History

Botanical Gardens is most visited State-owned heritage site

Kilmainham Gaol is third most popular site but also most profitable, taking in €1,273,549

The National Botanic Gardens in Dublin. Photograph: Botanics Centre

John Fallon
Wed Mar 11 2015 - 17:16

The National Botanical Gardens was the most popular State-owned heritage site last year, attracting over 540,000 visitors and generating revenue of almost €120,000, according to provisional data released by the Office of Public Works (OPW).

However, the figures represent a marginal decrease of about 8,000 in the number of people who visited the Glasnevin attraction since 2013.

Farmleigh Estate in Castleknock was the second-most popular heritage site in 2014, with 402,773 visitors, although its numbers were also down by almost 8 per cent compared to the previous year.

Master craftsman Eoin Donnelly (left), Enniscorthy, and thatcher Peter Compton from Cavan, working on a replica of a thousand-year-old Viking thatched house at the National Botanic Gardens, in 2014. The building remains in place. File photograph: Eric Luke/The Irish Times

The number of visitors to Kilmainham Gaol increased slightly to 328,886 last year, making the former prison the third-most popular heritage site as well as the most profitable, generating income of €1,273,549 for the public purse.

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The details of State-owned visitor attractions were provided by Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Simon Harris, in response to a parliamentary question by Galway West TD Brian Walsh.

Provisional figures

The figures are currently provisional pending full audit and verification.

Outside of Dublin, Castletown House and Parklands in Co Kildare was the most-visited national heritage site, following an increase in footfall of 17 per cent to 285,410 during 2014.

It was closely followed by the Rock of Cashel in Co Tipperary, which saw an increase in visitor numbers of almost 7 per cent to 272,503 last year.

In total, more than 4.5 million people visited heritage sites managed by the OPW in 2014, generating income of almost €7.9 million.

However, Mr Harris noted in his Dáil reply that the value of national heritage sites could not be fully measured in basic monetary terms.

“In regard to net profit returned to the State, account should be taken of the economic benefit to local communities in particular, and the national economy in general, in the public presentation of heritage sites by the OPW,” he said.

Heritage sites that also ranked among the top 10 most-popular attractions were Kilkenny Castle (259,250 visitors), Dublin Castle (217,758), Clonmacnoise (149,472), Newgrange (139,173), and Phoenix Park (135,790).

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