From the cross on top of Bockagh Hill you can see mountains in six counties: Mayo, Roscommon, Galway, Leitrim, Sligo and Donegal. The hill is 227m, a short drive from Ballaghaderreen, and the climb from the road to the cross takes 15 to 20 minutes over open bog. The cross was put up for Pope John Paul II’s 1979 visit to Ireland and has stood there since. If you have one hour in the area and reasonable boots, this is what to do with it. Parking at the bottom road is limited, and there’s a longer loop walk of about 40 minutes if the legs want more.
Ballaghaderreen (Irish: Bealach an Doirín, ‘the way of the little oak’) is a working market town in the north-west corner of County Roscommon, close to the Mayo and Sligo borders. It is a service centre rather than a tourist set-piece, with a population of 2,387 at the 2022 census. Come for the cathedral, the walks and the Friday bustle; the list of formal attractions is short, and that’s the honest measure of the place.
The cathedral
The Cathedral of the Annunciation and St Nathy, seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Achonry, is the building you’ll see first: a Gothic stone church whose tower and spire are visible for miles across the flat surrounding land. It was commissioned in 1855 and opened in 1860; the tower came later, in 1912. Inside, look up. The nave has a timbered ceiling, there are paintings of the Annunciation, and along the chancel roof angels carry verses from the Benedicite. It’s free to visit and worth about an hour. For Mass times, check the parish notice board or ring the office on 094 986 0011.
On the water
The Lung River runs less than a mile from the town centre and is part of an 18-mile system linking six lakes. It holds perch, roach, pike, bream, rudd, tench, eel and trout, with slipways, fishing stands and platforms built for anglers with reduced mobility. A flat riverside walk follows it for an easy hour. Three kilometres out, Lough Gara is the local coarse-fishing lake, with bog and lakeshore walking around it; angling is open year-round and needs no licence.
Golf
Ballaghaderreen Golf Club is a 9-hole parkland course about 5km west of town, par 70 over 5,339m, with mature trees lining several holes. Green fees run around €15, soft spikes are required, and groups should book ahead and check for Captain’s and President’s Days when the course closes.
The Mayo question
Ballaghaderreen grew as a fairs and market town from the 1700s, on the mail-coach road between Ballina and Longford; by the mid-19th century it had a courthouse, a market house and an infantry barracks. It was part of County Mayo until 1899, when the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 moved it to Roscommon. The town has never entirely accepted the transfer: Ballaghaderreen’s GAA club still plays in the Mayo football championship, not the Roscommon one.
The town’s other modern claim came in 2018, when it won a People of the Year Award for the welcome it gave hundreds of Syrian refugees housed at a reception centre here from 2017.
Around town
The Friday market is the town’s weekly fixture, traders selling produce and goods along the main street; it’s the day to time a visit for. For something quieter, Friends of the Fairgreen is a community garden where locals grow vegetables and flowers, reached by the Charlestown Road entrance into Duffy’s SuperValu.
Getting there and around
Since the N5 bypass opened in 2014, through-traffic on the Dublin–Castlebar road skirts the town to the north rather than running through it. Bus Éireann route 22 (Dublin–Ballina) stops here, along with routes 429 and 451; TFI Local Link runs to Roscommon town twice a week. The nearest railway stations are Castlerea (21 km) and Boyle (26 km), and Ireland West Airport (Knock) is about 15 km west. Parking in town is generally free in public car parks and street bays near the cathedral and square.
Nearby
The Douglas Hyde Centre, on the birthplace of Ireland’s first president, is about ten minutes’ drive. Further out lie the 12th-century Cistercian ruins of Boyle Abbey, Lough Key Forest Park and the town of Castlerea, all within half an hour.