Emerald Park is Ireland’s only theme park, located just outside Dublin. It was opened in 2010 by the Tayto crisp company and was called Tayto Park until a rebranding in 2022. The vision originally came from Ray Coyle, the founder of Tayto Snacks, who wanted to bring a permanent attraction to County Meath.
The theme park started out as a small zoo and tour of the Tayto factory but over time has grown to include rollercoasters and thrill rides. The zoo itself is home to over 250 animals including Amur tigers, leopards, mountain lions and ring-tailed lemurs. You can even walk right through the Lemur Woods enclosure which is a nice break from the rides! It’s now one of the most visited family attractions in Ireland, regularly pulling in well over 700,000 visitors every year.
A new €22 million expansion has added Emerald Park’s first themed land – Tír na nÓg. It’s based on the land of eternal youth from Irish mythology and features 3 new rides. The new land has expanded the footprint of Emerald Park and added further capacity to the theme park, meaning it can handle the busy summer crowds much better. The theming is really good with custom soundtracks and Irish folklore dotted all around the area.
Emerald Park is easy to get to from Dublin. It’s located near Ashbourne, just off the M2 motorway. It’s about a 25 minute drive from Dublin Airport and parking is free, which is a rare bonus for theme parks these days! If you’re coming from further afield, the park is very well signposted from the main motorways. The park is served by two Bus Éireann routes. Bus route 103 goes from Dublin City Centre and route 105 goes from Blanchardstown.
There’s a number of hotels located nearby that have great deals with Emerald Park. The Pillo Hotel in Ashbourne is just a 5 minute drive away and they do great deals for families staying overnight.
Emerald Park is growing every year so there’ll be changes to this list as time goes on. It’s our local theme park though and we’ll no doubt be visiting often to keep it updated!
10. Air Race
Air Race is one of the first rides you come to when you enter Emerald Park. It’s got double seats designed to resemble aeroplanes which rotate upside down as the ride spins. It was manufactured by Zamperla and opened back in 2015. It’s got fairly basic theming, especially when compared to some of the other Zamperla Air Race rides we’ve been on like the INSANE Scarecrow Scare Raid in Warner Bros World in Abu Dhabi but maybe a move to somewhere near Flight School might sort it out. The ride pulls up to 3Gs of force as it loops you 360 degrees and holds 24 riders at a time. Air Race is a fun ride that turns you upside down with a bit of force and is a decent start to the top 10.
9. Endeavour
This is a new take on the traditional Enterprise spinning wheels that you might have seen in other parks or at fairgrounds. Like Air Race, Endeavour is made by Zamperla and the ride at Emerald Park was only the second one of these models to be installed in the world when it opened in 2017. It spins you around as it lifts into the air, the force inverting you as it does so. Unlike older Enterprise rides, there’s no roof or cage around you – you’re sitting in suspended seats with your legs dangling freely at 25 metres high! It’s good fun, hits speeds of 40km/h and you’ll come off feeling a bit dizzy. It’s definitely one of the more intense flat rides in the park.
8. Flight School
This is a small rollercoaster, ideal for kids who are still a little bit unsure about the bigger rides. It’s loosely themed around a pilot training academy, hence the name. The trains have 10 cars in rows of twos and are designed to look like planes. It was manufactured by Zierer and opened to the public in 2019. The layout is decent and you go around the track twice most days. It hits a top speed of 46km/h and reaches a height of 15 metres. It’s actually got the exact same layout as Flying Eagle in Legoland Billund which we’ve also been on and enjoyed. This is a good starting point for kids (and adults!) wanting to try a proper coaster for the first time before tackling the bigger ones.
7. Celtic Dreamer
The Celtic Dreamer is a Zierer Wave Swinger ride that’s themed around the Children of Lir of Irish mythology who were turned into swans by their jealous stepmother. It’s one of the new rides that opened in the new Tír na nÓg land. You probably know it as a swing ride, chair swing or chair-o-planes. Whatever you call it, it’s lots of fun. The ride is 12 metres tall and has 56 individual seats. The story of the Children of Lir is illustrated on the ride itself and looks pretty amazing. Because of its height, it also gives you a really good view of the intertwining coaster tracks next door. It’s a classic ride type but fits the new area perfectly.
6. The Rotator
It’s probably one of the first things you notice when you enter Emerald Park! The Rotator is an inverting frisbee ride with outward-facing seats that’s 31 metres tall. It goes higher and higher on each swing as it spins you around. It was built by the Italian manufacturer SBF Visa Group and is a Maxi Dance Party 360 model. It’s really good fun. Interesting fact – when The Rotator first arrived at what was then Tayto Park in 2014, it did a full 360, going all the way around but was modified because people were too scared to go on it. It now swings to a maximum angle of 120 degrees which is still terrifying enough!
5. Dino Dash
Dino Dash was the first Vekoma rollercoaster added to Emerald Park in 2022 and was followed by the intertwining coasters for Tír na nÓg by the same manufacturer. It’s a kids coaster with dinosaurs all through the layout. The train is designed to look like a rugged safari jeep. Animatronic velociraptors spray water just before you go into the lift hill. It’s a smoother coaster than Flight School and reaches speeds of up to 50km/h. It’s slightly higher at 11 metres. It’s another great kids coaster and this too goes around twice to make up for the shorter track length. It’s a very solid family ride.
4. Viking Voyage
The only water ride at Emerald Park, although in a country with weather like we get in Ireland, it’s amazing we have even this one! After entering through the queue line themed as a Viking village, you board your Viking longboat for a journey back in time. You come across round towers and monasteries as you plunge downwards, first forwards and then backwards before one final giant 12-metre splash down. The landscaping around it is brilliant, featuring a huge man-made mountain and authentic replica Viking ships. It’s a really fun ride that everyone will enjoy.
3. The Quest
The first of the new rollercoasters added to the new Tír na nÓg land, The Quest is a family coaster but a good step up from Flight School and Dino Dash. It’s a custom Vekoma Family Boomerang coaster. You start by being lifted backwards up a 25-metre spike hill and then dropping back down through the station again. You hit a top speed of 60km/h as you twist and turn your way through Tír na nÓg and the other new coaster, Na Fianna Force, before going up another spike inside a castle. You fall backwards and do it all again in reverse before coming back to the station. It’s really good fun and the highlight is definitely the interaction with the other coaster. There’s no over-the-shoulder restraints either, just comfortable lap bars.
@curioustourists Who’s up for The Quest, the new boomerang rollercoaster in @Emerald Park that goes forwards and backwards? #rollercoaster #themepark #emeraldpark #amusementpark #fyp
2. Cú Chulainn
The first big coaster at Tayto Park was a gamechanger here in Ireland. Nothing like this had ever been built in Ireland so it was a big deal when it opened in 2015. It was built by the American company The Gravity Group and has been called one of the best wooden coasters in Europe by some enthusiasts (it’s definitely up there with Wicker Man at Alton Towers). It’s by far the biggest of Gravity Group’s coasters in Europe and has a massive 32m drop. The layout is intense and includes a 90-degree over-banked turn. It hits a top speed of 90km/h! This definitely put Emerald Park on the map!
1. Na Fianna Force
There’s a clear winner when it comes to the best ride at Emerald Park. The new coaster Na Fianna Force is AMAZING! Named after the legendary band of Irish warriors, it’s only the second Vekoma Suspended Thrill Coaster to be built in the world and it’s a great addition to the park. The track is 750 metres long and reaches speeds of 90km/h with your legs dangling freely the whole time. The layout is fantastic and it’s so smooth. It features 3 inversions, which are the first ever inversions on a rollercoaster in Ireland, sending you through a zero-G roll, a corkscrew and a dive loop. The interactions with the Quest, even going through its station building, make it even better. I can’t believe we have something this good in Ireland!
The ride line-up at Emerald Park is growing every year and it’s clear the park has big plans for the future. With new lands, exciting rides, live shows and all kinds of fun experiences on the horizon, there’s so much to look forward to. It’s great to see Ireland’s only theme park continue to expand and offer even more for families, thrill-seekers and younger visitors alike. We’ll definitely be keeping this top 10 list updated as the park grows and evolves and we can’t wait to see what’s next!
What do you think?
That wraps up our ultimate top 10 Emerald Park countdown! Do you agree with our number one pick? Did your favourite ride miss the list? Let us know your thoughts and your own rankings in the comments below!
