Slieve Bloom Mountains Nature Reserve
The Midlands
A 2300-hectare nature reserve with a mountain range in the middle, full of walking and biking trails. A visit to Slieve Bloom is the perfect excuse to…
Must-see attractions in The Midlands
The Midlands
Gloriously placed overlooking the River Shannon, 7km northeast of Shannonbridge, Clonmacnoise is one of Ireland’s most important ancient monastic cities…
-
The Midlands
Don't miss the extraordinary Corlea Trackway, an Iron Age bog road built in 148 BC. An 18m stretch of the pavement-like oak track has been preserved in a…
-
The Midlands
It's easy to spend half a day exploring the attractions and gardens of Birr Castle demesne. The castle dates from 1620 and is a private home, but during…
-
The Midlands
Near the shores of Lough Lene, the emerald-green Fore Valley, 5km east of Castlepollard, is a superb place to explore by bicycle or on foot. In AD 630 St…
-
The Midlands
Anyone with an interest in Celtic mythology will be enthralled by this area around the village of Tulsk. Containing 60 ancient national monuments,…
-
The Midlands
Sprinkled with small islands, the 350-hectare Lough Key Forest Park, 4km east of Boyle, shelters picturesque ruins including a 12th-century abbey on tiny…
-
The Midlands
At the end of Strokestown's main avenue, triple Gothic arches lead to Strokestown Park House. The original 120-sq-km estate was granted by King Charles II…
-
The Midlands
Magnificent Belvedere House, 7.5km south of Mullingar, is an unmissable sight. This immense 1740-built hunting and fishing lodge is set in 65 hectares of…
-
The Midlands
Clara Bog is one of the few great expanses of classic bogland in Western Europe to escape being stripped for fuel. Deceptively flat and seemingly lifeless…
-
The Midlands
Much of County Offaly's once-extensive boglands were stripped of peat for electricity generation during the 20th century. Now Lough Boora, 17km north of…
-
The Midlands
Ireland's first and last coal mine (1600s to 1990) is remembered at the Arigna Mining Experience, set in the hills above Lough Allen, 23km northeast of…
-
The Midlands
The neoclassical, copper-domed Emo Court was designed in 1790 by James Gandon, architect of Dublin's Custom House. Originally the country seat of the…
-
The Midlands
The tranquil surrounds of Parke's Castle, with swans drifting by on Lough Gill and neat grass cloaking the old moat, belie the fact that its early…
-
The Midlands
Set in a former Presbyterian church (1863), this volunteer-run museum has an idiosyncratic collection, including an inscribed 9th-century slab from St…
-
The Midlands
Three connected conical huts, echoing the design of early monastic dwellings, house the visitor centre museum. A 20-minute audiovisual show provides an…
-
The Midlands
In direct and deliberate contrast to the splendour of Strokestown Park is the harrowing Irish National Famine Museum, located in the Stables Yard of the…
-
The Midlands
Between Mullingar (16km northeast) and Althone (31km southeast) on the R390 is Uisneach, the centre of Ireland during neolithic times when sea levels were…
-
The Midlands
The largest building at Clonmacnoise, the cathedral was originally built in AD 909, but was significantly altered and remodelled over the centuries. Its…
-
The Midlands
Located in an 1829-built canal-side warehouse, this famous whiskey producer's visitor centre has engaging exhibits that spotlight the role of the Grand…
-
The Midlands
The small churches at Clonmacnoise are called temples, a derivation of the Irish word teampall (church). Tiny Temple Ciaran is reputed to be the burial…
-
The Midlands
The impressive ruins of the town's Norman castle stand alone in a field to the north of town, beautifully framed by the landscaped lawns and small lake of…
-
The Midlands
Overlooking the River Shannon is the 19.3m-high O'Rourke's Tower. Lightning blasted the top off the tower in 1135, but the remaining structure was used…
-
The Midlands
The Rock of Dunamase, 6km east of Portlaoise, is an arresting sight: a craggy limestone outcrop rising 45m out of the flat plains. It offered early…
-
The Midlands
The unadorned stone Donaghmore Workhouse, 19km west of Durrow, was a last resort for the destitute in the 1850s – one of 130 workhouses in the country at…
-
King House Historic & Cultural Centre
The Midlands
Sinister-looking mannequins tell the turbulent history of the Connacht kings, the town of Boyle and the King family, including a grim tale of tenant…
-
The Midlands
On the banks of the River Boyle is the finely preserved (and reputedly haunted) Boyle Abbey. Founded in 1161 by monks from Mellifont in County Louth, the…
-
The Midlands
Spires, turrets, clinging ivy and creaking trees give this hulking structure a spooky feel (and, yes, it's reputedly haunted). Charleville Castle was the…
-
Kilbeggan Distillery Experience
The Midlands
Established in 1757, Kilbeggan is Ireland's oldest licensed distillery – after stopping production in 1957, it has been producing whiskey again since 2007…
-
The Midlands
Founded in the 13th century and abandoned in the 14th, the deserted village of Rindoon incorporates the overgrown remains of long medieval walls, a castle…
-
The Midlands
Thought to date back 5000 years, this astonishing portal dolmen is one of the three biggest in Ireland, with a height of 2m and two capstones, one almost…
-
The Midlands
The imposing Gothic-revival Tullynally Castle is the seat of the Pakenham family and, although closed to visitors, its 12 hectares of gardens and parkland…
-
The Midlands
Measuring just 5m by 3.6m, Ireland's smallest chapel was built in 1877 by Edward Costello, distraught at the early death of his wife, Mary. Both husband…
-
The Midlands
For an insight into the town's Quaker and industrial heritage, visit Mountmellick Museum, where you can also see a display of superbly subtle Mountmellick…
-
The Midlands
In the tiny, charming village of Timahoe, 12km southeast of Portlaoise, is a tilting 30m-tall, 12th-century round tower with an elaborately carved…
-
Abbeyleix Heritage House & Museum
The Midlands
An old 19th-century school building houses this museum detailing Abbeyleix' rich history. One room looks at the town's carpet-making legacy – the Turkish…
-
The Midlands
Built in the 1490s, Clonony Castle is enclosed by an overgrown castellated wall. Tales that Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, was born here are…
-
The Midlands
Constructed before 2000 BC, this striking portal dolmen is one of Ireland's largest, measuring 4.5m by 3.3m. To reach it from Boyle's town centre, follow…
-
The Midlands
These lavish gardens with lakes and woodland were designed by Edwin Lutyens and landscaped by Gertrude Jekyll, and completed in 1912. The centrepiece is a…
-
The Midlands
Up the hill in a restored 1827-built church, this heritage centre looks at the history and landscape of Leitrim from old Gaelic traditions through to…
