07/05/2026
Today is our 10th birthday!!!! 🎉
What an incredible 10 years it has been for Navan Adventure Centre!
Our journey actually began 11.5 years ago when I revamped and reopened Navan Driving Range. At the time, I was still working full-time as manager of The Zone Navan. I ran the driving range with the help of my very first employee, Ian Lambe (who was still a secondary school student at the time!), along with huge support from my father Paul.
Collecting golf balls at 11pm almost every night after work usually in the rain on a machine with no cab was definitely character building 😅
After about a year, I approached Navan Racecourse about renting the land where the old closed-down golf course and clubhouse were located, with the idea of opening an adventure sports business. Thankfully, they agreed.
Around the same time, I discovered a new sport called Footgolf and immediately felt it could be the perfect fit for the business. I met with Ronan Cunningham, who had opened the first and best Footgolf course in Ireland and was president of the Irish Footgolf Association. While I was asking him questions about the sport and his business, he started asking questions about my plans. He instantly saw the potential and offered to invest in the company. Later, I took him up on the offer, and we became business partners.
10 years ago today we launched with just 4 activities: Footgolf, Golf Driving Range, Obstacle Course, and Human Foosball 🫣
Not long after, we hired another amazing team member, Johnny Mooney, who had experience in golf course maintenance. Johnny and Ian quickly learned how to work with groups and birthday parties and became our very first group team leaders.
As we continued to add more and more activities, we needed someone great at maintenance and building. We found that in Steven Prior, who helped us create and develop many of the fun activities, games, and challenges we’ve had over the years.
Along the way, we were incredibly proud to win Best Tourism Experience at the Meath Business & Tourism Awards, receive the Outstanding Achievement Award from Hospitality Ireland, and achieved a Business All-Stars accreditation.
One of the things I’m most proud of is the number of young people we’ve employed from the local area over the years. We supported many of them through college, while they helped us grow our small business into what it is today.
We now have 17 amazing activities and a fantastic team headed up by our outstanding Aisling Thomson, all who continue to learn and grow from the experience and training passed down from previous teams. It has been amazing to watch young people start with us and develop in confidence over the years. Many have gone on to become teachers, nurses, and professionals in many different careers. Working closely with all types of customers at Navan Adventure Centre has given them confidence and people skills that I truly believe have helped shape their futures.
We continue to grow and expand. Last year we launched our indoor Roller Disco, and this year we’ve just opened The Sand Barn! We’ve also just launched our brand new website after over a year of designing and building.
We hope to continue bringing Navan and the surrounding areas even more fantastic, much-needed activities for many years to come.
Finally, I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has supported us, worked with us, visited us, and helped us reach this incredible milestone.
Here’s to the next 10 years! ❤️
Check out some of our older photos of where we started from to where we are now.
