Ireland’s top 20 tourist attractions are revealed – PHOTOS

Guinness Storehouse tops all paid and free sites with over one million visitors

CATHY HAYES,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 7:25 AM

Updated Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 7:25 AM

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One of the top "paid" attractions in Ireland - the Cliffs of Moher had 809,474 visitors last year

Photo by Google Images

Ireland’s national tourism development authority, Fáilte Ireland, has released a list of Ireland’s top visited tourist attractions.

Their lists are broken down into “Free” and “Paid” attractions and ranked by the number of visitors they had in 2011.

The tourism body recorded a growth of six percent in the rise of visitors visiting Ireland’s shores and they hope to improve this figure in 2012. They also said Queen Elizabeth and US President Barack Obama’s visits to the country had been a wonderful showcase for everything Ireland has to offer.

Here is the top ten from each category:

TOP FREE ATTRACTIONS IN IRELAND:

SEE PHOTO GALLERY HERE

1. National Gallery - 624,412 visitors
2. National Botanic Gardens - 501,000 visitors
3. National Museum of Archaeology - 402,582 visitors
4. Irish Museum of Modern Art - 362,000 visitors
5. Farmleigh - 315,464 visitors
6. National Museum of Decorative Arts (Collins Barracks) - 295,488 visitors
7. National Museum of Natural History - 289,172 visitors
8. Chester Beatty Library - 247,729 visitors
9. Science Gallery - 242,833 visitors
10. Holycross Abbey, Thurles - 240,000 visitors

TOP PAID ATTRACTIONS IN IRELAND:

SEE PHOTO GALLERY HERE

1. Guinness Storehouse - 1,025,677 visitors
2. Dublin Zoo - 1,000,000 visitors
3. National Aquatic Centre, Dublin - 825,049 visitors
4. Cliffs of Moher - 809,474 visitors
5. Book of Kells - 524,119 visitors
6. Fota Wildlife Park - 390,124 visitors
7. St Patrick's Cathedral - 362,000 visitors
8. Blarney Castle - 325,000 visitors
9. Kilmainham Gaol - 294,095 visitors
10. Bunratty Castle - 275,986 visitors

Nster.com

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4 Comments

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timbobdennehy | Jun 21, 2012, 01:48 AM EDT

you only pay for the cliffs of moher,if you go into the needless visitor centre,you may pay for the carpark alright,im never going to pay to look off a cliff.unless i want to handglide off of it or bungee jump.

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katieherk | Jun 19, 2012, 11:06 AM EDT

Isn't it sad that all of these used to be free. My first trip 30 plus years ago some of them were not only free, but a great challenge. The North has so many more ideal places to go but what used to be free and maybe a wee bit dangerous, are now costly. The rope bridge, Giant's Causeway, many of the Glens, were so much fun... free & could be challenging. Now they are overly safe and almost no fun anymore. But... I still visit all these sights. The North wins my vote for beauty!

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johnshiel | Jun 19, 2012, 10:06 AM EDT

funny how tourism lists like this increasingly treat "Ireland" as the 32 counties. Yet this one does not. I was told by a (very arrogant) uniformed staffer at the Giants Csuseway that it had been Ireland's #1 tourist stop for years. Or was he speaking of just "his" corner of the rockpile?

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johnshiel | Jun 19, 2012, 09:54 AM EDT

the Cliffs of Moher are free just like they always have been (if you show up late enough in the day)...

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