Discover how we care for the land, protect wildlife and reduce our environmental impact while making your stay at Rock Farm Slane even more sustainable.
Our Ecotourism Policy
Rock Farm Slane is an organic farm on the Slane Castle Estate, on the banks of the River Boyne. We sit beside protected woodland and river habitats, within Slane Castle’s Architectural Conservation Area. We believe a good holiday should leave the land, the river and our community better off, and we’d love you to be part of that.
Everything we do, from our holiday homes, glamping, sauna and hot tubs to weddings, events and farm tours, follows the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) criteria. We track our energy, water and waste every month and share our progress each year.
What we do
Land and wildlife
We farm organically (Organic Trust, licence 1109). We have planted 1.3 km of hedgerows and over 6 hectares of agroforestry, and we help ground-nesting birds on the Boyne Meadow in a five year programme with the NPWS. We also control invasive plants and care for our animals to high welfare standards.
Energy
Our strawbale buildings (Lime House, Swallow’s Nest and Reception) need less conventional heat and solar panels heat of our water. Likewise our electricity has been on a 100% green tariff since March 2026. In 2025 we used 190 kWh of energy per square metre. We aim to reduce that by 5% by the end of 2027 to meet the European benchmark of excellence (180 kWh/m²) and we will offset the 35 tonnes of COe₂ emitted by planting 1,327 native trees and hedging in 2026.
By 2027 we aim to generate up to 30% of our own electricity from solar PV and by 2028 we aim to replace half of our LPG heating with biomass from the wider Estate.
Water
Rainwater flushes our toilets and waters the gardens, and a natural reed-bed wetland cleans all our wastewater. Our last audit recorded 0.18 m³ of water per bed night, close to the European benchmark of Excellence of 0.14 m³.
Waste
Our 0.52 kg of waste per guest is below the European benchmark of 0.6 kg. We separate waste into recycling, brown waste and glass bins, and our Hotbin Composters turn food waste into compost for the garden areas.
Peace and dark skies
Outdoor quiet hours start at 11pm for groups and weddings, and our outdoor lighting is low level and light touch around the woodland areas.
People and community
We hire locally, treat everyone fairly and train our team in sustainability every year. Our guest menus use beef, pork and vegetables from the farm, and we work with Visit Slane, Boyne Valley Flavours and Discover Boyne Valley
Everyone welcome
Lower Lime in the Lime House is fully wheelchair accessible, and Oak Yurt on the Glamping has a detachable ramp. Our website is fully accessible.
How you can help
- Switch off lights and heating when you go out, and put the hot tub cover back on when you’ve finished
- Take shorter showers and reuse your towels.
- Sort your waste into the recycling (blue), glass (blue and white) and compost (brown) bins provided and bring a refillable bottle.
- Use the eco-friendly products we provide, and only put toilet paper down the toilet.
- Watch farm animals and wildlife quietly, don’t feed them, close gates and keep to the paths.
- Keep noise to a minimum outdoors after 11pm.
- Arrive by bus or share lifts, charge your EV here, and enjoy Slane’s shops, pubs and restaurants.
Tell us what you think
Scan the QR code in your unit, talk to us at Reception, or email info@rockfarmslane.ie with the subject “Ecotourism Feedback”.
For accessibility requirements or onsite support please call +353 41 988 4861.
Carina Conyngham
Managing Director ·
Reviewed and published 10th October 2026
