The number of American and British tourists flocking to our key attractions has plummeted. A lot of attractions -- particularly those in the west of Ireland -- have lost at least one in 10 visitors over the past four months. The iconic Cliffs of Moher is fast slipping down the rankings of the most popular fee-paying attractions in Ireland. Only a few attractions -- mainly, the Guinness Hopstore -- have defied the tourist downturn.

The slump in visitor numbers is largely down to the global recession (which has kept the fat US wallets at home) and the strong euro (which cripples any British or US visitors travelling here).

"The 2009 season is turning out to be every bit as difficult as was expected at the beginning of the year," said Shaun Quinn, chief executive of semi-state body Failte Ireland which supports Irish tourism. "Key overseas markets remain weak. Forecasts have been revised downwards, indicating in-bound visitor numbers may decline by up to 10 per cent."

However, Quinn added that research by Failte Ireland has found that Irish people are cutting back on overseas breaks. "If this happens, it could be a welcome boost at a critical time," he said.

Indeed, some visitor attractions are already seeing more Irish faces around.

Blarney Stone, Cork

DOWN 13%

The Blarney Stone which promises the gift of the gab to those who kiss it certainly didn't work its magic in May.

"Figures for the first 11 days of May were a ghastly 37 per cent down on May 2008 but we've rallied since," says castle owner Charles Colthurst.

"About 22,000 visited in the first four months of 2009 -- some 13 per cent down on 2008. The main drop-off has been from the UK. Their weather is better and they are in deep recession. I expect a drop of between 10 and 20 per cent in UK numbers."

Blarney Castle has not yet seen an increase in domestic visitors. "The weather has been lousy and the school holidays peak in July and August, so we will know more then."

Colthurst believes tourists do not get value for money in Ireland: "Food, drink, fuel and hotels are still expensive compared with British offers. We're too greedy. The Independence of the Seas [a cruise ship] came to Cork some days ago. Taxis were charging over €150 to get from the boat to Blarney. Cead Mile Failte?"

At 368,000, almost one in 10 fewer visitors came to Blarney Castle last year than in 2007.

THE Quiet Man Cottage, Mayo

US & UK VISITORS DOWN 50%

The museum, dedicated to the famous John Wayne movie, is living up to its name.

"We only opened on April 20, and so far it's very quiet," said Margaret Collins, who co-runs the museum. "This year in particular, the British and US visitors are down by about half. The museum was much busier when it opened back in 1997. Irish visitors are on the up, though."

Cliffs of Moher, Clare

DOWN 5%

Visitor numbers for the first four months of 2009 are about five per cent lower than last year. Katherine Webster, director of the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre, expects the economic downturn to push visitor numbers for the entire year down by at least seven per cent.

With only 808,310 visitors last year, the popularity of the Atlantic cliffs is almost back to 2005 levels, when 760,906 tourists flocked there. Visitor numbers dived by about 16 per cent last year.

"Our drop in visitor numbers in 2008 was similar to the drop in passenger numbers in Cork and Shannon airports," said Webster. "We had a significant drop in the number of British and US visitors. The whole western area has been affected by the reduction in access to Shannon."

A couple of months ago, Aer Lingus resumed its flights between Shannon and Heathrow after it axed the route in January 2008. "We're delighted this service has been partially restored," said Webster. "We've already seen stronger numbers from the Canadian market. We're also seeing a strong performance from the domestic market this year, particularly the east coast and Dublin."

Webster expects the number of Irish visitors to increase slightly this year -- perhaps by between one and two per cent.

Back in the heyday of 2007, 940,455 people trod the Atlantic cliffs, making them the second most popular fee-paying attraction at the time. Since then, the cliffs have slipped back to third place, behind Dublin Zoo which became the second most popular attraction in 2008.

Rock of Cashel,

50,000 visitors

this year

When we spoke to the Rock of Cashel this time last year, visitor numbers were up on 2007. But by the time 2008 drew to a close, only 235,048 visitors had flocked to the crowning place of Brian Boru -- almost 10 per cent less than 2007.

About 50,000 visitors have come to the Rock since the beginning of the year, according to centre supervisor Elaine Moriarty. "That's about on a par with the same time last year," she said. "We have found an increase in Irish families visiting, especially at weekends."

The Skelligs, Kerry

down 10-20%

The death of an American man after a fall on the Skellig Michael heritage site earlier this month could dissuade more than a few from exploring the craggy rock.

Visitor numbers to Skellig Micheal -- made famous by the beehive huts built by monks more than 1,000 years ago -- already fell by about 16 per cent last year. The Skellig Experience centre on Valentia Island, which tells the story of the Skellig monks, could see its visitor numbers this year fall by between 10 and 20 per cent, according to John O'Sullivan, manager of the centre. Last year, visitor numbers fell by 10 per cent.

O'Sullivan blames the weather more than anything else. "We're seven miles off the Ring of Kerry -- so if the weather is bad, people don't travel out," said O'Sullivan.

Book of Kells, Dublin

DOWN 10%

The animated film Brendan and the Secret of Kells may well have glorified how this old manuscript came about, but the number of visitors coming to pore over the Book of Kells has still dropped by about a tenth in the first four months of this year.

"Overseas visitors to the Old Library and the Book of Kells account for over 90 per cent of visitors," said a spokeswoman for Trinity College, Dublin, where the manuscript is on display. "The biggest decrease would be the UK market, which is down to less than 10 per cent of visitors this year."

She added that the number of domestic tourists visiting the Book has increased slightly this year -- from eight to over 10 per cent.

Last year, 541,364 people saw the Book of Kells -- about five per cent less than 2007.

National Museum,

Dublin & Mayo

DOWN 21%

The three museums open this year (Archaelogy, Natural History and Country Life) have seen a drop-off in visitor numbers. The biggest fall was for the Decorative Arts & History museum, which only had 83,035 visitors in the first four months of this year -- 21 per cent less than in 2008.

"We had several incidents earlier this year where we weren't able to open the Dublin sites on particular days, which will have had an effect on our numbers," said a spokesman for the museum.

Viking Splash Tours

50-60% IRISH VISITORS

The lure of the Vikings is no longer enough for penny-pinching tourists and locals.

"We're having a bit of struggle getting people," said a spokesman for the company. "Although our visitor numbers were a bit higher than last year, the revenue take was a bit lower as people are looking for value for money. The cost of insurance and so on has brought the firm into the red."

The tours have a steady Irish following -- between 50 and 60 per cent of visitors are Irish, said the spokesman.

Guinness Hopstore

UP 5%

With more than one million tourists supping a pint in St James's Gate last year, the Hopstore seems to have escaped the recession.

Although the number of British visitors fell by 12 per cent in the first four months of this year, and the number of US visitors was down about three per cent at 267,019 overall, visitor numbers were five per cent higher than they were over the same months last year. Much of this is down to Guinness-guzzling Italians, Spaniards and Germans. About 30 per cent more Italians visited the hop store in the first four months of this year than in 2008 for example.

Last year, the famous brewery held onto its lead as the country's most popular fee-paying visitor attraction.

Dublin Zoo

DOWN 3.5%

Although Zuki, Dublin Zoo's white baby rhinoceros, and Asha the baby elephant helped draw in record numbers last year, the zoo expects visitor numbers for 2009 to be about 3.5 per cent lower than last year. A record 931,866 visitors walked through the gates last year but Leo Oosterweghel, the director of Dublin Zoo, doesn't expect the same numbers this year.

"We were on target for another 900,000 visitors this year but the month of May is down on budget," said Oosterweghel. "However, this is clearly weather-related, as we had two weeks of rain."