Lakes, Rivers & Waterfalls in County Roscommon

Four of the six places here sit within a short drive of Boyle, in the north of the county. Lough Gara, on the Sligo border, holds around 300 crannógs, most of them exposed when the lake was partly drained in the 1950s; it is a shallow, reed-fringed Ramsar wetland that winters whooper swans and Greenland white-fronted geese, and it fishes well for pike. The Boyle River carries on from there through the town and out towards Lough Key, and the same stretch of water gives you Knockvicar, with its lock, weir and flat riverside towpath, and Moylurg Tower, the concrete lookout raised in 1973 on the foundations of the burnt-out Rockingham House.

Boyle itself is the practical base for that group. Boyle Abbey, King House and Lough Key Forest Park are all within walking distance or a short drive of the harbour, which takes up to 28 boats on free short-stay moorings, with larger marinas downriver at Knockvicar and Cootehall.

The other two are separate outings. The River Suck runs 133 km down the western side of the county, and the waymarked Suck Valley Way follows it through nine villages and past the Castlestrange scribed stone. Kiltoom lies well to the south, on the shore of Lough Ree just off the N61 north of Athlone.