Overview
Multyfarnham’s friary is the only Franciscan house in Ireland still standing on the ground where it was founded, in 1268. Friars have kept it going through dissolution, war and long roofless decades, and a small community lives here still. That one fact is most of the reason to stop in this Westmeath village of 460 people, on the western shore of Lough Owel a short drive north of Mullingar. It won the national Tidy Towns competition back in 1977 and still keeps its streets in good order. But be clear about the scale: one friary, one good restaurant, a lake, and a garden a mile out. It makes a quiet half-day, not a full one.
The Franciscan friary
The friary was founded in 1268 – the friars’ own records say 1269 – and it is the only Franciscan foundation in Ireland still on its original medieval footprint. People have worshipped on this spot for over 750 years. The church stood roofless through much of the 17th century, was restored in the 1800s, and a new friary building went up within the old grounds in the 1830s. Step inside and you get medieval stonework alongside the later work. The friars keep it open, and their website (theabbeymultyfarnham.ie) lists Mass times, a webcam, and a perpetual novena to St Anthony every Tuesday at 8pm.
If you only do one thing here, walk the Stations of the Cross. Fourteen life-size stations, built between 1938 and 1942, are set across the grounds, and following them is a slow, level loop that ties the friary to its lakeside setting better than the church interior does.
Abbey Blooms gardens
A kilometre outside the village, behind the friary, Abbey Blooms is a botanical garden opened in July 2021 as a community-inclusion project by the care company Nua Healthcare. There is a café for coffee and light meals, a garden shop selling seedlings, bulbs and potted plants, and sheltered gazebos to sit out of the wind. It works as an easy add-on to a friary visit rather than a destination on its own.
Lough Owel
Lough Owel is a designated bathing area, and on a warm day the swimming is the real draw: clear water and gently shelving shores. It is a mesotrophic lake that feeds the Royal Canal, and it holds rare plants and a good range of waterfowl, so birdwatchers do well here too. Walking and cycling routes run around parts of the shore, generally flat and easy, and anglers can get permits for trout and pike. There is no single waymarked lakeside loop, though, so plan your route rather than looking for signs.
The village
Weirs Bar & Restaurant is the social hub and the best place to eat, leaning traditional with local ingredients. The centre has a children’s playground, a post office and a couple of shops, with free on-street parking and a car park opposite the friary. Self-catering is limited but well regarded, Lake Lodge among the options.
Getting there
Multyfarnham is roughly an hour from Dublin on the M4 and N4, then a few miles of country road. Public transport is thin. The railway closed in 1963, so the nearest train is Mullingar, about 15 km south, and the nearest bus stop is at Ballinalack, 7 km away, on Bus Éireann routes 022 and 023. Realistically, you drive.
Practical notes:
- Parking: free on the main street; car park opposite the friary.
- Accessibility: the village centre and playground are flat and buggy-friendly; the friary church has level entry, though parts of the grounds are uneven; the gardens are paved.
- Info: friary at theabbeymultyfarnham.ie; gardens at abbeyblooms.ie.
Nearby
Belvedere House, an 18th-century estate known for its formal gardens and the folly called the Jealous Wall, is a short drive south toward Mullingar. The market town of Moate and Lough Lene lie further off for more regional history. The Hill of Uisneach, the mythological centre of Ireland with its ritual sites and long midland views, is also in Westmeath, to the south-west and not far by car.
If you want the lake at its best, come on a warm afternoon and swim. The friary is there whatever the weather.