Glendalough and one Kildare venue among Ireland's top 5 free tourist attractions
Glendalough is Ireland's second most popular free tourist attraction in Ireland, with the stunning Wicklow destination attracting more than 665,000 visitors in 2017.
It was beaten to top spot by the National Art Gallery in Dublin, which drew a total of 1,065,929 towards it last year, with Glendalough attracting a total of 666,541 people.
Kildare destination Castletown House Parklands came in third position, attracting a massive 639,826 people to the Celbridge venue in 2017.
The most popular fee-charging attraction remains the Guinness Storehouse, with a total of 1,711,281 visitors through its doors, up 64,000 on the previous year. The Cliffs of Moher and Dublin Zoo came in second and third place in the same category.
Overall, the top five fee-charging attractions during 2017 were:
1. Guinness Storehouse - 1,711,281 (+4%) 2. Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience – 1,527,000 (+7%) 3. Dublin Zoo – 1,264,300 (+10%) 4. National Aquatic Centre – 1,099,756 (+6%) 5. Book of Kells - 983,410 (+10%)
Ireland’s top ‘free to enter’ attractions for 2017 were:
1. The National Gallery of Ireland – 1,065,929 (+41%) 2. Castletown House Parklands – 666,541 3. Glendalough Site – 639,826 4. National Botanic Gardens – 569,652 (-2%) 5. DLR LexIcon (Dun Laoighaire Rathdown) – 525,708 (+12%) Welcoming another record year for visitors, Fáilte Ireland’s Director of Product Development, Orla Carroll emphasised:
“Fáilte Ireland invests in new and compelling attractions throughout the country because we know that they bring visitors from around the world to our shores. Over the course of 2017 alone, Fáilte Ireland provided capital funding of over €22m for a variety of tourism projects, helping to drive growth in every part of Ireland for the coming years. With continued investment like this, and through our work with partners across the country, we look forward to ongoing growth for tourism and to seeing new sites feature on the top attractions list.”