Guinness pulls first place for visitors in Ireland
While Dublin dominates the Fáilte Ireland Top 10 of most-visited fee-charging and free sites in 2014, regional attractions remain hugely popular.
Among these is Doneraile Wildlife Park in north Cork, a free facility that had almost half a million visitors, ranking third behind the National Botanic Gardens and the National Gallery of Ireland, the country’s busiest free amenities last year.
But the Guinness Storehouse topped the list of all attractions, as well as those charging entry to visitors, who numbered close to 1.3m at the Dublin brewery centre in 2014 — 112,000 more than in 2013. The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience in Co Clare passed the 1m mark, leapfrogging Dublin Zoo as second most popular in the process.
Well, we're not surprised ;) @CliffsofMoher1 overtake Dublin Zoo for Tourists. Hon the banner! http://t.co/fxdnX3P5Ig #Clare
— Kenny's Bar, Lahinch (@KennysLahinch) July 9, 2015
The Book of Kells at Trinity College Dublin continues to draw growing viewers — over 650,000 last year — but the university’s free Science Gallery also remains a big attraction and saw entries rise by nearly 70,000 to 406,000.
The only other non-Dublin attractions in the fee-charging Top 10 are Tayto Park in Co Meath, which added the Cú Chulainn roller coaster to its facilities last month — and two in Cork. Fota Wildlife Park near Cobh had 438,000 visitors — up from 365,000 in 2013 - and Blarney Castle had 7% more guests with 390,000.
Newbridge Silverware Museum of Style Icons in Kildare had 350,000 visitors, the second-busiest free attraction outside the capital.
Fáilte Ireland chief executive Shaun Quinn said tourism is on track for what could be a record year in terms of activity and visitors in 2015.
“With that in mind, we would expect the attendance numbers for most attractions to rise even further,” said Mr Quinn. “Now that tourism is on the rise again, Ireland and its strong collection of attractions are perfectly poised to welcome and cater for ever greater numbers.”
Just making the Top 10 fee-charging attractions, the Rock of Cashel’s visitor numbers grew by 45% to 372,500, followed not too far behind by Bunratty Castle and Folk Park in Co Clare (294,339), Castletown House & Parklands in Celbridge, Co Kildare (285,000), and Kilkenny Castle (259,250).
Among the free sites, there were 200,000 visits to Holy Cross Abbey near Thurles, Co Tipperary and more than 150,000 to Galway City Museum.
The National Museum’s free sites remain popular, with the Dublin city centre archaeology and natural history facilities attracting 447,000 and 300,000 visitors, respectively. The decorative arts and history museum at Collins Barracks in Dublin had almost 250,000 visits in 2014, while the National Museum of country life in Co Mayo had 109,000 visitors.
Modern craft brings in the visitors too, with numbers up to to 120,000 to the Nicholas Mosse Pottery centre in Bennetsbridge, Co Kilkenny, and more than 70,000 people attending the Louis Mulcahy pottery workshop near Dingle, Co Kerry.
Guinness Storehouse, Dublin: 1,269,371 visitors
Cliffs of Moher, Clare: 1,080,501
Dublin Zoo: 1,076,876
National Aquatic Centre, Dublin: 931,074
Book of Kells, Dublin: 650,476
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin: 457,277
Tayto Park, Meath: 450,000
Fota Wildlife Park: 438,000
Blarney Castle Cork: 390,000
Rock of Cashel, Tipperary: 372,503
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin: 593,183 visitors
National Botanic Gardens, Dublin: 541,946
Doneraile Wildlife Park, Cork: 460,000
National Museum of Ireland (Archaeology), Dublin: 447,137
Science Gallery Trinity College Dublin: 406,982
Farmleigh, Dublin: 402,773
Newbridge Silverware Museum of Style Icons, Kildare: 350,000
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin: 306,662
Chester Beatty Library, Dublin: 304,000
National Museum of Ireland (Natural History): 300,272.
