Of all the thrilling additions to the European roller coaster line-up in 2024, one of the most exciting is also the easiest to get to! A short flight away in Ireland, Emerald Park has recently opened Tír na nÓg, the land of eternal youth. The first fully themed land in the park’s history, Tír na nÓg is inspired by Irish mythology and is home to two new roller coasters, a wave swinger and a whole lot of theming! I, team member Claire, joined the European Coaster Club to preview the land on the day before its grand opening!
Starting my day bright and early, the journey would begin from Bristol Airport, where just £20 had secured me a day return with perfect flight times! I’d be arriving at Dublin Airport at 08:25 and departing at 19:30. With the park just a 30 minute drive from the airport, I couldn’t have asked for a better schedule! Thankfully, the flight was perfectly on time, even landing a little early, allowing plenty of time for a quick passport check. (Though my passport wasn’t required for re-entry on return to Bristol, there was no filtering process in place at Dublin, so all flights passed through border control!) From the airport, it was aboard the shuttle bus organised by the European Coaster Club, and over to Emerald Park!
This was my very first visit to Emerald Park and, in fact, my first to the Republic of Ireland. I was taken aback by how charming the park’s entrance is! Following a rebrand this season – the park’s famous Tayto branding ceased at the end of last season – the signage is fresh, vibrant and made for a very warm welcome.
Inside the entrance building, a model of the entirety of Tír na nÓg could be seen, giving us our first preview of what was to come. Not that we had to wait long, marching straight onwards and out towards the new land. As we were visiting as part of a VIP preview event, the park very kindly provided a breakfast buffet filled with pastries, coffee, juice and, most importantly, Tayto crisps! I hadn’t been expecting to find these at the park following the name change, but of course, whilst no longer affiliated, it would be silly for the park not to stock the country’s most well known snack!
Stuffed full of incredible pastries – and some very good cheese and onion crisps – it was onwards to the land of eternal youth. Entry into Tír na nÓg is through a vast stone arch bearing the land’s logo. Either side of the logo, the arch has been artificially aged, giving the impression that it has stood for centuries. During our visit, characters were immediately on hand to welcome us to the land and take photos in front of the visual centrepiece of the land: a large, red, Vekoma lift hill.
Emerald Park is the largest amusement park in Ireland, and the only to feature permanent roller coasters. With Cú Chulainn, a 2015 Gravity Group wooden coaster, being the only thrill coaster at the park, it’s safe to say the park, and Ireland as a whole, was well overdue for a thrilling steel coaster. Enter Na Fianna Force.
Na Fianna Force is the world’s second Vekoma Suspended Thrill Coaster. The first, Hals-uber-Kopf, opened at Tripsdrill way back in 2020 to great acclaim. Though I have yet to experience this initial installation, Vekoma certainly did not disappoint with its sequel.
Na Fianna were a legendary band of warriors who roamed Ireland in the Iron Age through to the Middle Ages. Their bravery was such that they passed into legend, with the Fianna becoming part of Irish mythology. To join Na Fianna, a young warrior needed to undergo an arduous series of trials to assess the individual’s strength and character. In 2024, these trials? Well, they look a lot like a roller coaster!
Our journey began as we passed under the attraction sign, surrounded, of course, with beautiful rock work, and into the queue for Na Fianna Force. Before we made our way indoors, the path would us out over the lake at the centre of the land. Building a bridge as part of the queue made the whole thing feel so much more exciting and dynamic, at least for me. Perhaps I never lost that childlike joy brought by a bridge and the proximity of water, but this was a very pleasant surprise. The feeling of excitement is helped in no small part by this part of the queue being absolutely surrounded by coaster track. Some of the best interactions between the land’s two roller coasters happen here, in the centre of the land, where guests spend much of their time waiting for the signature attraction – perfection! On our visit, the queue was never long enough for us to organically spend time in this area, so we found ourselves encouraging other guests to pass us so we could spend time in this beautiful, exciting spot, waving at riders on both coasters as they passed. Snaking back towards the station, we’d be greeted by a station building enrobed with beautiful, aged rockwork reminiscent of the entrance archway, and also from the masters at Universal Rocks. This rockwork is really what makes Tír na nÓg stand apart from the rest of Emerald Park. It can be found across the land and adds a sense of age and authenticity to every attraction, perfect for a land said to be eternal. As the queue journeyed indoors, we’d discover the foundry, where we were greeted with a beautifully animated pre-show. Though it was often hard to hear the pre-show audio over the excitable crowd in the cattle pen queue, I did catch the explanation for the coaster trains: special armour had been forged for us as we head to battle, armour that looked remarkably like a suspended Vekoma train! We would use this armour on our brave journey – incredible! From this room, guests are batched and pass into the station. The station itself is a reasonably basic space but with themed banners and other decor around the room. Here we’d wait at the furthest set of airgates for our first, front-row, ride. And what a ride it was.
Na Fianna Force is a phenomenal roller coaster. The 101.7ft drop is surprisingly punchy, the inversions are whippy, the twists throw you out to the side and there is airtime. Yup, airtime on an invert. Buckets of it too, and it’s aggressive! I never believed real airtime was possible on a flying coaster, but Vekoma did it. Now here we are a few years later, and Vekoma are back to re-invent the suspended coaster, delivering the sort of airtime I would never even dream of being possible from an inverted coaster! (Of course, they may have done this back in 2020 with Hals-über-Kopf, hopefully I’ll know for sure soon!) This is very much a coaster of two halves, with the coaster seeming to surge in aggression just as you’d expect it to begin to slow down. A fly-through of The Quest’s station is sandwiched between the ride’s two definite inversions (the third overbanked inversion caused quite some discussion on the day), and after this final inversion, the ride becomes aggressive with the remaining layout seeming to exist entirely of bunny hops and violent banking. The entire coaster is also glossy smooth. Whilst it increasingly feels as though new coasters are becoming rougher, here, finally, is a new coaster that I could happily lap all day without a headache.
We’d revisit the coaster throughout the day, riding in as many different seats as possible and for me, the coaster is undoubtedly a back-row ride. Despite falling head-over-heels for the coaster after my initial front-row ride, my rides towards the rear of the train were on another level entirely. The pull over the initial drop and through the inversions and twists made this ride feel out of control! What had previously felt like an extremely good family thrill coaster suddenly felt as thrilling as any coaster I’d ever ridden at this height. Na Fianna Force is quite simply exceptional, and if it were the only attraction open at the park, I’d still say the trip was worthwhile. It’s ridiculously fun, smooth, infinitely re-rideable and themed. What more could you possibly ask for?
Of course, Na Fianna Force has one more trick up its sleeve. This coaster does not operate in isolation. It duels magnificently with the neighbouring family coaster, The Quest.
The Quest is the land’s coaster aimed at younger, and less confident thrill seekers. A Vekoma family boomerang, this installation is a Spirit model, similar to Ekipa Light Explorers at Energylandia. This version of the popular family coaster sees the layout stretch out in a straight-ish line, rather than the usual, more compact layouts. I’ve always counted Light Explorers amongst my favourite Vekoma boomerangs, and happily The Quest is just as good! The ride provides a few nice pops of airtime as it darts over the central lake between the two coasters, before eventually reaching its spike in the centre of a beautiful stone tower that makes the spike feel so much taller! Then, of course, it’s backwards through the layout, passing the same beautiful scenery on the return trip. Whilst family boomerangs are a relatively common family coaster, The Quest ranks amongst the best that I’ve experienced! Unlike Na Fianna Force, one thing I have not yet mentioned is the theming for this ride, and sadly, that is because as of our visit on media day, the ride was very much still incomplete. The station building was bare brick, with just some posters put up for decoration. Outside of the station, the surrounding area was nothing but dirt piles. Whilst it’s a shame to see the ride open in this condition, it’s clear the park has realised that time was against them and instead focused on having one attraction looking perfect, which has paid off! Certainly, the side of Tír na nÓg housing Na Fianna Force is spectacular. But this side still has much work remaining. Hopefully later in the season, and certainly by the beginning of next year, we’ll see the entire land brought up to the same high standard.
The final attraction in the land is Celtic Dreamer, a traditional Wave Swinger attraction that once again draws on Irish mythology, this time the story of the Children of Lir. Colourful illustrations depicting the tale can be found all over the attraction, making for an exceptionally beautiful wave swinger! I’m sure I don’t need to describe the ride experience of a wave swinger here, but it was enjoyable and a big hit with the school kids who were piling into the land by the time we were experiencing it!
Tír na nÓg’s retail location can be found at the exit of Na Fianna Force. The unit acts as both the ride exit shop for the attraction, selling its merchandise alongside ride photos, and the merchandise location for the entire land. The merchandise range is extensive, with t-shirts and hoodies for both coasters and the land itself, alongside stationary, drinkware, keyrings and, most importantly in my opinion, dragon accessories! Wearable ears and tails were both available in a range of colours, and I just had to get some purple ones that reminded me a little of a certain Disney dragon!
At the time of my visit, there was not much by the way of food offering within the land itself, with only a drinks stand open at the land’s entrance. Multiple food outlets are intended to open within the land at a later date though, and were clearly under construction at the time. Thankfully, the land does have its own toilet block which was complete and open, and was one of the nicest theme park toilets I’ve used!
With Tír na nÓg under our belts, we next ventured outside of the new land and over towards the only other attraction open during our preview: The Cú Chulainn Coaster. When it was announced that this coaster would also be open for the event, I was overjoyed! I’d heard so much about Cú Chulainn over the years, and couldn’t wait to finally experience it! Manufactured by Gravity Group, and opening in 2015, this remains the tallest coaster in Ireland, and the country’s only wooden coaster. The ride is perhaps most famous for its 115o overbanked turn, an element I have… feelings about. So, going into this ride with very high expectations, how did it ride? Well… not great. It’s certainly not a day ruiner. In fact, I happily returned later in the day for a second ride, not something I can say about every wooden coaster I’ve experienced. But, the ride found me gripping on for dear life, attempting to brace myself against the violent experience. There were, however, moments of greatness. The first drop was spectacular, particularly towards the rear of the train, feeling like it lasted forever, and the ride in general often felt out of control, a sensation I really enjoy from a wooden coaster. However, that outerbank… What should be the star moment of the attraction transpired to be one of the worst. The transition into the element was jerky and uncomfortable enough that I never got to enjoy the element for what it was, as I instead found myself bracing for the exit transition. Still, overall the ride was good fun and was the sort of violent that makes me laugh, rather than finds me plotting a way to burn the thing down. A coaster I’d ride on every visit, but wouldn’t rank amongst my favourites.
The rest of our afternoon would be spent marching around the park’s zoo, chatting to some very friendly and knowledgeable keepers and enjoying the company of a great variety of animals, in some very lush and green settings. The highlight for us all was the beautiful mountain lion who we just happened to catch getting her dinner. Be warned, at Emerald Park, the big cats receive their dinner in full view of guests and on this occasion, it happened to be a whole rabbit!
Emerald Park was a charming place, filled with friendly, enthusiastic staff, good value food and merchandise and now one of the best roller coasters I’ve had the fortune to experience in Europe. Tír na nÓg appears to be a mission statement for the park, clearly showing the exciting new direction they intend to take. Whilst themed experiences were not non-existent in the park prior to this year, with the more recent additions, particularly Dino Dash and Viking Voyage featuring strong theming elements, Tír na nÓg sets a new level. I can’t wait to revisit the park and the land when The Quest is fully themed, it really is going to be something special! With easy flights from almost anywhere in the UK, I cannot recommend a trip enough.
