Ireland's worst or most pointless 'visitor attractions'

Acacia

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

They had well, not quite a museum, remember Celtworld?
Whatever happened to that?

Where was that? I've never heard of that. I'm sure if they got rid of it, it probably wasn't making enough tourist dollaz, so they had to make something horribly kitsch and tacky instead. Hence, the Leprechaun Musem.


I should also mention ''The Quiet Man'' cottage in Cong, Co.Mayo. It's probably the only exciting thing that's ever happened to that town. You couldn't even stick your head in the door of the gaff before some auld one came out to ask for a tenner in, or whatever the admission price was. It was fairly forgettable. Oh, another great tourist-y thing from that neck of the woods... when climbing Croagh Patrick, you could buy walking stick for ten euro- or rent one for a fiver. Sad day when you have to rent out sticks for a living.

stoneill

the groutch wrote: »

Ailwee Cave, it's just a big load of rocks

It's a hole - surrounded by rock.

dirtyden

Acacia wrote: »

Where was that? I've never heard of that. I'm sure if they got rid of it, it probably wasn't mking enough tourist dollaz, so they had to make something horribly kitsch and tacky instead. Hence, the Leprechaun Musem.


I should also mention ''The Quiet Man'' cottage in Cong, Co.Mayo. It's probably the only exciting thing that's ever happened to that town. You couldn't even stick your head in the door of the gaff before some auld one came out to ask for a tenner in, or whatever the admission price was. It was fairly forgettable. Oh, another great tourist-y thing from that neck of the woods... when climbing Croagh Patrick, you could buy walking stick for ten euro- or rent one for a fiver. Sad day when you have to rent out sticks for a living.

Must be the recession but I was there three weeks ago and it was 3 euros to keep the stick with 1.50 returned if you gave it back. On a clear day an epic view from the summit. I toughed it out without a stick.

The Blarney stone has to be a pretty pointless peace of tourist exploitation, and that new battle of the boyne one bugs me too, but for different reasons.

Naomi00

Acacia wrote: »

Where was that? I've never heard of that. I'm sure if they got rid of it, it probably wasn't making enough tourist dollaz, so they had to make something horribly kitsch and tacky instead. Hence, the Leprechaun Musem.


I should also mention ''The Quiet Man'' cottage in Cong, Co.Mayo. It's probably the only exciting thing that's ever happened to that town. You couldn't even stick your head in the door of the gaff before some auld one came out to ask for a tenner in, or whatever the admission price was. It was fairly forgettable. Oh, another great tourist-y thing from that neck of the woods... when climbing Croagh Patrick, you could buy walking stick for ten euro- or rent one for a fiver. Sad day when you have to rent out sticks for a living.

Lies...they're €2 and you get €1 back if you give the stick back at the end.
And it's not a 'sad day' etc it's just local kids making money off tourists for a couple of days a year, no big deal.

retalivity

For anyone pissed off about the cliffs of moher, go to Achill off Mayo or Slieve League in Donegal....far more impressive than the cliffs in clare, and free to boot!

Worst attraction? i haven't been and its only recently opened, but the daniel o'donnell museum in dungloe must only be exciting for people of a certain vintage.
Kilkee is a dump as well

Acacia

dirtyden wrote: »

Must be the recession but I was there three weeks ago and it was 3 euros to keep the stick with 1.50 returned if you gave it back. On a clear day an epic view from the summit. I toughed it out without a stick.

I thought it was more like a tenner to buy it, but mind you, it was years ago since I've been there. It's more the idea of renting a stick I find funny.

Naomi00 wrote: »

Lies...they're €2 and you get €1 back if you give the stick back at the end.
And it's not a 'sad day' etc it's just local kids making money off tourists for a couple of days a year, no big deal.

Attitude much? It was hardly a serious comment. :rolleyes:

goose2005

Padraig Pearse's house out in Galway. It's just an old house with some period furniture. It's not even the actual house, given that it was destroyed and later rebuilt.

MisterEpicurus

Judging from the replies here, it looks like all of the attractions are equally the worst and nobody should visit this country at all.

maddragon

MisterEpicurus wrote: »

Judging from the replies here, it looks like all of the attractions are equally the worst and nobody should visit this country at all.

Ain't that the truth. Born bred and reared here and after visiting or working in about 50 countries I can't see any out of the ordinary attraction here.

Monty Burnz

retalivity wrote: »

For anyone pissed off about the cliffs of moher, go to Achill off Mayo

How do you get there? May pop over next week if I can.

TrimTOODLE

Of many sizes i might add

retalivity

Monty Burnz wrote: »

How do you get there? May pop over next week if I can.

Theres a bit of walking involved...go to the beach at the very end of the island and start hiking up the mountain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croaghaun

NIMAN

Very underwhelmed by the Giants Causeway tbh.

Having said that, on my travels many famous things and places have disappointed when I got to see them for real.

Mona Lisa probably being the main one.

im from limerick but bunratty village looking at old houses and walking aorund my god so boring

when i was kid i was dragged there so many times

when you saw the gift shop you knew you were at the end

Festy

Dunny! wrote: »

The house from Father Ted

The Field from FR Ted as well

RDM_83 again

The Ceide Fields and Tara are remarkably unimpressive, but if you've got a knowledgeable guide its a different experience. Possibly the worst thing about the Ceide fields visitors center part is there's a really nice neolithic tomb right beside it that they weren;t able to include because of a landownership issue (literally less than a hundred meters away from the fenced in area!)

Off topic

Monty Burnz wrote: »

Well no, I don't think it was 'totally' debunked - their Roe V. Wade theory is just an alternate explanation. It's pretty difficult to prove things like that conclusively though.

Its even shakier than that really as the actual statistics used were shown to be flawed (though they republished with corrections but its not a good sign)

toastedpickles

Newgrange, went there on a tour in 5th class and there was so much hype leading up to it, we never seen something as big and people from 5000 years ago built this we were all like wow it must be huge inside......by Christ were we disappointed I'll never forget it

touts

Cliffs of Moher. They ruined it by tearing that huge scar of a "footpath" (wider than most roads in the country) along the top. Whoever signed that one off should be made beg forgiveness on their knees at the exit for the rest of their working lives.

Guinness Hop Store. It's just a few random audio visual displays leading up to a crowded pub with a view overlooking some of the most rundown parts of dirty old Dublin. It could be in a hotel conference centre in Dubai or Tokyo for all the connection it has with the actual production of Guinness. Nothing original and the oldest artifacts on display are the LCD screens.

Belfast in general. Holy god it's the most dreary boring city on the planet. Here's some murals of hatred. Here's where some random punter was shot. Here's the most bombed hotel in the world and no we don't even bomb it any more, Here is where we built a ship 100 years ago. That said head out of the city and up towards the coast and the place is beautiful but Belfast. Sweet jesus I can't see why they fought over it for so long. I'd have been happy to let the other side have it and just leave.

Tramore. Always cold, always raining, a tatty old fairground and 1960s slot machines everywhere. I thought it was a nightmare from my childhood until I stopped off there a couple of years ago.

The Blasket Islands. Up the hill there is the house Peig lived in. We'll be back in 4 hours to pick you up. There are no shops, no shelter, no tour guides, no toilets. Just dead sheep and empty, locked, houses. I don't know why Peig was so upset that her family died young. Sure it was a release to them. Spent the last 2 hours of our visit huddled together with other tourists back at the pier. If the boat that eventually came along hadn't been big enough to take everyone I'd say there would have been knife fights on the pier to decide the last spaces.

thebostoncrab

Acacia wrote: »

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

They had well, not quite a museum, remember Celtworld?
Whatever happened to that?

Where was that? I've never heard of that. I'm sure if they got rid of it, it probably wasn't making enough tourist dollaz, so they had to make something horribly kitsch and tacky instead. Hence, the Leprechaun Musem.


I should also mention ''The Quiet Man'' cottage in Cong, Co.Mayo. It's probably the only exciting thing that's ever happened to that town. You couldn't even stick your head in the door of the gaff before some auld one came out to ask for a tenner in, or whatever the admission price was. It was fairly forgettable. Oh, another great tourist-y thing from that neck of the woods... when climbing Croagh Patrick, you could buy walking stick for ten euro- or rent one for a fiver. Sad day when you have to rent out sticks for a living.

Celtworld was awesome, was down in Tramore where the water park is. Loved it as a child

gobnaitolunacy

Acacia wrote: »

Where was that? I've never heard of that. I'm sure if they got rid of it, it probably wasn't making enough tourist dollaz, so they had to make something horribly kitsch and tacky instead. Hence, the Leprechaun Musem.


I should also mention ''The Quiet Man'' cottage in Cong, Co.Mayo. It's probably the only exciting thing that's ever happened to that town. You couldn't even stick your head in the door of the gaff before some auld one came out to ask for a tenner in, or whatever the admission price was. It was fairly forgettable. Oh, another great tourist-y thing from that neck of the woods... when climbing Croagh Patrick, you could buy walking stick for ten euro- or rent one for a fiver. Sad day when you have to rent out sticks for a living.

Tramore, I'd say it was built in the wrong town!

The Quiet Man Cottage is a replica, the original is in ruins. Another cod job to trick tourists. I love the way they say the furniture and fittings are 'authentic reproductions' on their website. Genuine fakes.

Yeboah

thebostoncrab wrote: »

Celtworld was awesome, was down in Tramore where the water park is. Loved it as a child

me too, i loved Tramore when i was younger and still have an affiliation to the place..Is the Geraldine Experience still going down in Tralee..I thought that was good when i was at it in the mid 90s ???

MT HEAD

eth0 wrote: »

The Cliffs of Moher visitor centre. A thing that looks like the teletubby house and cost 30 million to build. All the arsin about they done at that site was completely unnecessary.

The worst is now they want, or have installed (i don't know) a paywall around the whole Cliffs of moher area just to force people to pay an entry fee so they can reclaim the money they should never have spent on the visitor centre that nobody wants to go into.

I brought Dutch friends to Ireland's greatest natural feature and wr loved it and the visitor centre majes it's money back tenfold, You giant Ásshole

Mod note: User banned

MT HEAD

saiint wrote: »

the spire
its not even that tall
why even build it

its more of a meeting point if you and your mates get split up or lost or something

The spire was commisioned for 90 years of Irish freedom to replace Nelson's Pillar which was blown to bits by the RA

Vicxas

MT HEAD wrote: »

The spire was commisioned for 90 years of Irish freedom to replace Nelson's Pillar which was blown to bits by the RA

The spire is an embarassment.

Also, Hill of Tara is a snore fest too.

crazygeryy

MT HEAD wrote: »

saiint wrote: »

the spire
its not even that tall
why even build it

its more of a meeting point if you and your mates get split up or lost or something

The spire was commisioned for 90 years of Irish freedom to replace Nelson's Pillar which was blown to bits by the RA

They could have done better.every time I look at it I think of a needle and that reminds me of all the junkies and skangers that live in dublin.nice
And now it cant clean itself ffs.

gobnaitolunacy

Listen, the 'Spire' is NOT a visitor attraction.
It's a sculpture/public art whatchamajigger, and an uninspired one at that.
It doesn't count.
Who goes out of their way just to see it, huh????
What tourist ticks off their 'to do' list here? Nobody.

I would also be of the opinion that the Wellington Testimonial is of little interest to the vast majority of tourists, unless they're military historians or similar.

gobnaitolunacy

MT HEAD wrote: »

The spire was commisioned for 90 years of Irish freedom to replace Nelson's Pillar which was blown to bits by the RA

And the Irish Army did more damage to the street than the RA in their attempt to 'clean up' the mess. 'Oh we'll just blow it up again, that'll sort it.'

SocSocPol

MT HEAD wrote: »

The spire was commisioned for 90 years of Irish freedom to replace Nelson's Pillar which was blown to bits by the RA

Actually it was commissioned for the Millenium, but as usual it cost more than expected , was finished late , and is a waste of money

BigFatGiant

The blue bridge in Portlaoise was a great tourist attraction. Thousands of foreign tourists flocked to the midlands every year to marvel at its engineering genius. Since they pulled it down the place is like a ghost town.

gobnaitolunacy

BigFatGiant wrote: »

The blue bridge in Portlaoise was a great tourist attraction. Thousands of foreign tourists flocked to the midlands every year to marvel at its engineering genius. Since they pulled it down the place is like a ghost town.

Yes, it was one of the great industrial wonders of the world, a garish blue bridge with a cage like structure to prevent locals throwing cavity blocks onto cars or throwing themselves off it. :rolleyes:

gobnaitolunacy

Shenshen wrote: »

Tayto Park.

Seems that they're getting white lions, minor controversy about these. The animal welfare guy on radio gave the impression they were as inbred as a bad batch of kittens. Personally I'm not a fan of animals in parks esp. something that came from Africa ending up in rainy old Meath.


http://newsandsport.ie/leads/read/items/rare-white-lions-to-arrive-at-park

c_man

SocSocPol wrote: »

Actually it was commissioned for the Millenium, but as usual it cost more than expected , was finished late , and is a waste of money

Yeah, we should have stuck with that clock in the Liffey. That was a winner!

Plazaman

Not many people know this but The Spire actually houses a long range intercontinental ballistic missile with a independent nuclear weapons delivery system at it's head. It's true, Ireland is a nuclear nation.

The launch buttons are located in the men dressing room on the second floor of Clearys. Now for fúcks sake don't everyone rush in and try to let the thing off we only have the one. There's no use launching it just for a laugh (at least point it at Leinster House if you're determined to do it).

maninasia

Paparazzo wrote: »

Any "interpretive centre" in the country is shíte. Really they're just a shop to sell tat and give a reason to charge extra money into the place.

Look o'er der, thems be cliffs.

10 euro pleash.

Feelgood

There is the jumping church in Ardee, its brutal. It basically highlights shoddy building work during the 14th century.

Found just 4km south of Ardee, County Louth, the Kildemock Jumping Church ruin is a popular attraction. According to legend, the west gable of the building jumped two feet inside the wall of the original foundation to exclude an excommunicated church member who had been buried in the church. The ruin dates back to the 14th century, though the site also contains carved stones from the 13th century.

MadsL

criticalcritic wrote: »

Wellington sorry, I always get them two arseholes mixed up

You think Nelson was an arsehole? On what grounds?

Oaklilly wrote: »

The Bushmills distillery in County Antrim, hardly anything in the distillery apart from bottles of whiskey to buy and small glasses to drink.

What were you expecting in whisky distillery, hand made life-sized teddy bear replicas of Graham Norton???

eth0 wrote: »

If they also built that massive outsourcing to China centre then you should spare the casino because thats the only way you'll get a few bob back out of the Chinese

Sure they'll love the 2 hour round trip to Two Mile Borris.

SocSocPol wrote: »

Actually it was commissioned for the Millenium, but as usual it cost more than expected , was finished late , and is a waste of money

And has "Made in England" stamped on the bottom, just like the Ha'penny Bridge.

My nominations for most pointless are three that never got built in Dublin.
In reverse order.

3. The Skislope 'park in the sky' that DCC wanted Joe O'Reilly to build on top of his shopping centre on top of the National Monument on Moore St (16 Moore Street being itself the most embarrassing visitor non-attraction given the disgraceful state of it)

2. The floating pontoon proposed on top of the Liffey at Aran Quay.

1. The cablecar down the length of the Liffey

le la rat

Paparazzo wrote: »

I doubt any irish person has ever visited the blarney stone.

Unfortunatley I got hauled there on a holiday a good few years back. Still have a taste of piss on my lips

dirtyden

Boskowski wrote: »

I friend of mine from Germany came over and wanted to see a historical Irish site so to the Rock of Cashel we went.

What a disappointment that was. I mean the thing looks impressive and really grand from far away and you expect great things but the tour was the most pathetic thing ever. A total of 3 rooms we went through. No historical facts whatsoever, the only thing she would talk about was the struggle to preserve the castle and what it takes and what it costs (hint, hint) blabla and the only 'room' that wasn't an actual former room with no roof over our heads was full of stuff ala 'well we don't actually have anything from that area and from that period but that carpet we brought here would be close enough to what may have been in here at the time'.
I learned zero on who built it, who reigned there, who they were, what happened to them, zilch.

Total waste of time. Surely all those Americans coming in busloads in the summer expecting whatnot must be thinking this is a p1sstake or something.

It is not a castle.

CrabRevolution

You're right, it's a cashtle

mongoman

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

Ireland's worst or most pointless 'visitor attractions'

Dublin.

Duckworth_Luas

The life sized models of Elvis Costello's backing group in Ballinasloe!

maninasia

CrabRevolution wrote: »

You're right, it's a cashtle

It's a rock lads. What were ye expecting?

CucaFace

Cork City.

Honestly i meet so many foreign students who are here studying English and when i hear that this is one of the 3 plces they all want to visit (Galway and Belfast being the others as i guess these are just the other places they have heard of in ireland) I always just wonder what exactly is there to see there?

kegzmc

Dublin. Its filthy and nothing to see.

Pal

goose2005 wrote: »

Actually the Wellington Testimonial, as it was built while he was still alive.

:

Finally someone gets it right.

Well done Sir.
Not a monument or a memorial. And nothing whatsoever to do with Nelson.
Don't depend on what you read here for your pub quiz answers !

But I like it.
Its quite stylish.

The thing nearly never got completed.
They ran out of money.
Some things that we never learn in this country, do we ?

Monty Burnz

CucaFace wrote: »

Cork City.

Honestly i meet so many foreign students who are here studying English and when i hear that this is one of the 3 plces they all want to visit (Galway and Belfast being the others as i guess these are just the other places they have heard of in ireland) I always just wonder what exactly is there to see there?

It's like a bigger version of Galway. HTH.

podgemonster

The Moving Statue of Ballinspittle. Didnt fcking budge when i was there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_statues

Needs a strobe light and bit of dry ice to spice it up.

ncdadam

Dail Eireann, supposed to be the 'seat of power' in Ireland but everyone knows that's in Frankfurt!

Colmustard

O Connell street, its meant to be or number one street, but it is a junky loaded disgrace.

They have at least improved the aesthetics of it of late, but its all full of congealed disgusting chewing gum now, (dirty bastards).

Rigol

The Dublin tour-bus. Every time I see it with its payload of disheartened foreign faces I feel like a gortex jacketed skanger in the lobby of a 5 star hotel.

It should never touch the north side. And im a northsider.


It brings to mind a quote from Frankie Boyle about the Glasgow tour-bus.
"on the left you'll see a fiat bravo and on the right you'll see your own disappointed reflection in the window"