The Guinness Storehouse, the Cliffs of Moher, and Dublin Zoo had more than 1m visitors each last year as some of the country’s top attractions showed rising interest.

A 19th century incenses storage box from Japan shows a monkey holding a peach; while another is in the shape of a lute.

DUBLIN is crawling out from the collapsed dreams of the Celtic Tiger, fizzing with energy and new openings, and preferring ideas to greed, imagination to rampant development.

IRELAND has more than 6,000 lakes and, according to author John Dunne, we don’t appreciate them. They are, he thinks, a neglected part of our heritage.