The Midlands
COUNTY MONAGHAN: This county lies between Fermanagh to the west and Armagh to the east, and has a delightful landscape of low, rolling hills. Lakes abound, too, making this a popular place with coarse fishermen. The central part of the county is hilly but intensively farmed.
Monaghan is a market town, built on a monastic site, with some excellent architecture. The Monaghan County Museum on Market Street contains among its treasures the Clogher Cross, a sample of early Christian metalwork.
Castleblaney lies at the head of Lough Muckno, the county’s largest lake and a source of excellent coarse fishing. Carrickmacross, south of Ballybay, is famed for its handmade lace. To the north stands Mannan Castle, a 12th-century motte and bailey.
COUNTY CAVAN: Known to anglers as a place of lakes and rivers and the very best in coarse fishing. Non-anglers scarcely know it at all for Cavan is an undiscovered county, peaceful and unspoilt, an attractive countryside dotted with woodlands and folded into wild glens that rise to the summit of Cuilcagh at 665m (2182ft), which it shares with Co Fermanagh.
Cavan, the county town is uninspiring, but nearby Clough Oughter, a circular tower castle, tells of a time when this was the stronghold of the O’Reillys, the princes of Breffni. A short way out of Cavan, is a group of standing stones, Finn MacCool’s Fingers, said to be the place where the princes were crowned. West of the town, Lough Oughter is the name given to a collection of lakes, part of the River Erne system, and a major coarse fishing area.
COUNTY LONGFORD: Like Co Cavan, Longford holds great appeal for anglers. It sits in the middle of Ireland, and lies in the catchment of the River Shannon. Lakes abound, notably Lough Gowna in the north and Lough Kinale in the east. Today, Co Longford is primarily given to farming.
Perched on the River Camlin, Longford Town grew up around a fortress of the O’Farrells. The towers of the Cathedral of St Mel dominate the town. A few miles west, Cloondara is worth a visit: an attractive village on the Royal Canal. During the summer months, Irish music is performed in the teach cheoil (Irish music house). Ballymahon is famed for Oliver Goldsmith, author of ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ and the classic poem ‘The Deserted Village’. He was born at Pallas, a few miles to the east.
COUNTY WESTMEATH: This county has an air of quiet beauty, being a place of lakes and wooded countryside, and a huge slice of untamed bogland, producing a unique habitat for flora and fauna. Old-fashioned pubs and ruins dot the landscape, and make Westmeath a fascinating place to explore.
The former garrison town of Mullingar is now an important centre for angling, and one of the most agreeable market towns in Ireland, with an atmosphere that is lacking in other towns in The Midlands. Hunting, shooting and fishing are the main pursuits here.
In Crookedwood village, at the foot of Lough Derravaragh, stands St Munna’s Church, the stuff of fairytales, complete with 15th-century tower and battlements and a lakeside setting. At Castlepollard are the beautiful grounds of Tullynally Castle, the family seat of the earls of Longford.
COUNTIES OFFALY AND LAIOS: Sharing almost the same identity – of remote, unspoilt boglands unaffected by mass tourism – the counties of Offaly and Laios lie at the heart of The Midlands. Co Offaly is bordered to the west by the River Shannon, which offers cruising tours, as does the Grand Canal that runs through the middle of the county. Co Laios (pronounced Leash) is a place of attractive villages with fine houses. Co Offaly shares with Co Laios the beautiful glens of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, which in spite of a low elevation and a distinctly boggy feel about them, nevertheless convey a sense of grandeur and remoteness.
One of Ireland’s most holy places, Clonmacnoise, was founded in AD 548 by St Ciaran at a strategic crossing point of the Shannon. During medieval times, it developed into a great seat of learning, acknowledged by kings.
Using a former trackbed built for the transportation of peat, the Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway is the key to the natural history of bogs, as it fashions an 8.8km (5.5-mile) course around the Blackwater Bog.
Birr is an attractive town of Georgian streets and buildings. The grounds of Birr Castle are superb though the castle itself is not open to the public. Here, too, is the Historic Science Centre, housing a large reflecting telescope, in its day the largest in the world.
There is little of interest in Portlaiose itself, though there is a defensive fort, the Rock of Dunamase, just outside the town, and a Steam Traction Museum at Stradbally.
Emo Court, west of Kildare, is an elegant neo-Classical building constructed in 1792. Not far from Mountrath is Roundwood House, a lovely Palladian mansion, now a guest-house.
COUNTY TIPPERARY: The lack of a coastline does not affect the beauty of this county in any way, as a walk to the top of Slievenamon (the mountain of the fairies), north of Clonmel, will reveal. Northwards, amid farmlands, rises the limestone Rock of Cashel, to the south are the Comeragh Mountains. The countryside of Tipperary is dotted with Norman castles and churches, and Stone and Iron Age sites.
The town of Clonmel sits on the banks of the River Suir, and dates from the tenth century, but there is considerable evidence all around of occupation from prehistoric times. Today, Clonmel is the most important town in the county. The County Museum in Parnell Street has a diverse collection of artefacts, including Roman coins and prehistoric items.
The Comeragh and Knockmealdown mountain ranges are vast uplands of forest and bog, but easy to explore either by car or on foot. Ballymacarbry on the River Nier is also a good base for walking.
Carrick-on-Suir, a thriving market town east of Clonmel is today best known for Sean Kelly the cyclist who had noted success in the Tour de France. Ormond Castle, just outside the town is a fortified Elizabethan mansion, and well worth visiting.
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