Minister O’Donovan announces free admission to OPW Visitor Heritage sites

Minister Patrick O’ Donovan, Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works announced that admission charges to certain OPW Heritage sites are being waived as part of the Government’s July Stimulus Plan in an effort to encourage domestic tourism and support the tourism economy.

The measure will take effect from Monday 27 July and will remain in force until the end of the year. This measure is being implemented as a support to the domestic Irish tourism economy and to provide a greater appeal to Irish people to stay at home and take staycations and short breaks within Ireland particularly over the next 6 months.

The OPW manages 70 visitor sites around the country including some of the most iconic historic locations like the Rock of Cashel, Dún Aonghasa and Castletown House. These sites play a very significant part of the cultural and heritage tourism offering and last year attracted a total of over 9.3 million visitors. Research by Fáilte Ireland indicates that significant numbers of domestic visitors also cited history and culture destinations as one of their motivating factors for visiting places in Ireland. The Minister has acted to capitalise on this by making the majority of these places more accessible for those on a budget who are looking for an enjoyable way to spend their 2020 holidays.

A small number of the busiest sites will not be offered with free admission as there are concerns that they might be overwhelmed with large numbers of visitors and create a significant COVID-19 risk. A full list of the OPW sites and their charging regimes is available at

Hopefully people will be able to discover something new or maybe they’ll be able to relive a childhood experience with their own families. But we would encourage everyone to get out there and see what Ireland has to offer.

For more information go to heritageireland.ie