Annes Grove Gardens experiences decrease in visitor numbers
Doneraile Park remains one of the most popular free OPW sites in the country according to data released last week, but nearby Annes Grove Gardens (which charges a fee to enter) has suffered a decrease in visitor numbers from 2022 to 2023.
Excluding Stephen’s Green in Dublin (an OPW site), last year Doneraile Park was the third most-visited free site in the country after the Phoenix Park and the National Botanic Gardens and welcomed just over 523,000 people to the park. Fota Gardens, also free, welcomed 142,872 visitors,
Meanwhile, the Rock of Cashel was the third most-visited OPW site in 2023 that requires a ticket to enter. With 357,273 visitors last year, it was significantly behind the most-visited paid-entry site, Kilkenny Castle and parklands which welcomed almost 870,000 visitors to the marble city.
Locally, Annes Grove Gardens saw a decrease in numbers in 2023, from just over 6,800 in 2022 to just over 6,000 last year. Other paid sites like Cahir Castle, however, have seen steady increases in the number of visitors each year, to over 85,000 in 2023.
A minority of sites did not see an increase in visitor numbers in 2023; and besides Annes Grove gardens, Dungarvan Castle also suffered a very slight decrease in visitor numbers, as did Adare (Desmond) Castle and the site of the Battle of the Boyne.
There are 780 heritage sites under the care of the Office of Public Works. The figures provided includes data from footfall counters, which are subject to malfunction and power outages and are therefore cannot be considered wholly accurate.