County Offaly (Irish: Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is in Ireland's East Coast and Midlands in the province of Leinster.
Towns
- 1 Tullamore the county town has two famous distilleries.
- 2 Clara has a notable bog, in a country which sets the bar high for bogs.
- 3 Clonmacnoise is a medieval monastery complex on the riverbank.
- 4 Shannonbridge as the name implies has a fine bridge.
- 5 Banagher is the largest of the villages on the Shannon riverbank and the main base for boating.
- 6 Birr is the Georgian town that for 70 years was at the leading edge of astronomy.
- 7 Edenderry is a stop along the Grand Canal with a couple of crumbly castles.
- 8 Kilcormac (Cill Chormaic)
- 9 Cadamstown (Baile Mhic Ádaim, "MacAdam's town")
- 10 Kinnitty (Cionn Eitigh)
- 11 Moneygall (Muine Gall, "foreigners' thicket")
- 12 Mountbolus (Cnocán Bhólais)
- 13 Portarlington is mostly in County Laois but straddles the boundary.
- 14 Roscrea is just over the boundary into County Tipperary, but a good base for seeing Leap Castle.
Other destinations
- 1 Slieve Bloom Mountains straddle the boundary with County Laois.
Understand
Get in
Dublin Airport (DUB IATA) is the obvious choice by air, as it has a good range of flights at competitive prices, and good onward transport.
Trains run from Dublin Heuston via Portarlington to Clara and Tullamore, with five or six daily. They continue west to Athlone then branch either to Athenry and Galway or to Roscommon, Castlebar and Westport.
Trains from Dublin Heuston towards Cork stop at Ballybrophy, which has a branch line service to Roscrea, Nenagh and Limerick.
There are direct buses from Dublin to Edenderry, Tullamore, Birr and Banagher.
Bus 73 traverses the country twice a day from Waterford via Thomastown, Kilkenny, Carlow, Stradbally and Portlaoise to Tullamore, Clara and Athlone.
The Grand Canal starts from Dublin and is navigable throughout; it crosses the county via Edenderry and Tullamore to Shannon Harbour near Banagher. The Shannon forms the western boundary of the county and is likewise navigable throughout from Limerick up to Athlone and Carrick-on-Shannon, with onward canals to Enniskillen, Drumshanbo and Boyle. The Grand Canal also has navigation links to Carlow, New Ross and Waterford. Dublin is also linked to the Shannon by the Royal Canal, but that passes further north near Longford.
Get around
Public transport is confined to the corridors described above. The must-see monastic site of Clonmacnoise has no public transport. So you need wheels: the distances are not great and it's not hilly so a bike would do.
There's car hire in Tullamore, but you'll do better to hire from the airport.
See
- Clonmacnoise is Offaly's top attraction, an extensive monastic complex on the Shannon riverbank.
- Castles: Charleville Forest Castle in Tullamore is a Gothic building surrounded by ancient oaks.
- Bogs and wetlands: Lough Boora west of Tullamore and Clara Bog are two examples. They've been scarred by peat extraction, but that has now ceased.
- Shannon callows are lowlands along the river and its tributaries. Some is wetland, but most is farmland undefended against floods, so it's a distinct semi-wild habitat. A good example is the callows of the Little Brosna south of Banagher.
Do
- Gaelic games: Offaly GAA play hurling and Gaelic football at O'Connor Park in Tullamore. There are some 40 GAA clubs across the county.
- Golf: there are golf courses at Tullamore, Birr, Edenderry and Portarlington.
- Boating: the main centre for boat hire is Banagher, near the junction of the Shannon and the Grand Canal.
- Hike: the Offaly Way is a 37 km trail in the east of the county, between Cadamstown and Lemanaghan. It's suggested as a two-day hike heading north, but there's little accommodation along the way and you might break it into several there-and-back strolls. It's low-lying across farm land, no dogs. The trail is little used so you might find some stretches overgrown, muddy and poorly signposted.
- Skydive at Clonbollogue airfield south of Edenderry.
Eat
- Nothing outstanding, bar meals will generally be your best bet.
Drink
- Tullamore Dew and nearby Kilbeggan are the county's two whiskey distilleries.
Go next
The Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary, Brú Na Bóinne in County Meath and Lough Owel in County Westmeath are all about an hour's drive from County Offaly.