Lakes, Rivers & Waterfalls in County Westmeath

Most of the water here is lake water, and a good share of it sits within a short drive of Mullingar. Lough Owel lies 4km north of the town, spring-fed and clear, with a jetty and diving board on the southern shore and a flat spur off the Royal Canal Greenway running out to it. Lough Ennell is just south, shallow and limestone-fed, with a swimming beach at Lilliput and lakeshore walks linking Belvedere House to the Westmeath Way. Ballinea, 5km west, is the canal stop between the two.

The north-east of the county is quieter. Lough Derravaragh, below Knockeyon hill, is the lake of the Children of Lír, with crannóg islands, wild brown trout and pike, and boat hire and woodland walks at Donore. Lough Lene at Collinstown was the first freshwater lake in Ireland to take a Blue Flag, its marl water cold and unusually clear. Lough Iron, on the River Inny, has no road to it at all, so a boat is the only way in.

West of that the county runs to the Shannon. Glasson sits on Lough Ree 10km north of Athlone, and Killinure Lough, one of the inner lakes below it, has a marina, a golf course and the wooded Portlick shore. In Athlone the river passes Custume Barracks, still a working base, best seen from the promenade. Swimming is a summer business; the wildfowl arrive in winter, geese on the farmland around Lough Owel and whooper swans on Lough Iron.