Doneraile and Blarney among most visited
Two Cork attractions were among the most visited in the country in 2018, it was revealed this week.
Doneraile House was the seventh most visited in the free to enter list while in tenth place in the fee charging list of attractions was Blarney Castle.
Fáilte Ireland published its annual list to give attractions insight into how they are performing. It complements Fáilte Ireland’s research on ‘What makes a Great Visitor Attraction’, which allows attractions to look to each other’s successes in order to find ways to improve their own visitor experience.
Speaking about the results of the Fáilte Ireland Visitor Attractions Survey, Fáilte Ireland’s Director of Product Development Orla Carroll: “While 2018 was a positive year for most of Ireland’s top attractions, there are many challenges ahead for the tourism industry. As the national tourism development authority, Fáilte Ireland’s role is to support the development of a ‘world-class’ tourism sector. Our work with attractions in helping them grow their visitor numbers through training and funding is a significant part of what we do across the country. Over the course of 2018 alone, Fáilte Ireland approved grant funding of more than €31million for 46 projects.”
Top ten fee-charging attractions
Guinness Storehouse - 1,736,156 (visitors)
Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience – 1,580,000
Dublin Zoo – 1,230,145
Book of Kells – 1,057,642
Tayto Park – 700,000
St Patrick’s Cathedral – 627,199
Kylemore Abbey & Garden – 561,657
Muckross House – 550,649
Powerscourt House Gardens and Waterfall – 472,523
Blarney Castle & Gardens – 460,000
Top ten free to enter attractions
Kilkenny Castle Parklands2 – 799,032
The National Gallery of Ireland3 – 775,491
Glendalough Site – 732,824
National Botanic Gardens – 655,609
Castletown House Parklands – 642,278
Irish Museum of Modern Art – 505,891
Doneraile Park – 490,000
National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology, 466,038
Farmleigh House Estate – 389,932
Battle of the Boyne/Oldbridge Est – 355,608