The most remarkable thing in Kilcormac is a carving. The Kilcormac Pietà – the dead Christ across the Virgin’s knees, cut from a single block of oak in the 16th century – sits in the village church because parishioners once buried it in a bog for 60 years to keep Cromwell’s soldiers from smashing it. The story goes that the last man who knew where it lay gave up the spot on his deathbed, and it came out of the ground undamaged. You’ll find it inside the Church of the Nativity, built in 1867 on the site of St Cormac’s original 6th-century foundation.
The village
Kilcormac (Irish: Cill Chormaic, ‘Cormac’s church’) sits on the N52 where it meets the R437, halfway between Tullamore and Birr, with the Silver River running through and the Slieve Bloom Mountains rising to the south. It’s a working village of about 935 people rather than a tourist town – a market street, a church, a couple of pubs – but it makes a handy base, and it bills itself as the gateway to Lough Boora. The Kilcormac Development Association runs a tourist hub at St Joseph’s Community Centre, three minutes off Main Street, with a gift shop, a bike hub for rentals and repairs, and a tourist office (057 913 5445).
History
The name honours Cormac Ua Liatháin, a 6th-century monk from Cork who, tradition holds, stopped at St Colmcille’s monastery in Durrow, stayed on to succeed him as abbot, then came here to found a church by the Silver River. The area was O’Molloy territory; a Carmelite monastery once stood where the Convent of Mercy is now. As nearby Ballyboy declined through the 18th and 19th centuries, Kilcormac took over as the local market centre, helped by its place on the Birr–Tullamore road.
Older by far is Lough Boora, a few kilometres out, where a Mesolithic settlement dated to around 6800–6500 BC is one of the earliest known in Ireland. In the last century the surrounding bogs became peat country, with many people working for Bord na Móna; that industry has wound down, though the briquette plant at Derrinlough was still a significant employer at last report.
Lough Boora Discovery Park
A few kilometres from the village, Lough Boora is the real reason most people come. It’s a free, restored-bog park on former Bord na Móna workings, open every day of the year with free parking, and its centrepiece is a 15 km sculpture trail – flat, and friendly to wheelchairs and pushchairs – threading large-scale works by Irish artists across bog, meadow and water. There’s a 10 km cycling loop on an old railway line with bike hire from the visitor centre, a bird hide for whooper swans and other wetland birds, and a café, though its hours aren’t reliably posted, so ring ahead or bring a flask.
If you’ve only an afternoon in the area, spend it here rather than in the village.
Walking: the Offaly Way and Slieve Bloom
Kilcormac is a trailhead for the Offaly Way, and four signposted loop walks start from Market Square, which also holds a fresh-food market on Saturdays. South of the village, the Slieve Bloom Mountains offer some of Ireland’s oldest and quietest hillwalking. The range tops out at just 527 m at Arderin, but with no higher ground for miles the views run clear across the Central Plain. Colour-coded loops start at Kinnitty, Cadamstown and Clonaslee, and the 70 km Slieve Bloom Way can be walked in sections. Dogs aren’t allowed on the stretches crossing farmland, and the going turns muddy after rain, so wear boots.
Eating and getting around
Dooley’s on the N52 is a dependable stop for a pint and a plate, and Dan & Molly’s, a mile off in Ballyboy, does the thatched-pub thing. The village has a Centra, a post office, a pharmacy and a hardware shop.
- Road and rail – The N52 links to the M6 at Tullamore and the M7 at Portlaoise. The nearest train station is Tullamore, about 15 km, with services to Dublin and Galway.
- Buses – A Slieve Bloom Coach service (the 841) is listed as running between Tullamore and Kinnitty via Kilcormac a few times a day, Monday to Saturday, with Local Link connections to Birr and Portlaoise on weekdays. Check current timetables before you rely on it.
Kilcormac has little accommodation of its own; Birr, with Birr Castle, Kinnitty Castle and the B&Bs around Ballycumber are the nearest beds, and Tullamore’s hotels are 15 minutes off.
For a good half-day, see the Pietà in the church, download the free Abarta Heritage audio guide, then drive out to Lough Boora and walk the sculpture trail across the old bog.