The next morning I went off for a wander around Athlone (population: 25,000), a veritable metropolis compared to Banagher and Shannonbridge on the southern edge of the Lough.
“You can tell the story of Ireland in Athlone,” explained Vincent Harney, a former postmaster who now runs Athlone Guided Tours. “We’re right in the heart of Ireland. People have lived here for thousands of years. The town got its name from an innkeeper, which says a lot about Athlone.”
Vincent told me how the town’s name supposedly comes from a character named Atha Luain, an innkeeper who guided travellers over the River Shannon. A stout castle with square walls was built by the Anglo-Normans in 1210, but Sean’s Bar opposite claims to date back to 900, making it the oldest in Ireland, if not the world. “They’ll tell you the castle was built to defend the pub,” said Vincent with a laugh.
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Inside Sean’s Bar, sawdust was spread across the ancient floors to soak up spilled beer. Timmy Donovan, the friendly manager, served me a pint of Murphy’s Irish Stout and talked me through the pub’s storied past. While much of the pub probably dates from the 17th century, there’s wattle and daub preserved behind a glass cabinet that’s claimed to be from the original inn established by Atha Luain himself, over 1,100 years ago.
Sean’s Bar makes its own whiskey too (I try a dram, of course) because Timmy – a frantic lover of history – claims the spirit was first distilled by Irish monks on island monasteries in Lough Ree. Don’t tell the Scots that.
The river is the gentlest way to travel, but you need time. It’s either a one-hour drive north to Carrick-on-Shannon – the gateway to Lough Key – or 11 hours on the boat.
I opted for the road and next morning met another Carrickcraft captain, Paul Farrell, for a taster of the River Shannon’s northern stretches.
The pace was slow as we navigated onto the River Boyle, a tributary of the Shannon, meandering through a maze of islands, inlets and locks among a sparser, rockier landscape framed by rising mountains to the north.
I took over the steering, and an hour-and-a-half after setting off, we crept into Lough Key, where a folly castle is perched dramatically on an island in the middle of a forested lake lined by Scots pines.
Local folklore has it that the lough takes its name from an ancient druid king named Ce, who drowned when its waters burst from the earth. “There are days when I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else”, said Paul as we glided across the still surface. “When the sun is shining, it doesn’t get much better than this.”
Clonmacnoise Cathedral monastery ruins (Photo: egal/Getty/iStockphoto/Elena Schweitzer)
Perhaps Paul angered the old druid of the lake because the changeable Irish weather soon turned. It was drizzling as we moored up outside Lough Key Forest Park, where you can tackle treetop walkways and explore the ruins of Rockingham Estate. If you’ve driven (it’s only a ten-minute drive), hiked or cycled from Carrick-on-Shannon, there are hour-long cruises with Lough Key Boats (€20pp).
Paul surprised me by describing Carrick-on-Shannon as the local party town in an otherwise rural part of Ireland. With a population of 5,000, it was buzzing later that day, with McHugh’s Bar playing traditional music all night. I opted for a final pint at quieter Flynn’s Bar, which claimed to pour the best Guinness in County Leitrim. The perfect end to a slow trip through Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands.
How to get there
The region can be accessed from Dublin, Shannon or Galway airports, or by ferry from Dublin and Rosslare
How to do it
Carrickcraft offers boats from Banagher and Carrick-on-Shannon. Week-long hire for a two-berth starts from €730, carrickcraft.com
More information
ireland.com/en-gb/destinations/experiences/irelands-hidden-heartlands
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Publish date : 2024-09-29 22:06:00
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