THE GUINNESS STOREHOUSE is Ireland’s most popular tourist attraction, with visitor numbers increasing by 4% to 1,711,281.

Source: DRTA

Fáilte Ireland has published its annual list of Ireland’s most popular visitor attractions in 2017.

It looks at both fee charging and free attractions. In the fee charging list, the Cliffs of Moher came in second, while Dublin Zoo was third.

The National Gallery of Ireland topped the list of ‘free to enter’ attractions, surpassing the one million mark for the first time with a 41% increase in visitors.

New entrants Castletown House and Parklands in Kildare and Glendalough in Wicklow came in second and third.

Overall, the top 20 fee-charging attractions during 2017 were:

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

Amongst Ireland’s ‘free to enter’ attractions, the National Gallery of Ireland had a total of 1,065,929 visitors.

Ireland’s top 20 ‘free to enter’ attractions for 2017 were:

The National Gallery of Ireland – 1,065,929 (+41%) Castletown House Parklands – 666,541 Glendalough Site – 639,826 National Botanic Gardens – 569,652 (-2%) DLR LexIcon (Dun Laoighaire Rathdown) – 525,708 (+12%) Irish Museum of Modern Art - 489,295 Doneraile Wildlife Park - 480,000 National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology, Kildare St - 474,564 Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin - 407,529 Farmleigh - 359,432 Kilkenny Castle Parklands - 336,315 Newbridge Silverware Museum of Style Icons - 350,000 National Museum of Ireland – Natural History, Merrion St - 336,412 Chester Beatty Library - 335,875 National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks - 234,336 Connemara National Park - 221,713 The National Library of Ireland - 197,245 Crawford Art Gallery - 188,814 Malin Head Viewing Point - 172,329 Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane - 167,410

Welcoming another record year for visitors, Fáilte Ireland’s Director of Product Development, Orla Carroll said:

“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.”