County Offaly Information

Offaly is located in Leinster, in the midlands of Ireland. It is bordered by Roscommon, Galway, Tipperary, Laois, Kildare, Meath & Westmeath. Its interesting varied landscape includes the Slieve Bloom mountains on the Laois border, the River Shannon and the flatlands of the Bog of Allen.

Birr is a historic, pretty heritage town, making it a great base in Offaly and the midlands in general. It offers plenty of accommodation, including some lovely B&Bs, hosts a number of festivals, including the famous Birr Vintage Week and the Offline Film festival and has a bustling, lively atmosphere and plenty of nightlife options.

The town was built around Birr Castle and Estate, the ancestral home of the Earls of Rosse. The grounds of the castle contain a massive telescope, which at the time of its construction in the 1800s, was the largest telescope in the world, and attracted visitors from all over the globe, remaining the world’s largest telescope until the early 1900s. This scientific creation reflected the great passion of the third Earl of Rosse in astronomy, and many discoveries about the galaxies were made in the grounds of the castle. The beautiful estate and gardens of the castle are a lovely place to spend an afternoon.

Offaly’s biggest attraction is the ancient settlement of Clonmacnoise, founded in the 6th century by St. Ciarán, on the banks of the River Shannon.  The site includes the ruins of a cathedral, a number of churches, two round towers, high crosses and a large number of graveslabs. Clonmacnoise grew in influence over the centuries, resembling a cultural melting-pot peopled with skilled craftsmen and scholars who created some of Ireland’s most beautiful manuscripts & artefacts, which are on now display in the visitor centre and in various museums. The Visitor Centre has audio-visual presentations exploring the settlement’s lengthy history.

Charleville Castle is located in Tullamore, a large town in the north of the county. It was built at the end of the 18th Century in a gothic style and is the country’s finest example of such a castle. The estate hosts a music festival every summer, which attracts top musical acts from Ireland and beyond.

Moneygall’s status as a tourist destination soared in May 2011, as it welcomed Barack Obama, the US president whose Irish roots were traced to the little village in south of Offaly.