Blarney Castle – including the stone! – is Cork’s most popular tourist attraction on Instagram #BlarneyCastle

The only Cork landmark to feature in the ranking, Blarney Castle and Gardens ranked eighth overall. Home of the famous Blarney Stone, the tourist destination is the eighth most popular on Instagram, with 109,733 posts shared under #blarneycastle. On average, 36,100 Google searches are completed each month for the location

Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle: File photo from from July 2019 showing TV Presenter Chris Tarrant (left); with Sir Charles Colthurst, Baronet owner Blarney Castle, filming for a popular TV series “Extreme Railway Journeys” at Blarney Castle, Co Cork.

The Wild Atlantic Way driving route is the fifth most popular Irish landmark online, a new study has found.

The experts at Baldwin Digital analysed online data on landmarks or points of interest across Ireland with at least a four-star rating on TripAdvisor and over 500 reviews, a total of 119. Each landmark was rated based on the volume of TripAdvisor reviews, monthly search traffic to its official website, average monthly global searches, and Instagram hashtag count. They were then ranked from top to bottom based on online popularity.

The Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s famous coastal route, ranked fifth overall. While the 2,600km route did not place among the top locations based on review count, organic traffic, or average monthly search volume, it shot towards the top due to its popularity on Instagram. Approximately 1,869,098 posts have been shared under #wildatlanticway, more than double that of any other hashtag analysed in the study.

The Cliffs of Moher ranked first on the list, scoring an impressive 92.99 out of 100. The iconic visitor attraction was propelled to the top thanks to having the highest average monthly global search volume of 220,200. The location also proves popular on Instagram, with posts under #cliffsofmoher reaching 729,412, second behind the Wild Atlantic Way.

Dublin’s Guinness Storehouse fell just short of the top spot, claiming second with a score of 89.06. The famous brewery tour has almost double the number of TripAdvisor reviews compared to any other study location with 48,979. Organic monthly traffic to the official Guinness Storehouse website remains high at 119,000, second only to Trinity College Dublin.

Trinity College Dublin ranks third, scoring 87 out of 100. The historical university attracts more website traffic than any other landmark or point of interest in Ireland, averaging 162,000 organic visits every month. The university also boasts the third-highest average monthly search volume at 149,000, with the Cliffs of Moher and University College Cork claiming first and second.

A landmark within Trinity College Dublin, The Book of Kells & Old Library took fourth place. The experience at the Old Library building, which proves popular among tourists, has the third-highest review count on TripAdvisor (24,087). Average monthly Google searches for The Book of Kells are 132,300, the fourth-highest figure among the 119landmarks and points of interest.

Kilmainham Gaol Museum is the sixth most popular Irish landmark online, scoring 76.75. The popular tour has accumulated the second-most TripAdvisor reviews of any landmark in the study, with 27,798. On Instagram, 31,887 posts have been posted under #kilmainhamgaol, while monthly searches average 39,000.

Dublin Castle claimed seventh spot, scoring 76.55. The tourist attraction is popular in Google searches and among Instagram users. The average monthly search volume is the 12th-highest at 52,600, while the location also ranked ninth for Instagram, with 103,529 posts shared using #dublincastle.

The only Cork landmark to feature in the ranking, Blarney Castle and Gardens ranked eighth overall. Home of the famous Blarney Stone, the tourist destination is the eighth most popular on Instagram, with 109,733 posts shared under #blarneycastle. On average, 36,100 Google searches are completed each month for the location.

Dublin’s iconic Temple Bar ranks ninth and is the final landmark in the county to feature. Approximately 20,916 TripAdvisor reviews have been submitted for Temple Bar, the fourth-highest among locations in the study. The city centre bar is also popular on social media, with Instagram users sharing 80,274 posts using #templebardublin.

Kylemore Abbey in Connemara is the tenth and last landmark to be named in the study. Galway’s only representation in the top ranking aside from the Wild Atlantic Way, Kylemore Abbey attracts 45,000 average monthly Google searches and 58,940 posts on Instagram under #kylemoreabbey.

Table: Ireland’s most popular landmarks and points of interest online

Mark Baldwin, director and founder of Cork based Baldwin Digital Ltd, commented on the study: “It’s interesting to see which of Ireland’s beautiful, historic landmarks and tourist attractions capture people’s attention online around the world.

“Ireland’s natural, picturesque locations like the Wild Atlantic Way reign supreme on Instagram, while Dublin’s popular tourist destinations like the Guinness Storehouse and Temple Bar are among the most reviewed by TripAdvisor users.

“Dublin dominated the ranking with six of the 10 landmarks and points of interest found in the county, while iconic locations like the Ring of Kerry and Tipperary’s Rock of Cashel just missed out.”