Ireland.com

Previous page

A drive through County Offaly

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.

The route begins in Birr:

For seventy years, from the 1840s, the centre of the known universe – by dint of being the home of the greatest telescope ever built. It would be worth going a long way just to see this ‘leviathan’, now skilfully restored and showing its paces to visitors every day. But Birr has benefited since the 17th century from generations of benevolent landlords who planned and built a stately town outside their castle walls. Within the same walls they laid out one of the most beautiful gardens of Ireland and, more recently, developed Ireland’s Historic Science Centre. Rich treasures respectively for gardeners and scientists, both are delightful experiences for less specialised visitors. The road south from Birr goes to Roscrea, a Tipperary rather than an Offaly town – but only just. Shops and offices in 19th century houses face the streets, interrupted now and again by traces of the monasteries which stood there a thousand years ago. These include a splendid round tower, to this day one of the tallest buildings in the town. The castle, once the centre of the town's activities, has been restored. A heritage centre is housed in the early 18th century Damer House, one of the finest of the town's dwellings.

From Roscrea:

Take the road to Kinnitty, to travel a few miles along the slopes of the legendary Slieve Bloom Mountains, where the hero Finn McCool was reared. If you have time to spare, take one of the enticing roads to the right that bring you into its remote and beautiful glens. Then follow the Dublin road to the lovely village of Cadamstown, where they have a geological reserve by the Silver River, where it cuts through the limestone laid down when Ireland was covered by a coral sea – quite a long time ago.

From Cadamstown:

Go northwest and take the next turn left which leads to Tullamore, a town best know to the outside world as the home of the great whiskey, Tullamore Dew. They celebrated the Millennium by opening the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre in a restored canal-side warehouse. The centre introduces you to the history of the town and its surroundings and to the art of whiskey distillation.

Set off from Tullamore:

By taking the main road towards Birr – but don’t go far. About a mile out of town a rather undistinguished gateway belongs to the fairy-tale castle which stands at the end of a long avenue. The demesne within the gates is called Charleville Forest. The forest is little more than a line of oak trees on either side of the avenue - but these are no ordinary oaks. The third one on the right is eight hundred years old: already a young tree when the Normans invaded. After passing through a fringe of woodland you come to the castle which has everything you could want in the way of turrets and battlements: a building impregnable to invading medieval armies. The fact that it was built to the design of the architect Francis Johnston early in the 19th century, a time when such an invasion was highly unlikely, is of minor significance.

In Blue Ball:

A signpost beckons you to the Lough Boora Parklands and a road takes you to enjoy the wonders of the most modern landform of Ireland. The natural scenery was an enormous expanse of peat bog. Over the last fifty years much of this has been cut away for fuel – but far from all of it. In places the hollows, left when the peat as removed, have filled with water to create new lakes. Roads and tracks have been built across what was once an almost impenetrable wilderness. The peatland and its surroundings are bright with gorse and wild flowers, swans sail on the waters and the lonely cries of lapwing and curlew are the only sound.

The road west from Lough Boora:

Leads to the village of Kilcormac. There a signpost directs you through a narrow road squeezed between the houses to the church in which a 16th century Pieta is set above the altar. Its story is told in a neatly hand-written notice inside the door of the church. From Kilcormac head northwestwards for Cloghan and continue towards the strategic river crossing called Shannonbridge, turning aside to ride on the Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway. The little train brings you across the peatlands to see both the current grand scale work of mining the peat and also the conservation of wetlands and untouched bog where nature is left to herself. They also supply you with a slane – the special spade for the purpose - and let you cut a few sods of turf yourself in the old style.

North of Shannonbridge:

Lies Clonmacnoise, a place of Christian pilgrimage for fifteen hundred years. It welcomes latter-day pilgrims through a new visitor centre, in which modern building has been designed to give an impression of the appearance of the cells of the monks of old. The monastery has stood in ruins for several centuries, but the 10th century round tower and fragments of churches together with superb sculptured Celtic crosses remain as, above all, does the atmosphere of peace which may have attracted St Kieran to it in the first place.

From Clonmacnoise:

Go eastwards to Doon, and its museum with a collection of cars and farm machinery, then south through Ferbaneand Cloghan to Banagher. Developed as a river port in the 18th century, Banagher has taken on a renewed life as a major centre for pleasure boats. It is also the centre of the ‘Shannon Callows’, meadows which flood in winter and provide living space for myriads of waterfowl.

A signpost for Cloghan Castle:

Leads to a fortress, built originally by knights in armour. People have lived in it ever since, settling in to more peaceful ways in the 17th century when they began to add on comfortable and spacious dwellings. A guided tour of the castle is sheer delight. On the one hand you are told of the history and shown a wonderful collection of artefacts and on the other there is the very comfortable family dwelling with fine furniture and pictures and a lovely sense of homeliness in spite of the grand scale of it all. You can get tea there and possibly arrange to stay. In winter it is a wonderland of wild duck and geese which move in to the lakes which appear when the rivers flood. You might also visit the Pet Farm nearby where they keep rare breeds of farm animals together with pheasants and rabbits. From the castle it is just six miles back to Birr.

Distances:

Birr to Roscrea 18kms; Roscrea to Cadamstown 25kms; Cadamstown to Tullamore 19kms; Tullamore via Boora to Kilcormac 18kms; Kilcormac to Clonmacnoise 30kms; Clonmacnoise via Doon to Banagher 33kms; Banagher via Cloghan Castle to Birr 25kms. Total round trip 168kms.

Powered by: