Water in Longford means the Shannon system rather than the sea, and most of what follows sits on the county’s western and southern edges. Cloondara is the anchor: the Royal Canal drops through its last lock into the Shannon at Richmond Harbour, a cut-stone basin that is also the western trailhead of the 130km Royal Canal Greenway, with free parking and bike and paddle hire on site. Follow the canal back east and you reach Abbeyshrule, where Cistercians from Mellifont built an abbey on the River Inny in 1150; the ruins are free and open dawn to dusk, and the greenway runs traffic-free through the village and over the 1817 Whitworth Aqueduct a kilometre west.
The two rivers on the list tie those points together. The Camlin gave Longford its name and runs slow and lowland through the town itself, with an easy riverside walk there and a 10km Blueway loop where it meets the Shannon at Cloondara. The Inny carries roach, bream, tench, perch and pike along most of its 88.5km, and breaks into a short run of rapids below Newcastle bridge.
Barley Harbour and Newtowncashel need a drive southwest to the Lough Ree shore; Lough Gowna sits at the opposite end of the county, on the Cavan border. Late afternoon light is worth timing for at the harbour.
The Royal Canal's western terminus, where it locks down into the Shannon at cut-stone Richmond Harbour, and the trailhead for the 130km greenway.
A free, dawn-to-dusk Cistercian ruin from 1150 on the Inny, floodlit in high summer, with the traffic-free greenway running through the village.
A plain community slipway on Elfleet Bay with a grassy lawn to the water and a long view across to the monastic island of Inchcleraun.
The slow lowland river that gave Longford its name, offering a 10km Blueway loop, coarse angling and an easy walk through the town.
An 88.5km coarse fishery holding roach, bream, tench, perch and pike, with rapids below Newcastle bridge and the Whitworth Aqueduct at Abbeyshrule.
8 of 8 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Cloondara, longford
Cloondara is the western end of the Royal Canal, where it reaches the Shannon at cut-stone Richmond Harbour, and the western trailhead for the Royal Canal Greenway. Walk the towpath or ride 15 km to Keenagh.
Abbeyshrule, longford
Cistercian monks from Mellifont founded Abbeyshrule’s abbey on the River Inny in 1150; the ruins are free, open dawn to dusk and lit each evening from late June to early August. The Royal Canal Greenway runs traffic-free through the village and over the Whitworth aqueduct a kilometre west, and the Rustic Inn hosts an Argentine asado every July. An hour covers the abbey – longer if the canal tempts you onward.
Newtowncashel, longford
longford
The Camlin is the slow lowland river that gave Longford its name. The Mall has a gravel riverside loop through town. Near Cloondara, the Blueway links river, Shannon and canal on a separate 10 km paddling route.
Longford, longford
The Inny runs from Meath to Lough Ree through a chain of midland lakes. Use managed angling points along the river, or see it from the Royal Canal Greenway at the 1817 Whitworth Aqueduct.
Portlaoise, laois
The Midlands is the four inland counties with no coastline – Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath. What they have instead is the Hill of Uisneach where the High Kings met, a 2,000-year-old oak road preserved in Corlea bog, Birr Castle's giant Victorian telescope, and greenways you can cycle for days.
Longford, longford
Newtowncashel, longford
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