County Offaly Voyage Tips and guide

County Offaly (Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is in the East Coast and Midlands region of Ireland, and traditionally part of the province of Leinster. It's mostly lowland and rural.

53°9′0″N 7°30′0″W

Map of County Offaly

• 53.267-7.51 Tullamore the county town has two famous distilleries.
• 53.343-7.6132 Clara has a notable bog, in a country which sets the bar high for bogs.
• 53.324-7.9913 Clonmacnoise is a medieval monastery complex on the riverbank.
• 53.28-8.0494 Shannonbridge as the name implies has a fine bridge.
• 53.183-7.9835 Banagher is a town on the Shannon riverbank and the main base for boating.
• 53.091-7.9136 Birr is the Georgian town that for 70 years was at the leading edge of astronomy.
• 53.174-7.7267 Kilcormac church has a 16th century Pieta.
• 53.1-7.7178 Kinnitty is a good base for walking in the Slieve Bloom Mountains.
• 53.345-7.059 Edenderry is a stop along the Grand Canal with a couple of crumbly castles.
• 53.161111-7.19027810 Portarlington is mostly in County Laois but straddles the boundary.
• 52.88-7.95611 Moneygall was the ancestral home of a great-great-great grandfather of Barack Obama.
• 52.955-7.79812 Roscrea is just over the boundary into County Tipperary but is near Leap Castle.

• 53.1-7.5671 Slieve Bloom Mountains straddle the boundary with County Laois.

The county is named for the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe which covered much of it. The Normans divided Ireland into shires or counties, but they were repulsed from the midlands to shelter behind the palisades (the "Pale") of Leinster. The Tudors resumed the land-grab, swept aside the old Irish kingdoms, and in 1556 renamed this area "King's County". That king was Philip II of Spain, married to Queen Mary of England: but she died childless, one of the great "what-ifs" of British history. And King's County it officially remains. All sorts of royal names were replaced at Irish independence (Kingstown to Dún Laoghaire, Queenstown to Cobh, and so on); but it's some measure of Offaly's importance that the legislators clean forgot to change this one.

Offaly has the Slieve Bloom Mountains along its southeast boundary but is mostly lowland. Many areas are bog, notably the Bog of Allen, while to the west it's bounded by the flood-prone River Shannon. Agriculture and peat-extraction are traditional occupations. Yet this was no rustic backwater: Tullamore was the unlikely scene of the world's first aviation disaster in 1785. In the 19th century, the Grand Canal stimulated trade. Birr had the world's first automobile fatality in 1869, and its "Leviathan" telescope put it at the leading edge of astronomy for 70 years. The railway arrived in the 1850s and industry developed along it, but the big growth came when motorways put Offaly within commuting range of Dublin. In 2022 the population was 83,000.

Visit Offaly is the county tourist agency.

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 almost hourly from Dublin Heuston via Kildare and Portarlington to Clara and Tullamore, with 14 per weekday with the first train leaving Heuston at 05:45 and the last one at 20:30 (as of Sep 2025). They continue west to Athlone then branch either to Athenry and Galway or to Roscommon, Castlebar and Westport. Trains leave Tullamore for Heuston from 05:45 up to 22:33 during weekdays.

There are 18 trains per weekday from Athlone that stop at Tullamore with the first one leaving at 05:20 and the final one departing at 22:07. The first train from Tullamore to Galway leaves at 06:50 and the final train departs at 21:34 (as of Sep 2025).

Bus 73 traverses the country twice a day from Waterford via Thomastown, Kilkenny, Carlow, Stradbally and Portlaoise to Tullamore, Clara and Athlone.

Kearns Transport buses connects Dublin (and Dublin Airport from Zone 16) to Tullamore, Kilcormac and Birr while the 120 links Dublin to Edenderry with 56 buses in both directions during weekdays.

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 County Offaly 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 is connected to the Barrow Navigation, which runs to Athy, Carlow, New Ross and Waterford. Dublin is also linked to the Shannon by the Royal Canal, but that passes further north near Longford.

As of Sep 2025, Tullamore Station is serviced by the 815 Local Link to Athlone (5x to 6x per direction each day), 840 Local Link to Banagher (6x per direction), 837 to Mullingar via Killbeggan (6x per direction), outside the station, Kearns Transport 840 and 843 buses service Mucklagh, Kilcormac, Birr, Banagher, Dublin, Maynooth, Kilbeggan also.

From Tullamore town centre, the 829 services Portlaoise via Geashil and Portarlington while the 830 also serves Portlaoise via Mountmellick.

Clara Railway Station and Clara town (Church Street) is serviced by the 840 Banagher to Tullamore service.

The Go-Ahead Ireland 120C/120D service operates 7 times per day each direction, roughly every three hours between Tullamore and Edenderry serving Ballingar, Daingean and Rhode along the way.

The Local Link 823 operates 5 daily returns between Birr and Portlaoise serving Crinkill, Kinnitty and Cadamstown.

For Local Link services visit the Laois Offaly Local Link website. During college term there are additional Local Link college services that will accept all members of the public. The full 837 Townlink timetable can only be gotten from Slieve Bloom's Facebook page (all other sources including Slieve Bloom's own website show a truncated timetable that's missing services). Downloading a map of regional transport from the Transport for Ireland website is highly recommended.

All Local Link and Bus Eireann services will accept the standard Leapcard with the 815, 840 and 850 services also being available from the TFI Go app. Be advised that the Visitor Leapcard will only work in the Greater Dublin Area, whereas the standard Leapcard will work nationwide on all PSO (public service obligation) services and some commercial services.

There are buses every 3 hours every day to and from Clonmacnoise, 364 days of the year. The first 850 bus leaves Athlone from 06:00 and stops at Clonmacnoise with the last bus from Clonmacnoise at 23:15. The 850 also connects with the 840 bus at Cloghan and Banagher.

• 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.

• What's on? Tune in to Midlands 103 FM or read the Offaly Independent or Offaly Express.
• 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.

• Kinnitty Castle Hotel has fine dining.
• Otherwise nothing outstanding, bar meals will generally be your best bet.

• Tullamore Dew and nearby Kilbeggan are the county's two whiskey distilleries.
• Kinnitty has Slieve Bloom micro-brewery.
• Moneygall is the ancestral home of 44th US President Barack Obama, and in 2011 First Lady Michelle was taught how to pour a correct pint of Guinness here. The pub reports that it's just about settled by now.

• County Offaly Council website

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.