Pat Ó Suilleabhaín
Meet Beyond the Trees Avondale New General Manager
In July 2022, Beyond the Trees Avondale was opened by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. The spectacular visitor attraction showcases the beauty of the Wicklow countryside, its magnificent forestry and nature trails, and via a Treetop Walk, it offers an incomparable view of the Coillte Avondale Forest Park and surrounding environs from a 38m high Viewing Tower, the first of its kind in Ireland. A collaboration between Coillte, Fáilte Ireland and EAK Ireland, Beyond the Trees Avondale has sustainability and accessibility at its core.
Pat Ó Súilleabháin, joined Beyond the Trees Avondale in May, 2023 and has already experienced a busy fewmonths in his new role with the official opening of Avondale House by Tánaiste Micheál Martin, the latest attraction to the Avondale destination. Guided tours are available here, offering visitors an insight into the lives of Avondale House’s previous owners, including Samuel Hayes, widely regarded as the father of Irish forestry, as well as Charles Stewart Parnell and the Parnell family.
“The setting here is absolutely stunning and it really does show off the Irish
Beyond the Trees Avondale is set to become one of Ireland’s most iconic destinations when it comes to its international appeal, Pat Ó Súilleabháin explains to Claire O’Mahony
landscape and in particular the Wicklow landscape to amazing effect,” says Pat. “The opportunities and plans to develop the destination further with other offerings are significant and it’s only year one, going into year two. We’re busy building a roadmap, which will create more and more opportunities for visitors and while year one has been brilliant for domestic business, what we’re seeing now is a big jump in group visitors. The overseas markets are always planning well in advance and they’re always looking two or three years out so we’re now starting to appear on their radar and the levels of interest are significant. Beyond the Trees Avondale is set to become one of Ireland’s iconic visitor attractions in terms of that international appeal.”
There can be a tendency to think of visiting outdoor attractions as a summer activity but Pat says this is not the case. “Different season’s showcase the landscape and the experience in a completely different way. We explain to visitors that if you’re equipped for the weather, it’s still an amazing experience because, if you’re doing the Treetop Walk, you’re seeing that landscape through the rain and there’s something magical and mystical about all of that. So, it’s all about our perception – it’s not bad weather but just a different kind of weather that allows you to have a different kind of experience.”
Accessibility is very important at Beyond the Trees Avondale. “If you’ve got limited mobility, it’s still an experience you can have because the gradients are so gentle, it affords a huge range of people the opportunity to enjoy it and the views are spectacular,” Pat explains. Of course, it’s the biodiversity of the estate and the chance it affords to connect to nature that makes it all so special. “Not only do we have a massive swathe of native Irish trees but back in the early 20th century, there was what was referred to as the Great Tree Experiment where a number of different overseas trees were brought here and planted to see how they would perform to allow us to then to develop forestry in Ireland. We’ve always referred to Wicklow as the Garden of Ireland, where you connect with nature and it is about being able to turn that into a tourism product. There’s an economic value to that in that it provides employment, and revenue for local economies, and it’s really critical,” he says.
“In that sense, Beyond the Trees Avondale taps into that. It sees the value of nature and finds a way of presenting that to visitors and provides them with a really amazing experience. It brings it to a whole new level. You’ve seen trees but you haven’t seen them like this.”