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
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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…
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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…
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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
Gloriously placed overlooking the River Shannon, 7km northeast of Shannonbridge, Clonmacnoise is one of Ireland’s most important ancient monastic cities…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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The Midlands
Leap Castle is reputedly one of the most haunted castles in Europe. Originally an O'Carroll family residence, the 1514-built castle was the scene of many…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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The Midlands
You can't miss the massive 1810-built bridgehead fortifications on the western bank in County Roscommon, where heavy artillery was installed to bombard…
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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…
