The bogs and mountains of Offaly placed it 'beyond the Pale' - outside the dry and fertile land to the east which the Anglo-Normans had successfully colonised. But the lower hills of the county are green and fertile and its western border is the great River Shannon. These facts encouraged people to live in the dry parts and, over the centuries, they came and built great monasteries and castles. And in the 20th century progressive persons exploited the bog and even more progressive ones set to work to preserve it. Far from sea and mountains, a tour of Offaly brings you to the very centre of Ireland.