Lough Rea - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

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About Lough Rea

Lough Ree is the second largest lake on the Shannon after Lough Derg. The lake serves as a border between the counties of Longford and Westmeath on the eastern side and County Roscommon in the province of Connacht on the western side. The lake supports a small commercial eel fishery and is locally famous for its eels on wheels truck. Another popular piece of folklore says that there was once a town where the lake is today, but the town was submerged underneath the water.

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Attractions Near Lough Rea

Dunsandle Castle

Dunsandle Castle

7.95km from Lough Rea

Dunsandle Castle is a 15th century castle built by the De Burgo family. It is fully accessible and has an exceptional charm with its location in the middle of the forest and its stones full of history. It is filled with unique architectural features to include a great hall with tie beams, it’s groin vault construction, an 18th century ice house, a murder hole and remains of a bawn with a defence tower featuring gunloops.

Rathbaun Farm

Rathbaun Farm

13.36km from Lough Rea

Rathbaun Farm is situated in a rural area of Southwest County Galway in Ardrahan. The Burke and Connolly family have been farming the 80 acres of land for over 200 years and Fintan Connolly continues this tradition today. Visitors to Rathbaun Farm will be enchanted by its 250 year old thatched cottage, turf fire and original stonewalls. Everyone is invited to hand feed the new lambs which are in plentiful supply between March and November.

Thoor Ballylee

Thoor Ballylee

16.27km from Lough Rea

Rinville park is a local recreational area south of Galway and Oranmore. There are numerous hiking trails passing through forests and pastures and in the centre of the park, a tower house with surrounding outbuildings can be visited.

Athenry Castle

Athenry Castle

16.84km from Lough Rea

This restored 13th-century fortification was originally built by Meiler de Bermingham and is located within the heritage town of Athenry. The imposing three-storey hall-keep survives from the mid-thirteenth century. It is solidly impressive from the outside, although the interior was simply built, containing only a hall at first-floor level and dark storerooms below.

Athenry Heritage Centre

Athenry Heritage Centre

16.85km from Lough Rea

Athenry Heritage Centre is the ideal starting point to discover the best preserved medieval town in Ireland. Its exhibits include the torture dungeon, models of the medieval town, storyboards and a replica street of medieval crafts. You can experience this history with interactive exhibits of weaponry, armour, dressing up in medieval costume and Have-A-Go Archery.

Coole Park

Coole Park

20.63km from Lough Rea

The Coole Park is one of Ireland’s most spectacular nature reserve covering approximately 400 hectares of wetland and woodlands located in Gort. The park is in a low–lying karstic limestone area characterised by seasonal lakes, known as turloughs, which are almost unique to Ireland. The most unique features of Coole Park are the turloughs which are said to be the best examples of turloughs in the world.

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Galway

Galway

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County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is in the West of Ireland, taking up the south of the province of Connacht. There are several Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county. The traditional county includes, and is named for, the city of Galway, but the city and county now have separate local authorities: Galway City Council administers the urban area, while the rest of the county is administered by Galway County Council.

Location of Lough Rea

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For more information about Lough Rea, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lough_Rea

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