Prison breaks into the top 5 'hidden gems'

Historic Kilmainham Gaol ranked 4th in Europe

- LARISSA NOLAN

HISTORIC Kilmainham Gaol has been named one of the top five hidden gem museums in Europe.

The Dublin prison - scene of the 1916 executions is one of the world's oldest unoccupied jails and a major tourist attraction today.

It ranked fourth in a study by researchers who made the list after calculating online popularity, counting hashtags and ranks on Tripadvisor.

Kilmainham Gaol - location of some key Irish political events - was heralded for being a museum where visitors can "walk through history" "

The emotive museum - scene of heroism and tragedy - attracted 32,036 hashtags on Instagram and got a 4.5 star rating on Tripadvisor.

It made the top list alongside the Acropolis Museum in Athens, the Churchill War Rooms in London and the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh, according to The Knowledge Academy, who researched the list earlier this month.

Ranked number one in the hidden gems list was Naples' world-famous Muso Cappella Sansevero, the chapel museum that is home of the masterpiece statue The Veiled Christ.