Vacation Guide

Ireland golf vacation guide : To do and see

WESTMEATH

Belvedere House – located three and a half miles south of Mullingar, this is an elegant 18th century country house whose rococo plasterwork ceilings are among the finest in Europe. Extensive, well-kept gardens run gently onto terraced slopes on the banks of Lough Ennell.

Ecclesiastical Museum – attached to Mullingar Cathedral, the museum houses a number of crosses made by Catholics to help preserve their faith in penal times, as well as the 17th century vestments of St. Oliver Plunkett.

Locke’s Distillery Museum – located in the village of Kilbeggan, ten miles south of Mullingar, the distillery was built in 1757 and remained in operation until 1954. The museum has a working mill wheel, with a back-up steam engine from 1878 and displays ever facet of the whiskey making process.

Lough Derravaragh – just north of Mullingar is this lake, made famous through its association with the mythical legend of the Children of Lir. It is said that a nasty stepmother, Aoife, turned her four stepchildren into swans and decreed that they should remain in this state for 900 years.

Lough Owel – situated about three miles north of Mullingar, a visit to beautiful Lough Owel is recommended. It was in this lake that Maeleachlainn is said to have drowned the Danish chief, Torgjest in the year 843. The lake is now home to the Mullingar sub-aqua and sailing clubs.

Market House Museum – situated on Mullingar’s main street, this museum is filled with Iron Age implements and weaponry as well as priceless information about Adolphus Croke, a local eccentric who identified one of the turkeys in his farmyard as his reincarnated father.

Military Museum – located in the town of Mullingar, this entertaining museum boasts an excellent collection of military memorabilia, with its display of First and Second World War firearms, uniforms, and flags. There is a special section on the old IRA and it houses what is claimed to be the pistol used by Michael Collins during the Irish War of Independence.

Tullynally Castle - is one of the largest and most striking of Ireland’s castles and home to ten generations of the Pakenham family, better known as the Earls of Longford. The castle was originally built in 1760 and modifications were made as future generations inherited this imposing property. The property is set in rolling parklands and features impressive round towers and ranged battlements. A guided tour of the 8,000-volume library, the huge kitchen and landscaped gardens are a worthwhile experience.