Cliffs are Ireland’s second most popular tourist attraction

The Cliffs of Moher is the second most popular tourist attraction in the country.

It saw a seven percent increase in the amount of visitors last year and the world renown Clare attraction continues to be one of the most visited locations in all of Ireland with more than 1 million people arriving to the Cliffs.

Fáilte Ireland has today (Thursday) published its annual list of Ireland’s most popular visitor attractions, which shows that almost all of them enjoyed another bumper year. Topping the list of ‘free to enter’ attractions, the National Gallery of Ireland surpassed the 1m visitor mark for the first time, experiencing an impressive 41% growth. 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.

Bunratty Castle & Folk Park was named as the seventeenth most popular tourist attraction. It welcomed 369,275 guests in 2017. Two years ago it recorded less visitors but was named in twelfth position.

Amongst Ireland’s ‘free to enter’ attractions, the National Gallery of Ireland had a total of 1,065,929 visitors through its doors, followed by the Castletown House Parklands, Celbridge, Co Kildare in second place and Glendalough Site, Wicklow, in third.

Full list of top 20 fee-charging attractions during 2017:

1. Guinness Storehouse 1,711,281
2. Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience 1,527,000
3. Dublin Zoo 1,264,300
4. National Aquatic Centre 1,099,756
5. Book of Kells 983,410
6. Tayto Park 735,000
7. St Patrick’s Cathedral 603,000
8. Kylemore Abbey & Gardens 558,000
9. Muckross House Gardens and Traditional Farm 552,923
10. Powerscourt Gardens & Waterfall 501,601
11. Fota Wildlife Park 455,559
12. Blarney Castle & Gardens 450,000
13. Kilmainham Gaol 425,000
14. Kilkenny Castle 418,685
15. Rock of Cashel 376,488
16. Dublin Castle 371,000
17. Bunratty Castle & Folk Park 369,275
18. Brú na Boinne Newgrange 281,103
19. Christ Church Cathedral 238,285
20. Glenveagh Castle and Grounds 211,000

Full list of top 20 ‘free to enter’ attractions during 2017:

1. National Gallery of Ireland 1,065,929
2. Castletown House Parklands 666,541
3. Glendalough Site 639,826
4. National Botanic Gardens 569,652
5. DLR Lexicon, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown 525,708
6. Irish Museum of Modern Art 489,295
7. Doneraile Wildlife Park 480,000
8. National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology, Kildare St 474,564
9. Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin 407,529
10. Farmleigh 359,432
11. Kilkenny Castle Parklands 336,315
12. Newbridge Silverware Museum of Style Icons 350,000
13. National Museum of Ireland – Natural History, Merrion St 336,412
14. Chester Beatty Library 335,875
15. National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks 234,336
16. Connemara National Park 221,713
17. The National Library of Ireland 197,245
18. Crawford Art Gallery 188,814
19. Malin Head Viewing Point 172,329
20. Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane 167,410
21. Sliabh Liag Cliffs 164,546