- Offaly’s Clonmacnoise, a 6th-century monastic site, contains over 700 early Christian gravestones, including the Cross of the Scriptures.
- The county’s Birr Castle features a 19th-century telescope, the Leviathan, once the world’s largest, built by the Earl of Rosse in 1845.
- Tullamore Dew, Ireland’s second-oldest whiskey distillery, was established in Offaly in 1829 and produces triple-distilled whiskey.
- Offaly’s Slieve Bloom Mountains, one of Ireland’s oldest ranges, contain rare blanket bogs and fossils dating back 400 million years.
- The village of Shannonbridge has a 16-arch bridge, built in 1757, spanning the River Shannon and fortified with Napoleonic-era gun towers.
- Offaly’s Durrow Abbey, founded in the 6th century, houses a 9th-century high cross and a rare 10th-century Book of Durrow manuscript fragment.
- The county’s Grand Canal, completed in 1804, stretches 131 kilometres through Offaly, with restored lockhouses now used for tourism.
- Charleville Castle in Tullamore, built in 1812, is said to be haunted by a girl who fell down its spiral staircase in 1861.
- Offaly’s Lough Boora Sculpture Park displays artworks carved from bog oak, some over 5,000 years old, preserved in local peatlands.
- The village of Rahan has two 12th-century churches with Romanesque doorways, built on a site linked to Saint Carthage’s 6th-century monastery.
Random facts
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County Offaly:
Ireland’s county Offaly is a county of historic depth and natural beauty, with the Clonmacnoise monastic site featuring ancient high crosses and a riverside setting along the Shannon. Tullamore’s historic distillery provides insights into Irish whiskey production, while the Bog of Allen Nature Centre explores the county’s unique peatlands. Other attractions include the Slieve Bloom Mountains’ hiking trails. Offaly is Ireland’s 18th largest county by size (1,998 square km) and ninth smallest by population (83,150). Population peaked at 146,857 in 1841 and reached its lowest point, 51,533 in 1961. In terms of hospitality, Offaly is Ireland’s 30th most visited (and third least visited) tourist county with around 37,000 international visitors per year.
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