Explore

Just a short 10 minute drive from Carrick-on-Shannon, Lough Key Forest Park offers you a choice of in and out door activities. Here you can enjoy experience the history and tranquillity  of Lough Key when you join the crew on the Lough Key Tour Boat for an hour cruise.  They will share interesting and quirky stories about Lough Key as well as taking you on a professionally guided tour of one of the greatest Lakes in Ireland.

Take a spin to Lough Key Forest Park, you’ll be glad you did. Here you’ll find the innovative, weather independent Boda Borg. It is a Swedish concept, similar to the ‘Crystal Maze’. It is challenging for both adults and children alike with teamwork, ingenuity and trial and error all you have to progress through its 47 rooms. With no instructions to follow… it’s all up to you!

A short drive away, you’ll discover Arigna.  A nearby corner of Roscommon with a breathtaking landscape of hills and valleys. Here you’ll find The Arigna Mining Experience, the country’s first coal mining museum documenting Ireland’s first and last coal mines. Experience what it was like for yourself on a guided tour underground with a former coal miner who brings the history of the coal mine and previous iron mine to life.

Take an afternoon and take a spin to Ballinamore. Here you’ll enjoy the Glenview Folk Museum and it’s wonderful and eclectic exhibit of rural Irish heritage from the early part of the 20th century.

A full street scene has been fully reconstructed to give a real feel of 1930s Ireland. Shops are stocked and dressed as they would have been in the past and a large set of tradesmen’s tools on display are indicative of the skill and the ingenuity of past owners and communities.

Fenagh is a short spin from Carrick-on-Shannon. According to the Book of Fenagh, the founder of the original monastery at the site of Fenagh Abbey was St. Caillin, who was said to have arrived in Fenagh from Dunmore in County Galway in the 5th century. The Fenagh Visitor Centre houses a small exhibition about the abbey and the significant archaeological sites in the surrounding fields.

You’ll need to set aside a day for this, but if you like caves or have never visited one, The Marble Arch Caves won’t disappoint. In nearby County Fermanagh, the Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark is host to one of Europe’s finest show caves.Marble Arch Caves invites visitors to explore a fascinating, natural underworld of rivers, waterfalls, winding passages and lofty chambers. Lively and informative guides conduct tours that pass an impressive variety of delicate cave formations, winding passages, lofty chambers with stalactites that glisten overhead.

North Leitrim – it’s off the beaten track and not overrun by visitors, it is a gem and one of our country’s best kept secrets. Lough Gill alone is worth the drive, it is little wonder that it provided inspiration for the romantic works of WB Yeats. The Rose of Innisfree boat tour on Lough Gill is a wonderfully relaxing way to spend an afternoon in Leitrim. You will experience some of the most spectacular scenery, spoken so fondly of by said poet, WB Yeats, who was inspired to pen his famous poem ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ here. On board commentary highlights the poetry of WB Yeats, points of interest and tells of the history, culture, myths and legends of the area as you travel from Parke’s Castle to Doorly Park in Sligo. Full bar facilities are also available.

King House in nearby Boyle, County Roscommon. King House is a sensitively restored Georgian mansion built circa 1730 by Sir Henry King, 1st Baronet Kingston.Today, children and adults alike can explore this unique architectural treasure and enjoy a range of interactive presentations that offer an enchanting view of Ireland’s heritage and culture.

Take a spin to Drumshanbo, you’ll be glad you did. Here you can lunch at Jinnys Tea Rooms, walk along the floating boardwalk, the children can play in the well-equipped playground and in the summer, they can swim in the outdoor swimming pool. All of this and more, are located on or next to the grounds of the Sliabh on Iarainn visitor Centre has audio-visual displays about the Arigna and the Sliabh an Iarainn mountains area, with a special emphasis on the railway, the canal, lakes, and iron and coal mining and musical heritage of the area.​

The short audio-visual show will take you through the sights and scenes of nearby lakes, mountains, and towns, highlighting the beauty of this land of legend and wonder. The Centre is open seasonally and ringing in advance is advised:

Drumshanbo is also home to The Shed Distillery, the home of Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin, Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey and other remarkable brands from the curious mind of PJ Rigney.

The Shed Distillery tour brings visitors on the very special journey behind the creation of Connacht’s first whiskey for 105 years, and on a trip into the epicentre of the distillery to witness the slow hand-distillation of premier ‘Grand Cru’ Irish Whiskey and Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin.

The bright and spacious Shed Café serves a wide range of delicious fresh food and hot and cold beverages and The Shed Distillery gift shop offers a special range of distillery-exclusive bottle editions and a wide selection of local artisan produce, bespoke clothing, crafts and special gifts.