Overview
Tullamore packs a working whiskey distillery, a Gothic-revival castle and a canal towpath into a single day, and it draws thinner crowds than the bigger tourist towns. Offaly’s county town – Tulach Mhór, ‘great mound’ – sits where the Grand Canal cuts through the Midlands, with a population of about 15,600 (2022 census). Its township turned 400 in 2022; it was laid out in 1622.
History: fire and whiskey
Tullamore’s symbol is a phoenix, and it earned it. In 1785 a hot-air balloon came down over the town and the fire it started destroyed more than 130 houses. The town rebuilt and put the phoenix on its coat of arms. (A Phoenix Festival ran here from 2000 to 2007; it’s not a fixture on the calendar now, whatever the name suggests.)
The whiskey story starts in 1829 with Michael Molloy’s distillery, which passed to his nephew Bernard Daly and then to general manager Daniel E. Williams – the D.E.W. of the brand – who brought electricity and the first telephone line to the town. The original distillery closed in 1954. William Grant & Sons bought the brand in 2010 and built a new €35 million distillery on Bury Quay, reopening in 2014 and returning production to Tullamore after sixty years.
Tullamore D.E.W.
The Tullamore D.E.W. Visitor Centre on Bury Quay is the main draw. The full Ultimate Distillery Experience runs 105 minutes, over-18s only: an Irish coffee to start, the working still house, a blending lab, a ‘dip the dog’ cask tasting in the snug, and three whiskeys at the end, for €47 a head. Book ahead – tours are small and weekend slots go early. The distillery page has full hours and detail.
The canal and Charleville Castle
The Grand Canal towpath gives a flat, easy walk or cycle – a roughly 5 km loop from the old harbour to Bury Quay – and you can hire leisure boats at the lock.
A mile south of town, Charleville Castle is a Gothic-revival pile designed by Francis Johnston and built between 1800 and 1812, its parkland home to the King Oak, one of Ireland’s oldest trees. It’s volunteer-run and often billed as Ireland’s most haunted house, complete with the ghost of a girl called Harriet – but the practical point is the opening: Thursday to Monday, 11am–4pm, and worth checking the website before you drive out, as the tours depend on volunteers.
For a green half-hour in the centre, Lloyd Town Park has paths and open grass for families.
Events
- Tullamore Show (August) – One of Ireland’s biggest one-day agricultural shows, pulling over 60,000 people out to Blueball.
- Gordon Bennett Classic Car Rally (June) – A run of vintage cars marking the 1903 Gordon Bennett race.
- Queen of the Land Festival (second weekend of November) – A long-running Macra na Feirme festival held in the town.
Practical information
- Getting there: the N52 and N80 roads serve the town; Irish Rail reaches Dublin in about 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Parking: on-street parking gives 15 minutes free then €1 an hour, up to two hours; the council car parks – Kilbride Park, Lloyd Town Park, Market Square West and Tara Street – are the fallback. December parking is free.
- Tourist office: Monday to Saturday, 10am–5pm.
- Getting around: the town is flat and walkable.
Nearby attractions
- Birr Castle: a short drive, with its historic telescope and gardens.
- Clonmacnoise: an early-Christian monastic site on the River Shannon.
- Lough Boora: a worked-out bog turned wetland park, with trails and a sculpture park.
- Banagher: a riverside town with a marina and old bridge.
- Edenderry: a canal town at the county’s eastern edge.
Do the distillery first thing to be sure of a tour slot, then walk the canal south for the afternoon; if the legs are willing, Charleville Castle is a mile off – just check it’s open before you go.