Visitor numbers to heritage sites in Ireland are rising.

Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), Simon Harris, confirmed the top fee paying sites continued to do extremely well with Kilmainham Gaol recording nearly 330,000 visitors, while the Rock of Cashel showed an increase of over 17,000 visitors bringing its visitor numbers to 272,503 in 2014.

The introduction of a self guided option for Dublin Castle allowed for a greater throughput of visitors which reached nearly 220,000.

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Visitor numbers take into account not just the ticketed visitors but also admissions to various events and in some cases those people availing of the grounds/parklands of a site. Farmleigh Estate reported visitors to the grounds and the house of over 400,000 while Castletown House and Parklands had approx 285,000 visitors and the National Botanic Gardens had over 540,000 visitors through its gates. Kilkenny Castle welcomed record breaking numbers of 259,000 to the Castle with many more visitors to the grounds.

Minister Harris said: "I would like to congratulate the staff of the OPW, whose hard work and professionalism not only protects and safeguards our most iconic monuments, but also offers a superb visitor experience that is unparalleled. This is evidenced by the 7 OPW sites which are due to receive CIE Awards of Excellence for 2014."

The sites involved are Glendalough, Clonmacnoise, Bru na Boinne, Dun Aonghasa, Dublin Castle, Kilmainham Goal and Boyle Abbey.

(CD/MH)