Killykeen in Top 10 most visited forests

Coillte has c.6,000 forest properties, and the most popular was the Dublin Mountains, of which Ticknock Forest accounts for the majority.

Killykeen in one of the country's Top 10 most visited in the country, according to Coillte.

According to the national forestry agency, Killykeen near Killeshandra was visited by 62% more people since lockdown began last year.

In December last year 5,829 visited the local forest park compared to 3,594 in February 2020.

Other top forest locations include Rossmore in neighbouring Co Monaghan, which saw visitor numbers more than double over the same period to 24,713.

“We’re delighted so many people are using their local forests more during this difficult and prolonged Covid lockdown,” said Imelda Hurley, Coillte’s CEO.

Overall, visitor numbers to the country’s top 50 forests were 2.2 million from the beginning of March to the end of December 2020. This represents an overall increase of 38% from 1.6 million for the same period in 2019.

Coillte has c.6,000 forest properties, and the most popular was the Dublin Mountains, of which Ticknock Forest accounts for the majority.

After Rossmore in second, Donadea Forest Park in Co Kildare was next most popular.