured by Nissan, a spinning roller coaster manufactured by Visa, a spinning boat non-water ride and a leaping ride manufactured by Zamperla.

The Zoo

Emerald Park is an accredited zoo with BIAZA and EAZA, it is home to a diverse zoo animal collection which is home to many conservation dependent species. Access to the zoo is included in the entry to Emerald Park. The award-winning zoo is committed to conservation education and research. The collection features animals including big cats, primates, exotic birds, rare breeds of farm animals as well as native Irish birds of prey. As well as three visitor experiences, the "Petting farm", "World of Raptors" a free-flying bird of prey display and "Lemur walk".

The mission of Emerald Park is dedicated to creating adventure, passing on knowledge, conserving nature, and serving the community.[16]

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.[17][18]

In October 2016, a wooden staircase in one of the park's Halloween attractions, "House of Horrors" suddenly collapsed, injuring nine people.[19]

References
  1. Donnelly, Margaret (1 July 2014). "Tayto Park among top 10 tourist attractions". Agriland.ie.
  2. "Meath: The Tayto name will be gone, but Ray Coyle vows he has no plans to sell his theme park". independent. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  3. "Tayto Park founder Ray Coyle has died". independent. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  4. Casey, Ann (17 November 2010). "Opening of Tayto Park near Ashbourne brings 85 jobs". Meath Chronicle. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  5. "Cú Chulainn - Tayto Park (Ashbourne, Meath, Ireland)". rcdb.com. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  6. "Ireland's top visitor attractions revealed". Your Days Out. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  7. Gleeson, Colin. "Tayto Park to be renamed as facility seeks 'new identity'". Irish Times. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  8. "Tayto Park to become Emerald Park from January". RTÉ News. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  9. Kent, David (29 September 2022). "Tayto Park to be renamed Emerald Park from January, owners confirm". Irish Mirror.
  10. McCarron, Jamie (29 September 2022). "Tayto Park to be renamed Emerald Park as 12-year long sponsorship deal ends". TheJournal.ie.
  11. "Theme Park Attractions - Tayto Park". Tayto Park. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  12. Marden, Duane. "Cú Chulainn  (Tayto Park)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  13. "Tayto Park to debut Europe's largest inverted wooden rollercoaster summer 2015". Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  14. "Tayto Park's insane new ride Viking Voyage is officially OPEN". Evoke.ie. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  15. "Texan | Severn Lamb". severn-lamb.com.
  16. https://www.emeraldpark.ie/
  17. "Woman who broke ankle on Tayto Park slide settles action". The Irish Times. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  18. "Concerns raised over rollercoaster regulations". RTE.ie. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  19. Hennessy, Michelle (23 October 2016). "Nine people injured after House of Horrors staircase collapse at Tayto Park". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
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