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‘You stay in cabins, we plant native trees.’

An ambitious rewilding project that offers luxury hospitality in the wild Irish landscape.

Native creates beautiful cabins made from local timber, and curates exciting experiences centred on adventure, nature, and wellbeing.

Native was founded on the idea that your travels are an opportunity to enhance and protect the natural environment. We want you to enjoy spending time in the wilderness, and believe the local environment and community can thrive on the back of your adventures.

Native Cabins

Our model is simple:
‘You stay in cabins, we plant native trees.’

About Us

Our Story

Native was founded by Didi and Simon Ronan in 2019.

After spending many years abroad, their ambition was to return home to create a beautiful, distinctly Irish brand known for its design and exemplary sustainability credentials.

Simon is a landscape architect with 15 years of experience designing luxury hospitality and eco resorts for International hotel brands around the world. Didi comes from a background in public policy conducting research on how business and the economy can drive positive change for both people and planet. Native was born out of their passion for holidays and beautifully designed places, but also their belief that to avoid a climate crisis we need to go beyond carbon neutrality so that human activities have a net positive impact on the environment.

Our Mission

Native’s mission is to be the gold standard of sustainable holidays. We go beyond token commitments of planting a tree and using vague ‘eco’ terminology, to a business model designed to regenerate the environment. The planet is at the core of all our decisions from the construction methods and materials of our very own cabins, our operations, to what we do with our profits, pledging 20% to our rewilding programme.

Staying at Native

The Native Cabin

Native has worked with numerous architects and sustainability experts to design and build our very own Native Cabin for our stays at the Native Retreat.

Native wanted a cabin that looked and felt distinctly Irish, in terms if architecture and furniture and materials. Unfortunately Ireland has almost no remaining examples of what was once a rich tradition of timber architecture. With our architects, Native studied Irish vernacular architecture and took inspiration from Viking long houses and traditional cottages to design its distinctive shape and pitched roof.

Sustainable Architecture

Native wanted a carbon neutral cabin to reflect the company’s strong commitment to sustainability and ecological regeneration. As such, we endeavoured to design and build a cabin made of natural materials, including local timber, hemp insulation, wood wool fibre, and natural lime render. The cabin is entirely breathable and the absence of plastics and toxins is ideal for those with allergies and makes for good quality sleep.

“The Native Cabin captures the essence Irish vernacular timber architecture, a tradition lost to time, but regained in the design process”

Inside the Cabin

The Native cabin interiors blends traditional Irish furniture with the best of contemporary Irish design. A neutral palette and use natural materials all contribute to a sense of peace and relaxation. Guests will enjoy high quality linens sourced from small Irish companies. The Native cabin includes a small kitchenette, separate bathroom with hot shower, and a timber deck with fire pit.

Native Experience

A stay at the Native retreat includes a set of curated nature experiences guided by our expert Native guides. The Native experiences aim to help people to reconnect with the landscape in a meaningful way, be it through the prism of adventure, wellness, or food. We cater for a range of different tastes, interests, and abilities.

Excursions

The Native experiences are about reconnecting with the landscape, challenging one’s self, learning, and enjoying the benefits of time spent in nature

Food

The Native experience includes learning about wild food.

Wild food is an essential part of reconnecting with the landscape, be it foraged, fermented or pickled, or simply cooked on an open fire.

The Native Retreat

Native is opening its first retreat in West Cork, adjacent to our rewilding project. Coming soon

Rewilding Programme

‘You stay in cabins, we plant native trees.’

Regenerative Hospitality

Native sees holidays as an opportunity to replenish and revitalise the environment. Native is a regenerative hospitality business, which invests in nature and the environment so as to leave it in better shape as a consequence of its intervention. We do this through nature conservation, managing at risk landscapes, boosting biodiversity, protecting flora and fauna, and eradicating invasive species.

Native is regenerative in its business model, but also in its offering, carefully cultivating an environment that help guests connect with the landscape and benefit from spending time in nature. Native believes in the biophilia hypothesis; that humans are happier and healthier spending time in nature.

Rewilding Programme

Native pledges 20% of its profits toward financing an ambitious nature conservation project: the Native Rewilding Programme. The Programme is rewilding a 30 Hectare site in West Cork. Activities include planting native broadleaf trees, creating walkways, planting species that attract wildlife and helping maintain local ecosystems, boosting biodiversity, and eradicating invasive species. The Native Rewilding Programme is overseen by a dedicated board, with quantifiable and measurable rewilding interventions, which will be periodically reviewed.