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Dublin Live
Dublin Live
National
Amy Donohoe

Tayto Park: A look back at the last 12 years as Mr Tayto waves goodbye to Ashbourne attraction

Back in 2010, a yellow man with a tailored suit and a black hat welcomed the nation into Tayto Park.

The plan was to create an American-themed amusement park that would be the first of its kind in Ireland.

Tayto Park was conveniently located 28km outside of Dublin city centre in Ashbourne, Co. Meath, which is great for tourists.

It’s difficult to think of the park without Cu Chulainn Coaster, the Viking Voyage or the Rotator, but when it opened over a decade ago, it was predominantly an adventure park.

The original attractions included ziplines, a few playgrounds, a zoo and of course, the behind the scenes walkthrough experience of seeing first hand how the crisps are made.

Reporter Amy and her brother Sean chilling with some meercats (Amy Donohoe)
Sean making friends with the meercats (Amy Donohoe)

The park offered something new to do in Ireland and the Ashbourne attraction really grew throughout the years, with Tayto Park being named the sixth most popular paid-for attraction in Ireland back in 2015.

It has welcomed more than five million visitors since it was established in 2010.

But this was only the start for Tayto Park. They quickly began expanding and adding to their attractions and Mr Tayto gave the nation something to look forward to with big events every Christmas, Halloween and Easter too.

Mr Tayto at Halloween (Amy Donohoe)
The pet farm at Tayto Park (Amy Donohoe)
An alpaca at Tayto Park (Amy Donohoe)

Whether it’s a day out with the family or friends, it was guaranteed to be a great day out with bird shows, a circus, the vortex tunnel, a 4D cinema, a train around the park, and a pet zoo with cute baby goats.

Perfect for all ages, there’s a junior zone theme park for the younger kids with bungee jumping, a Ferris wheel, a driving school and a carousel.

The big kids aren’t forgotten about as Tayto Park is the home of Ireland's first roller coaster and Europe's largest wooden roller coaster with an inversion, the Cu Chulainn Coaster. And no matter what age you are - everyone was given a bag of Tayto on their way out.

Roller coaster time (Amy Donohoe)
Tayto Park's Cu Chulainn rollercoaster (Tayto Park)

In 2023, Mr Tayto will say goodbye to the home he spent the past 13 years in as the sponsorship of Tayto Park in Ashbourne will end this December and it will get a brand new identity for the coming years with lots of changes planned.

A new name will be picked for the park for January 2023. Even though it’s a sad goodbye, we’re hoping the new sponsorship will provide all the good memories that we had in Tayto Park.

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