Water here means canal and river, not falls. The Grand Canal crosses the whole county, and three places on this list sit on it: Edenderry in the east, which grew rich on a canal spur funded by the Marquess of Downshire in 1802; Tullamore in the middle, where Tullamore D.E.W. returned to Bury Quay in 2014 and the towpath runs out of the town centre; and Shannon Harbour in the west, where the canal finally reaches the Shannon among a roofless hotel, two pubs and a marina.
The Shannon accounts for the western edge. Banagher has the six-arch bridge across into Connacht, Napoleonic-era forts guarding the old ford, and a marina in what was the railway yard. Victoria Lock, at Clonahenoge, is the first lock above Lough Derg and the point where Munster, Leinster and Connacht meet; boats still work through the 142-foot chamber every summer, which is the season to catch it doing anything.
The rest are fishing rivers, mostly along the Tipperary boundary. The Little Brosna holds brown trout around Shinrone and Birr, and its lower callows flood each winter with wildfowl, so it reads as two different places depending on the month. The Ballyfinboy is easiest to reach at the riverside park in Borrisokane, and the Figile, over on the Kildare side, has a waymarked loop at Clonbullogue. All three want a car.
A €35 million distillery on the Grand Canal that brought pot-still whiskey back to the town in 2014; the single 105-minute tour caps at eight.
A Shannon crossing where a six-arch bridge carries the road into Connacht, with Napoleonic-era forts above the old ford and a marina for cruising and pike angling.
The four counties with no coastline, offering instead the Hill of Uisneach, Corlea's oak road, Birr's Victorian telescope and greenways you can cycle for days.
Offaly's county town on the Grand Canal, where the distillery tour, the towpath and Gothic Charleville Castle a mile south fill a day without much of a crowd.
The first lock above Lough Derg, at the meeting of three provinces, built in 1843 and still working boats through its 142-foot chamber each summer.
10 of 10 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Tullamore, offaly
Tullamore D.E.W.'s distillery reopened in 2014, a €35 million plant on the Grand Canal that brought pot-still and malt whiskey back to the town after sixty years. The one tour on sale, the 105-minute Ultimate Distillery Experience, is over-18s only, caps at eight and costs €47.
Banagher, offaly
Banagher sits on the Shannon where a six-arch bridge crosses from Leinster into Connacht. Napoleonic-era forts guard the old ford, Charlotte Brontë honeymooned here in 1854, and the former railway yard is now a marina for cruising and pike angling.
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.
Tullamore, offaly
Offaly's county town sits on the Grand Canal and centres on Tullamore D.E.W., whose distillery returned to Bury Quay in 2014 after a sixty-year gap. A day here covers the tour, the canal towpath and Gothic Charleville Castle, a mile south, without much of a crowd.
Clonahenoge, offaly
Victoria Lock is the first lock on the River Shannon above Lough Derg, at the point where the provinces of Munster, Leinster and Connacht meet. Built by Thomas Rhodes in 1843, its cast-iron bollards still carry an 1844 maker's mark, and boats still work through the 142-foot chamber every summer.
Borrisokane, offaly
Edenderry, offaly
Kildare, kildare
Offaly, offaly
Shannon Harbour, offaly
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