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A WILDLIFE PARK in North Cork is one of Ireland’s best-performing tourist attractions.
And while the natural beauty of the park may be the main attraction for visitors – many more people are hearing about it now, thanks to a decision made a few years ago to simply count the number of people entering the grounds.
The large entrance gates under the Triumphal Arch mark the formal entrance to the landscaped estate of Doneraile Wildlife Park. The park’s 166 hectares of land are full of mature groves of deciduous trees – and deer can be viewed from along the many pathways within the estate.
Doneraile Wildlife Park was named this week as Ireland’s fourth-most-popular ‘free to enter’ attraction of 2016 by Fáilte Ireland, attracting over 480,000 visitors last year. This was an 11% rise on the visitor numbers of 2015.
The annual Fáilte Ireland list of top attractions is eagerly anticipated within the tourist sector each year – and receives widespread attention from the national media.
Alongside Doneraile in the top five for 2016 are much better-known locations like the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin city centre and the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Kilmainham.
And though it’s regarded as a local treasure in Cork, Doneraile may not be a household name elsewhere in Ireland. The park made it into the top five ‘free to enter’ attractions in 2014, but fell out of the list in 2015.
Interestingly, it wasn’t actually eligible for inclusion in the Fáilte list before 2014 – because no-one could be sure how many people were using the park.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie Myra Ryall of the Doneraile Development Association explained that her group, working alongside Cork County Council, decided to install counters so they would have a tally of visitors.
“That’s how we have the official data of the figures,” she said.
It wasn’t being promoted before 2014. There was no counters, there was just a couple of locals saying we needed to gather together and get the counters.
The majority of the garden design and architecture of the park was completed in the early 18th Century, when it was home to the St Leger family.
The estate is regarded as a perfect example of an 18th Century landscaped park in the ‘Capability Brown’ style. Brown was known as one of England’s greatest gardeners.
“It’s a beautiful sight and speaks for itself. It draws in the crowds,” Doneraile Park superintendent Hugh Corrigan said.
The landscape draws people into the park, the fact that you’re away from the traffic. For families, the playground is a star attraction, the tea rooms as well.
“There’s something in Doneraile for everybody; if you’re a walker, if you’re a landscape enthusiast, or maybe you have an interest in garden history. The Georgian style landscape is very prevalent there, that is a major attraction in itself,” Corrigan said.
The culture and the heritage that’s there is fantastic and probably unparalleled in terms of the history of the site.
A lot of work and investment has gone into keeping up the historical beauty of Doneraile over the past few years and this has helped boost tourist numbers.
2013 saw the completion of conservation works to the Triumphal Arch in Doneraile Park. The Arch was conserved following a survey that found the structure was in a failing condition.
“We’re trying to grow tourism in the North Cork area. We have made significant investment in Doneraile, with playgrounds, walking routes and tea rooms in recent years,” Corrigan said.
Going forward, we are hoping to invest further into it to keep the growth going.
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Plastic cards!!! About time, only in Ireland does a student ID look more official then the drivers licence
@ Alan, very true! My friend was in the States and said they don’t accept our drivers license as ID. A joke!
i think they should just ban driving under the influence of alcohol completely, get it over and done with
Good idea but not possible as even using mouthwash or having some sherry trifle would potentially mean you fail a zero level breath test.
Finally. It’s nice to see some initiative & solid action.
Newly qualified “R” drivers will have completed 12 mandatory driving lessons and passed the driving test like everyone before them, I don’t understand the need for restrictions.
The entire driving licence-driving education system in this country is a farce. I obtained my full driving licence after only 3 months on a provisional licence. My driving test was done in the daytime in near-perfect weather conditions. I passed with flying colours. Yet nowhere in my training did I learn how to drive in driving snow conditions, in torrential rain, in icy conditions, in thick fog, at night, or indeed in any combination. Too often I see drivers at night with either no lights on or full headlights coming straight at me. We need to have a proper training system put in place that teaches people how to drive in all weather conditions similar to what is done in Finland (where they have driving centres with roads that have simulated ice conditions, gravel tracks, etc.). “R” licences are a good idea too and certainly lower drink-driving limits, but not just applied to young people – they should be applied to everyone.
how can you have different punishments for the same crime?
A lot of the ideas and initiatives are extensions or modifications to plans that were already in place; I do agree blood alcohol levels should be zero no exceptions and match that with a VRT & Tax exemption on vehicles for pubs who provide local transport. More fundamentally we need to start teaching people to drive in schools as a formal subject with the objective that everyone leaves secondary school with their full license on an ‘R’ plate.
As part of the educational process young drivers need to learn about all aspects of driving from vehicle care & maintenance to driving in difficult conditions. Many young drivers dangerously modify vehicles which can affect the handling, stopping distance and safety features of a car and don’t understand the physics behind the changes or dangerous consequences as a result of poorly modified components.
Maybe then we will see a radical change in driver behaviour and reduced road deaths amongst the most vulnerable demographic in our community. The last element we need is high visibility enforcement; we don’t have it and it needs to be introduced; round the clock checkpoints, mandatory breath testing, and car seizures for non-compliance with road traffic legislation. If we are serious we can reduce road injury & death, lower insurance premiums and be less nervous as our kids head towards driving age.
If a tester believes a person has passed the exam and is capable of driving in an educated, safe and responsible manner there should be no need for extra punishments. I agree with the extra penalty points for learner drivers as I think far too many people get their learners permit and head onto the roads with no training and in many cases no full licence driver.
The thing is people generally don’t do their driving test drunk or pick up their mobile in the middle of it. It’s these kind of behaviours that need to be eradicated from the driving mindset, doing a great U point turn during your test doesn’t mean you wont run someone over while using your phone while driving.
So someone who has their licence for less than 2 years should be punished more severely for drink driving than someone who has theirs for ten?
Don’t see why they couldn’t just set the blood alcohol limit at 0mg/100ml, it’d be a lot simpler than creating three different classes of drivers and different laws for each. The clarity would have benefits in itself.
Because it would mean potentially failing a breath test after you used mouthwash in the morning!
In Finland you have to be tested on a skid pan. And you don’t get to drive on public roads until you have your full licence. The licence test itself takes about 1 year that’s if you pass all the tests, if you fail one you have to start again from the beginning.
Probably a little away from the topic but why not just make it a zero tolerance drink driving policy….it amazes me that all countries don’t have this?
The Road Safety Authority will be put in charge of the driving licence system and the testing of commercial vehicles for roadworthiness.
So what will the staff who currently issue licences do?
And we are still left with 2 vehicle testing organisations.
What a waste of money!
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