Overview
The Bonet flows through Dromahair in County Leitrim before reaching Lough Gill. The river rises in Glenade Lake north of Manorhamilton and runs west through Dromahair village and its riverside park before emptying into the eastern end of Lough Gill. The village grew beside the river, with Creevelea Friary nearby. Away from the village it’s a gentle thing: wooded banks, clear pools, and a good short visit to a ruined abbey.
See the friary
Creevelea is a Franciscan friary founded in 1508, and its roofless cloister and carvings are the quiet reward of a visit to Dromahair. Use the signed approach to the OPW monument and follow its visitor notices, and check current access details on the Heritage Ireland page before you go. The ruined church and cloister stand on uneven ground. Stay on public paths and keep back from the riverbank, especially after rain.
Walking and wildlife
The riverside Dromahair Park lies beside the Bonet in the village, with interactive points along the trail where a QR code plays a short video of local children and experts talking about the park’s ecology, history, birdlife and water quality. Watch for kingfishers over the clear pools; robins, blackbirds and chaffinches keep the woods busy year-round.
There’s industrial history in the quiet too. Dromahair had a working water mill and some of the first hydroelectric power generated on the Bonet; local man George McGoldrick tells those stories on the Dromahair Park website. At the eastern end of an old silted loop of the river stand the remains of Harrison’s Castle, a fragment of the plantation era.
Practical information
Follow the signs and notices at Creevelea Friary and stay on public paths. The valley is wooded and the ground is muddy and uneven in places, so wear proper footwear. Leitrim Tourism maps a separate cycle route through the area.
Nearby
The Bonet sits in a well-stocked corner of the north-west. Creevelea Friary is the obvious visit from the village. On the Lough Gill shore a few kilometres on, Parke’s Castle is a restored 17th-century plantation manor with tours and a visitor centre. Sligo town is about half an hour west via the R286/R288, with its literary sites, beaches and harbour.
Whatever the river is doing, the visit to Creevelea is worth the trip.