OPW takes in over €7m from   national monuments this year

Bedford Tower at Dublin Castle. The historic building managed to remain the highest grossing monument post pandemic. Picture: iStock

The Office of Public Works (OPW) has collected more than €7m in entrance fees from visitors to national monuments since charges were reintroduced this year, having been waived for much of the pandemic.

Dublin Castle, where adults are charged €8 to experience the historic building, has been the biggest earner in 2022, generating over €1.2m in the first eight months of the year.

The former seat of British power in Ireland was also the most lucrative national monument prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, collecting €2.5m in visitor fees during 2019.

In 2022, it was followed by the Rock of Cashel in Co Tipperary, which has generated revenue of nearly €1.1m this year, with adult visitors also paying €8 to see the spectacular castle.

It was the third-highest-earning national monument in 2019, but has overtaken Kilmainham Gaol this year, which had collected a total of €908,060 during the first eight months of 2022 — down from €2m in the full year before the pandemic.

The Rock of Cashel is also just ahead of Kilkenny Castle so far this year, with the 12th century estate earning €1m up to the end of August. It collected nearly €1.6 million from visitors in 2019.

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The biggest increase in visitor revenue was recorded at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne in Co Meath, which is comprised of three megalithic passage tombs: Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth.

A new visitor experience at Knowth was launched in March, and adults are now charged €18 for a tour of the valley and the internal chamber of Newgrange. It had collected €774,085 by the end of August, compared to just €575 in 2019.

Other notable national monuments that have generated revenue from entrance fees this year include Clonmacnoise (€374,708), Farmleigh estate (€20,436), Glendalough Visitor Centre (€106,644), and the Blasket Centre (€48,334).

A total of €5,705 was paid by visitors to the National Botanic Gardens during the first eight months of 2022, compared to €21,695 during the whole of 2019.

 Dún Aonghasa on Inis Mór, Co Galway generated revenue of €359,467 in 2019, and had collected €259,903 by the end of August this year.

The total amount of entrance fees collected at national monuments under the management of the OPW was €12.4m in 2019. Fees were waived at many sites during 2020 and 2021 to support recovery in the tourism sector.

The figures were provided by Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan in response to a parliamentary question from Independent TD Michael McNamara this week.