Overview
The Aughnacliffe Dolmen is the third-largest portal tomb in Ireland, and of the four in County Longford it is the only one you can easily reach on foot. That alone is the reason to come. The village name, Achadh na Cloiche, means ‘field of the stones’, and the tomb on the ridge above it is what the name refers to. Around the dolmen the village has built up an easy half-day: an accessible lakeside boardwalk at Leebeen Park and a short waterfall trail on the River Pulliness, all within a few kilometres.
The dolmen
Raised somewhere between 4000 and 3000 BC, the Aughnacliffe Dolmen is unusual for carrying two capstones where most portal tombs have one. The larger roofstone measures about 3.2m by 2.3m; the smaller one, 1.7m by 2.2m, sits beneath it, and the whole thing stands around 2m high. One of the original portal stones at the front has been lost, but the balance of the surviving structure still does the job it was built for: marking a Neolithic burial place. Local tradition ties it, along with the nearby Cleenrath dolmen, to the legend of Diarmaid and Gráinne resting on their flight from Fionn MacCumhaill.
One honest warning: the tomb stands on private farmland, often with livestock in the field, so close gates behind you and keep dogs under control. It is also genuinely tricky to find. The simplest route is to start in the village and head about 200m north from the petrol station, where a signposted pedestrian pathway leads off the eastern side of the road. Allow 20 to 30 minutes to walk up, read the interpretive sign and look around. Early or late light rakes across the stone and shows its scale far better than midday glare.
The walks
Leebeen Park
The 1.5 km loop at Leebeen Park runs on a boardwalk beside Lough Leebeen, fully accessible and easy for pushchairs and wheelchairs. There’s a playground, a planted fairy garden, picnic benches and an outdoor gym along the way, and the boardwalk keeps you out of the mud after rain. Swans and ducks work the lake. Parking is on site.
The waterfall trail
The Aughnacliffe Waterfall Trail follows the River Pulliness to a small cascade, either as a 1.40 km riverbank loop or a 430m there-and-back to the falls. The boardwalk sections turn slick when wet, so mind your footing. The falls have a quiet industrial backstory: a modern turbine now powers LED lights on the viewing deck, echoing the 1930s turbine that once generated electricity for the village post office. Come after rain, when the river is up and the falls are worth the walk; in a dry spell the cascade is modest.
The village and its churches
Aughnacliffe is small and farming-led, with sport at its centre through Colmcille GFC. Its churches carry a tangle of dates worth getting right. St Thomas’s Church of Ireland, in the neighbouring townland of Rathmore, was built around 1829. The Catholic parish records go back to 1834, but the present St Columcille’s is later: a Hiberno-Romanesque church designed by Ralph Henry Byrne and built in 1939 to replace an 1832 chapel, using stone salvaged from the demolished Derrycassin House.
Planning your visit
- Getting there: Aughnacliffe is in north County Longford, roughly 22 km from Longford town. A small free car park sits by the dolmen path, with more free parking at Leebeen Park.
- Public transport: Bus 865 runs direct between Longford town centre and Aughnacliffe four times a day, every day, which is more than most villages this size get.
- Accessibility: the Leebeen Park boardwalk is wheelchair- and pushchair-friendly. The dolmen approach and the waterfall trail are unpaved and uneven, so wear footwear with grip.
- Facilities: toilets, picnic tables and a playground at Leebeen Park. There are no refreshment stops at the trails, so bring your own water and food.
- Nearby: pair it with the Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre and its preserved Iron Age bog road, or a drive along the Lough Gowna shoreline.
To find the dolmen without circling the village twice: from the petrol station, walk 200m north and look for the signposted path on the right.