The North’s only surviving Victorian-era prison, Crumlin Road Gaol has been awarded a five-star visitor attraction rating, indicating that it’s operating to an ‘outstanding’ level.
The Gaol joins Belfast’s Lyric Theatre, HMS Caroline, Belfast Food Tour and Titanic Belfast on the five-star list.
The accreditation was awarded under the Tourism NI Quality Grading Scheme after Crumlin Road Gaol was subject to an unannounced mystery assessment from an inspector.
John McGrillen, Tourism NI Chief Executive, said: “Crumlin Road Gaol is an outstanding attraction and the visitor offering and experience is unique.
“The tours are educating, thought provoking and well balanced and the introduction of a fully licensed restaurant helped Crumlin Road Gaol achieve five-star status.
“Joining an elite club of only five other five star graded attractions, this accolade provides an additional marketing tool to help drive visitor numbers to the Gaol and to Northern Ireland.”
The visitor attraction opened in 2012 has welcomed over 600,000 International and national visitors. Director of Crumlin Road Gaol Phelim Devlin said “This year we have worked hard to improve the visitors experience and with the addition of a new restaurant, Cuffs Bar & Grill, we can now offer visitors the full package.
“We have a great team of staff and tour guides at Crumlin Road Gaol which particularly enhance the visitors experience, we are delighted their efforts have been recognised and rewarded with this this ‘outstanding’ grading.”
