This page describes a town near Dublin. For the town in Derbyshire, see Ashbourne. Ashbourne is in County Meath, 22 km northwest of Dublin city centre and the airport. It's a commuter town, with a population in 2016 of 12,679. You'd probably only come to visit Emerald Park (formerly Tayto Park); or if you flew into Dublin in the evening it would provide an overnight stop before you drove on northwest. The town was originally Killeglan or Kildeglan (Cill Dhéagláin, "Déaglán's church"). The area was bought up in the 19th century by Frederick Bourne, a transport entrepreneur, who set up a coaching inn and (presumably after much cogitation) renamed the place Ashbourne. He just happened to like ash trees, it's a mercy he didn't have a thing for eucalyptus.
Ratoath 5 km west is another commuter town, with a population of 9533 in 2016.
Dunshaughlin another 8 km west is the third commuter town, with a population of 4035 in 2016, and some abbey ruins.
Potatoes are a staple food in Ireland - blighted harvests in the 1840s caused mass starvation and emigration. Yet already in the early 19th century they were also a luxury item, in the form of thinly-sliced deep-fried potato crisps. In North America these are called potato chips but in Ireland and the UK that denotes a thicker fried slice, also known as French Fries. The earliest known recipe for crisps is in The Cook's Oracle by William Kitchiner in 1817. They became popular as a kitchen or restaurant delicacy but evolved in the early 20th century into a mass-produced snack food, and the global market in potato crisps is now around US $ 17 billion. In 2022 you might pay €2 per kilo for potatoes but €15 for the equivalent weight in crisps; it costs nowhere near €13 to make them.
From the 1920s a little bag of salt was included in the packet, but crisps were unflavoured until the 1950s. In 1954 Joe "Spud" Murphy founded Tayto and offered Cheese & Onion and Salt & Vinegar flavoured crisps, and other companies vied to buy rights to use his techniques. The Tayto factory was based in Coolock on the north edge of Dublin; this closed in 2005 but production continues elsewhere. (Tayto (Northern Ireland), founded in 1956, is a separate company in County Armagh making similar products under licence.) Weird flavours that have been used for crisps include octopus, hedgehog, Cajun squirrel, white chocolate with pepper and cappuccino. They also come in different formats, such as the even saddle-shape of Pringles. In 2010, Tayto capitalised on their success by opening Tayto Park, Ireland's only major theme park, near Ashbourne.
In 2015 Tayto was sold to the German food company Intersnack. The firm will cease its connection to Tayto Park in 2023, and be rebranded to Emerald Park.
Ashbourne is 22 km northwest of Dublin Airport 📍 (IATA: DUB). By road from the city follow M2 / N2.
Bus Éireann 109A runs hourly, 24 hours, from Dublin Airport to Ashbourne (30 min) and continues northwest to Ratoath, Dunshaughlin, Navan and Kells. At night it starts from the city Busáras. Don't take the 109, 109B or 109X from the city - these don't come through Ashbourne.
Go Ahead Bus 197 is a slower route from the airport via Swords, running hourly and taking an hour.
Bus 103 runs every 20 min from 05:00 to 23:30 from several stops in Dublin (but not Busáras) via Glasnevin to Ashbourne and Ratoath. It normally continues to Tayto Park but this is much curtailed in early 2021. Bus 103X is an extra commuter service M-F, with three into the city early morning and back out to Ashbourne in the evening.
Bus 105 runs hourly from Drogheda (for trains from Belfast) then every 30 min from Tayto Park to Ashbourne, Ratoath, Fairyhouse Cross and Blanchardstown (for Connolly Hospital).
The buses make several stops along Ashbourne main street, there isn't a station. For route maps and stop locations see the TFI route mapper.
Use Bus 105 between Ashbourne and Tayto Park. Bus 103 usually also runs there but is infrequent in early 2021.
Pubs in Ashbourne town centre are Stag's Head, Molly's, Foxs Den and Kelly's Bar. Fogarty's is within Ashbourne Court Hotel.
As of March 2022, Ashbourne has 5G from Eir and 4G from Three and Vodafone; Ratoath has 5G from all Irish carriers.