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12 Essential Stops in Ireland’s Most Haunted County

It’s hard to match the Irish for a stellar backstory, but even in Ireland, there’s no place to compare to the fantastical tales that hail from County Offaly.

It’s probably the only place on Earth that can link President Barack Obama, England’s most notorious king, America’s Declaration of Independence, and novelist Charlotte Brontë. It’s self-touted as “Ireland’s Hidden Gem” by the local council due to the low volume of tourist traffic, which is at odds with another well-traveled location idiom, because Offaly is anything but off the beaten track.

Just one hour from Dublin Airport along two busy motorways that connect the capital to Ireland’s ocean coast, most visitors skirt through Offaly, oblivious of its fascinating landscape and ghostly yarns of treachery and posterity.To catch the true spirit of Offaly, pull off the M4 or M7 and linger for a while to discover its ancient castles and unhurried villages, and listen out for the voices of its past before they too are obscured by the stampede along another busy tourist trail.

1 OF 12

Leap Castle

WHERE: Clareen, County Offaly

Offaly’s ghostly chatter is loudest at Clareen, so it takes a leap of faith to walk through the ancient stone quoins of Ireland’s most haunted castle and one-time stronghold of the Carroll clan. Current owner and musician Sean Ryan is on hand to recount the tragic demise of the Leap Castle’s Carroll family who stayed and fortunes of who migrated.

Charles Carroll the Settler moved from Offaly to America to become Attorney General of Maryland in 1688. His grandson, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, was the only Catholic signatory of the American Declaration of Independence while other family descendants include a signatory to the US constitution and John Carroll, the first US Catholic bishop.

INSIDER TIPAsk Sean to lead the way up to the Bloody Chapel, where the ghost of a priest who was killed by his brother still appears, apparently.

2 OF 12

The Home of Barack Obama’s Ancestors

WHERE: Moneygall, County Offaly

“My name is Barack Obama, of the Moneygall Obamas, and I’ve come home to find the apostrophe we lost somewhere along the way” the US President joked with Irish audience on a visit to his ancestral home in County Offaly.

Fulmoth Kearney, President Obama’s great-great-great-grandfather, was the link to that lost apostrophe. He left Moneygall and immigrated to America during Ireland’s great famine in the middle of the nineteenth century.

A plaque on the outside wall the Kearney’ old homestead in the middle of Moneygall’s modest streetscape commemorates its ties to the 44th US president, while Ollie Hayes Pub is the place to hitch up to the bar and grab a pint of Guinness with the possibility of chatting to one of his distant cousins.

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Home of King Henry VIII’s In-Laws

WHERE: Clonony, County Offaly

Seized by King Henry VIII and passed to the family of the ill-fated Ann Boleyn, Clonony Tower House was built by the Mac Coughlan family in the late 15th century.  A tombstone commemorating the lives of Mary and Elizabeth Boleyn, cousins of Queen Elizabeth I, lies within the grounds of the castle.

Today ballet dancer Rebecca Black owns the castle and throws its door open to the public on weekends from 12 to 5 through October, weather permitting.  However, she’s open to anyone who calls for an appointment to unveil the old tower’s idiosyncrasies, even in winter.

INSIDER TIPAlthough owner Rebecca Black does not charge admission, all donations are appreciated and they go towards maintenance of the castle.

4 OF 12

Birr Castle Gardens and Science Centre

WHERE: Birr, County Offaly

Despite its chilly name, the descendants of the earls of Rosse offer a warm welcome to the grounds of Birr Castle throughout the year.

Birr Castle was once at the cutting edge of star gazing. From 1845 until 1917, the Leviathan, a telescope of titanic proportions, was the largest on the planet. William Parsons, the 3rd Earl of Rosse, was the man behind the lens and it still remains on the grounds of the castle. Recently, Trinity College Dublin sponsored a radio telescope at Birr Castle which connects Ireland to the international LOFAR (Low-Frequency Array.) It’s something that would surely warm the cockles of William Parsons’ heart if he was still around to see it.

INSIDER TIPStop by Spinners Restaurant just outside the castle walls in Birr, arguably the prettiest town in the Midlands.

5 OF 12

Charlotte Brontë’s Irish Honeymoon

WHERE: Banagher, County Offaly

Arthur Bell married into the famous literary Brontë family. He brought his new wife, Charlotte Brontë , to his childhood home in County Offaly on their honeymoon. The couple visited the old parsonage and Bell’s future home, now a guesthouse called Charlotte’s Way. The current owners are well versed on the Brontë sisters’ sickly fates, their Irish father, and Charlotte’s Irish husband, as the house became a shrine to the family when Bell returned to stay some years after he was widowed. It puts Charlotte’s Way right onto Ireland’s literary map.

INSIDER TIPLiterary types can also indulge in the town’s association with novelist Anthony Trollope, who wrote ‘The Macdermots of Ballycloran’ while he worked for the local postal service. 

6 OF 12

Clonmacnoise Monastery

WHERE: Shannonbridge, County Offaly

If the impressive ruins of a cathedral, a couple of round towers, seven churches from the 10th to 13th century, high crosses, and the greatest collection of Early Christian grave slabs in Western Europe aren’t enough to draw you to County Offaly, then Clonmacnoise’s peaceful setting on the river Shannon has to be a clincher.

The site was founded in the 6th century when its central River Shannon location put it at the crossroads of Ireland. It withstood many restless centuries until Cromwellian forces razed it in the 17th century.

INSIDER TIPFour miles south in the peaceful village of Shannonbridge is Killeens, a quintessentially Irish pub with trad music and decent grub. 

7 OF 12

Kinnitty Castle

WHERE: Kinnitty, Birr, County Offaly

For anyone who likes a dollop of luxury to go with the County Offaly backstory, Kinnitty Castle once held the reputation as Ireland’s most haunted hotel. It’s not surprising, given its turbulent history throughout the centuries.

Apparently a friendly ghost, a monk called Hugh, makes a habit of appearing in the Great Hall and Dungeon Bar at the hotel.

8 OF 12

Charleville Castle

WHERE: Tullamore, County Offaly

One of the finest examples of gothic revival architecture in Ireland and designed by Francis Johnston, of Dublin’s GPO and Áras an Uachtaráin (Ireland’s version of the White House) fame.

Charleville Castle is described by the team of volunteers who curate the sprawling building as having a “tin soldier fortress” appearance. It was built around the same time as the British victory over the revolutionary republican movement towards the end of the 18th century.

Of course, the castle has a ghost. It’s a boisterous little girl named Harriet who fell to her death from the main staircase at the age of 8 in April 1861.Charleville Castle has appeared on multiple haunted television programmes.

INSIDER TIPCharleville Castle is operated by volunteers, so don’t expect a slick touring experience, but do expect great detail and fascinating backstories.

9 OF 12

Croghan Hill

WHERE: Bog of Allen, County Offaly

This extinct volcano has connections to two of Ireland’s most famous saints, Bridget and Patrick, the latter having his own dedicated well at the foot of the 232-meter hill. They were busy setting the cornerstone for Ireland’s early Christian life in the 5th century on this site.

If you think that belongs in the annals of ancient history, spare a thought for another local, old Croghan Man. His 2,000-year-old body was discovered in the area, and despite his name, he was a six-and-a-half-foot-tall twenty-something nobleman, believed to be slaughtered by local Druids. He now rests in some peace in Dublin’s National Museum of Archeology.

10 OF 12

Clara Bog Nature Reserve

WHERE: Clara Bog Nature Reserve

Clara Bog’s backstory stretches back over millennia, bringing visitors up close and personal to Offaly’s Mesolithic Age. A one-kilometer looped boardwalk route through the nature reserve takes visitors to a mystic “thin place” experience, where early settlers harnessed the land for over 10,000 years.

In contrast, the new Clare Bog Visitor with its state of the art interactive gadgetry maps out the bog’s watery genesis, through the famine while “Daithí” the dragonfly introduces local species.

Clara is one of the finest examples of an intact raised bog in Western Europe.

INSIDER TIPIt’s a bog, with varying terrain – so bring appropriate clothing and remain on the boardwalk. 

11 OF 12

FR Crotty’s Church

WHERE: Birr, County Offaly

While Henry the VIII brought centuries of turbulent change with church reformations during his romantic endeavors with Anne Boleyn, Father Crotty had his own, lesser-known ecclesiastical revolution centuries later in the heart of Birr.

Crotty’s Church was the nucleus of so-called “Crotty Schism,” the largest of its kind ever recorded by the Catholic Church in Ireland. The Crottys brought on board over 90 percent of the local parish to their Reformed Church of Birr from 1826 to 1840. It was led by Fr. Michael Crotty and his cousin Fr. William Crotty.

Crotty’s empty Church is located on Castle Street.

12 OF 12

Tullamore DEW

WHERE: Tullamore, County Offaly

If all that talk of ghosts and ancient spirits doesn’t quite cut it, then take a look at County Offaly’s long association with spirits of a different nature. Irish Whiskey is currently enjoying a renaissance, and its story is told at the Tullamore DEW Visitor Center in the heart of the Town.

While the whiskey is not distilled on site, the guides and props help to explain the process from beginning to tumbler.

INSIDER TIPThe Tullamore Distillery on the motorway outside the town does not welcome weekend visitors.

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