This presentation provides information on the top 10 tourist attractions in Ireland according to the number of visitors to each attraction in 2012. The presentation is based on original content provided on www.carhire.ie.

1. Top 10 Free Attractions in Ireland

2. Free Tourist Attractions
• One of the best things about Ireland is the number
of attractions
• Some of the free attractions are among the top
attractions in the country
• A visitor could enjoy days on end visiting attractions
in Ireland for free.
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3. Top 10 Free Attractions
• National Gallery of Ireland
• National Botanic Gardens
• National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology
• Irish Museum of Modern Art
• Farmleigh House
• National Museum of Decorative Arts
• National Museum of Natural History
• Chester Beatty Library
• Science Gallery
• Holy Cross Abbey
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4. The National Gallery

5. National Gallery of Ireland
• The National Gallery in Dublin is home to more than
14,000 works of art.
• This includes 5,000 drawings, as many prints and about
2,500 oil paintings.
• One of the most popular pieces in the gallery is Meeting
on the Turret Stairs.
• National Gallery is open every day of the year except for
Good Friday and 24 to 26 December.
• Entry always free, although additional exhibitions can
have an admittance fee
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6. The Botanical Gardens

7. The Botanical Gardens
• The gardens occupy nearly 20 hectares of land in central
Dublin
• Orchids are particularly important to the gardens
• David Moore led the world’s first successful project to
propagate orchids from seed.
• 20,000 samples of plant products, including seeds, dried
fibres, artefacts and extracts are displayed in a museum
alongside artefacts related to the history of the garden.
• The architecture of the gardens is fascinating
• The restaurant and coffee shop in the Visitor Centre
serves hot and cold food throughout the day.
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8. National Museum - Archaeology

9. National Museum - Archaeology
• The National Museum of Ireland is actually split into
four locations, each with its own focus.
• The museums of Decorative Arts and History, Natural
History and Country Life are located variously around
the country.
• As with so many of Ireland’s national
treasures, admission is free.
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10. National Museum - Archaeology
• These are among the highlights of the archaeology
museum
• The Treasury
– Exhibit of medieval craftsmanship.
• Kingship and Sacrifice
– Exhibition of Iron Age remains found in County Offaly in 2003.
• Ór – Ireland’s Gold
– Bronze Age gold work is the focus of this exhibit.
• Ancient Ireland
– Artifacts from the Stone Age through the Middle Ages.
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11. Museum of Modern Art

12. Museum of Modern Art
• Ireland’s leading collection of contemporary and modern art.
• Opened during the 1990s and has since played a leading role
in promoting art awareness and appreciation.
• IMMA attracts more than 400,000 visitors annually
• 3,500 works of art focusing on Irish artists
• Free public tours of the collection are offered from Tuesday to
Friday and again on Sunday at 2:30 pm.
– On Saturdays, tours run at noon and 4 pm.
• There’s a gift shop on the ground floor where visitors can pick
up books, prints and other materials related to the IMMA
collection.
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13. Farmleigh House

14. Farmleigh House
• Farmleigh is an architectural masterpiece
• Over 300,000 visitors years
• Originally served as the Dublin residence for the
Guinness family.
• Only the ground floor and gardens of Farmleigh are open
to the public
• House Features
– Six columns of Connemara marble and an ornate
chimney piece with carved marble inlays.
– The Ballroom is indicative of turn-of-the-century
social architecture.
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15. National Museum – Decorative

16. National Museum – Decorative Arts
• The National Museum are located in the impressive
Collins Barracks
• The barracks are named for Michael Collins, a freedom
fighter
• First floor highlights
– Largest collection of silver anywhere in the world, all sourced from Ireland
– 1,000 years of Irish coins
• Second floor highlights
– Irish country furniture
– Reconstructed Irish country kitchen
• Third Floor
– Clothing and jewelry from the 18th century to present day
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17. National History Musem

18. National History Museum
• Natural History Museum is actually a museum of
museums, as it has been spectacularly maintained in its
original Victorian style.
• Locals jokingly refer to the natural history museum as
‘The Dead Zoo’.
• The best exhibits are found in the Irish Room, which is
populated with a host of indigenous species.
• There are hundreds of animals on display, but the
showpiece is a collection of three Irish Elk skeletons.
• The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 am
to 5:00 pm and on Sunday from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
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19. Chester Beatty Library

20. Chester Beatty Library
• The Chester Beatty Library is located in Dublin’s Clock Tower Building.
• The millions Chester made in copper allowed him to pursue his passion for
ancient manuscripts and Asian art.
• Chester Beatty bequeathed the Chester Beatty Library to Dublin in 1956.
• The exhibits are divided into the following collections:
• East Asian collection:
– These collections are representative of the type of collecting Beatty
did in his early years.
• Islamic collection:
– Many experts consider Beatty’s Islamic Collections to be among the
finest in the world. The manuscripts span the 8th to 20th centuries
• Western collection:
– Among these collections, you’ll find everything from millennia-old
cuneiform tablets to thousands of Old Master prints and drawings.
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21. The Science Gallery

22. The Science Gallery
• This is the newest gallery in Dublin opened in 2008.
• This is a 21st-century museum experience to the fullest, complete with
hands-on exhibits, multimedia displays and the chance to get involved
with science at every turn.
• The gallery bills itself as a world-first and a place where ‘art and science
collide’.
• The gallery also hosts a regular schedule of events throughout the year.
• Google recently gifted the institute with a grant to launch the Global
Science Gallery Network.
• There are currently two in operation – here in Dublin as well as in London
– with plans to open more in New York, Melbourne, Bangalore and
Singapore.
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23. Holy Cross Abbey

24. Chester Beatty Library
• Holy Cross Abbey Located is located in County Tipperary
• It’s a Cistercian monastery and important pilgrimage point, accounting for the
more than 200,000 visitors it welcomes each year.
• The abbey is named for a relic (called the holy rood) of the cross of Christ.
• During the medieval ages, belief that this was an actual fragment of the cross
of Christ brought pilgrims to Ireland in great numbers.
• The abbey became an icon of religious freedom as well as of Irish sovereignty.
• The church itself is cruciform in shape, complete with a nave, chancel and
transepts.
• Each window of the abbey has a different design, and they’re known as ‘flame
windows’ for their flamboyant treatment.
• The abbey’s medieval friezes and stone carvings are exceptional.
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