Drumshanbo is a small town in County Leitrim in northwest Ireland: in Irish Droim Seanbhó means "ridge of the old huts". It's at the south tip of Lough Allen, which almost bisects the county, and is drained by the River Shannon. The area was industrial in the 17th and 18th centuries because of local coal and iron, and became connected to Ireland's waterway network. Those links fell into disrepair in the 19th and 20th centuries but have been restored, so Drumshanbo is now a centre for pleasure boating. Its population in 2022 was 1240.
Get in
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By road from Dublin follow M4 / N4 past Longford, and branch off at Drumsna or Carrick.
The nearest railway station is Carrick-on-Shannon 14 km south, with trains every hour or two between Dublin Connolly and Sligo. Carrick also has direct buses from Dublin city and airport.
Local Link Bus 567 runs hourly from Carrick railway station and town, taking 30 min via Leitrim. Four per day continue from Drumshanbo to Manorhamilton (another hour).
Local Link Bus 572 runs from Sligo to Drumshanbo (80 min) and continues to Ballinamore. There are six M-Sa and three on Sunday. Bus Éireann 462 is an extra from Sligo on Friday and Saturday to Drumshanbo, Ballinamore and Carrigallen.
On Saturday, Bus 469 makes a run between Sligo and Longford via Drumshanbo and Carrick.
Local Link Bus 571 runs from Boyle via Keadue to Drumshanbo (45 min) and continues to Arigna mines (another 10 min). There are three M-Sa year round, and on Sunday in July and August.
1 Main Street is the principal bus stop in Drumshanbo, by the library.
Get around
[edit]You can just about tour the sights by bus, but your patience will be sorely tested. You really need wheels.
No local taxi, it would have to come from Carrick.
See
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- High Street, or is it Main Street? Drumshanbo's main thoroughfare, only 100 m long, on its west side is Main St and carries the traffic, while its east side High St is a raised sidewalk.
- Churches are both just north of Main St. St John's Church (Church of Ireland) is a Gothic structure of 1829. St Patrick's (Roman Catholic) on Convent Ave is also from the 19th century, refurbished in 2020. The convent remains active: these are the Franciscan Poor Clare Sisters founded in 1864; they're a secluded order and you can't visit.
- 1 Acres Lough is a small lake below Drumshanbo with coarse angling. The main attraction is the 600-m floating boardwalk, part of the Shannon Blueway.
- 2 Arigna Mining Experience, Dereenavoggy N41 YP48, ☏ +353 71 964 6466. Daily 10AM-5PM. Coal has been mined here since the 1700s, along a very narrow seam. It was used locally to make iron - Dublin's Ha'penny Bridge is made of Arigna iron. The seam was exhausted in 1992 and the mine was converted into an industrial museum. Dress warmly. Adult €15, conc €13, child €8.
- 3 Sliabh an Iarainn ("Iron Mountain") is the scarp east of Lough Allen. Its iron ores have been mined since prehistory (since in the Iron Age they were just what people were looking for) and on an industrial scale from 1600 to around 1780, with a cluster of iron-making villages nearby. The furnaces initially used charcoal, but the local forests became exhausted, with coal filling some of the gap. The top is a very boggy tableland, and near the summit hidden in a gully is a rock where mass was secretly celebrated in penal times.
- 4 Leitrim: see Carrick-on-Shannon for this village at the upper limit of navigation of the River Shannon. A canal rises from Battlebridge 1 km northwest of Leitrim through Acres Lough to Lough Allen, while the Shannon-Erne waterway (here the refurbished Ballinamore Canal) starts from Leitrim itself. See Waterways Ireland map for current navigation status of both.
- 5 Lough Scur is the first lake reached above Leitrim on the Shannon-Erne waterway, and has a marina and a couple of pubs. In the lough (which continues through a channel into Lough Marrave) are half a dozen crannogs, and the Keshcarrigan Bowl was found here. Several "castles" were constructed around the shores: Castle Sean was the most substantial but is now beyond a ruin. In 1605 the same Sean built a jail on an islet, suitably gruesome, but little remains of it. The waterway continues east to three smaller loughs and Ballinamore.
- 6 Fenagh is a tiny village in the east of the county (not to be confused with Fenagh in County Carlow or Fenagh Crater on Mars). It has a ruined abbey, where the Book of Fenagh was composed in 1513. Nearby is a portal tomb and several standing stones, reputed to be pagan druids turned to stone for trying to eject a Christian saint, though archaeologists think this is unlikely for a first offence. The visitor centre is open M-F 10AM-5:30PM, Sa Su noon-5:30PM.
Do
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- What's on? - check the Leitrim Observer.
- Shannon Blueway starts with the boardwalk across Acres Lake, and conventional waterway and trails continue to Carrick.
- Aura outdoor heated swimming pool is at Acres Lake, open in summer.
- Leitrim Way is a 25-km walking trail from Dowra to Ballinagleragh, Drumshanbo and Leitrim village.
- Cowboys and Heroes is a Country & Western festival with music, rodeos, American cars, line-dancing and the like. It's held May / June in Drumcoura south of Ballinamore.
- An Tóstal ("The Gathering") is held in Drumshanbo over a week in June / July. A mix of on-street entertainment, family fun, indoor and outdoor activities, water activities and the Stylish Silage competition.
- Joe Mooney Summer School is a week-long festival of Irish trad music held in Drumshanbo in July.
- O'Carolan Harp Festival is in July / Aug, in honour of blind harpist Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738), best known as the composer of The Star-Spangled Banner. The festival is preceded by a summer school of music and dancing, all in the village of Keadue 9 km west of Drumshanbo where he spent his later years. He's buried at Kilronan Church west of Keadue.
Buy
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- Centra convenience store on Main St is open M-Sa 7AM-10PM, Su 8AM-10PM.
- There's an ATM outside the Credit Union.
Eat
[edit]- Try the bars. There are takeaways but the sit-down eating places folded during Covid.
Drink
[edit]- Main St has Monica's, Berry's, Conway's, The Millrace and Henry's Haven.
- Shed Distillery in Drumshanbo produces gin, whiskey and vodka, tours available.
Sleep
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- 1 Lough Allen Hotel, Corrachuill, Drumshanbo, ☏ +353 71 964 0100. This has housed Ukrainian refugees but is expected to reopen as a hotel in late 2025.
- Allen Centre by the hotel and lough has basic camping and caravan pitches.
- 2 Kilronan Castle, Castletenison Demesne, Ballyfarnon F52 R867, ☏ +353 71 961 8000. Plush hotel and spa out in the countryside by Lough Meelagh. The former Castle Tenison was rebuilt in 1820 then again in 1880 as a Victorian Gothic mansion; it was converted into a hotel in 2006. B&B double €250.
Connect
[edit]As of Sep 2025, Drumshanbo and its approach roads have 4G from all Irish carriers, though it's patchy with Eir. 5G has not yet reached town.
Go next
[edit]- Longford has a fine cathedral, a mysterious "bog road" and several Neolithic portal tombs.
- Boyle has a grand Georgian mansion and a ruined abbey.
- Sligo is set in the haunting landscape of WB Yeats, with limestone scarps and Atlantic coastline.