Best Scenic Place in County Westmeath, Ireland - Map and Reviews

Lough Owel is a large and beautiful freshwater lake located in County Westmeath in the Irish Midlands, sitting just a few kilometres north of the county town of Mullingar. It is one of the finest lakes in the region and holds considerable ecological, recreational, and historical importance. Covering an area of approximately 980 hectares and reaching depths of up to 24 metres in places, it is among the deeper lakes in the Irish Midlands, which gives it a clarity and cool quality that distinguishes it from many of its shallower neighbours. The lake is a designated candidate Special Area of Conservation and is noted for its high water quality and the diversity of wildlife it supports, making it a place of genuine natural significance as well as a popular destination for those who love the outdoors. The lake has been an important source of drinking water for Mullingar and the surrounding area for many decades, with a water treatment facility drawing from its clean reserves. This dual role as both a conservation site and a municipal water supply has helped ensure that Lough Owel has been carefully protected from the kind of intensive development and heavy recreational pressure that has affected other Irish lakes. The water is famously clear, and on calm days the reflections of the surrounding woodlands and sky create a mirror-like surface that feels almost otherworldly in its stillness. The lake sits in a drumlin landscape, and the gently rolling hills that frame it give the whole setting a soft, enclosed quality, as if the lake is cupped in the land itself. Historically, the lake and its surrounds have associations reaching back into early medieval Ireland. The High King Malachy II, one of the most significant Irish rulers of the early medieval period and a rival of Brian Boru, is said to have drowned in Lough Owel in 1022 AD. According to historical accounts and the Annals of the Four Masters, Malachy, who had earlier been king of all Ireland before Brian Boru's rise to power, died at the lake, and his death marked the end of a storied life that had seen him reclaim the high kingship after Clontarf. His passing at Lough Owel gives the place a quiet but resonant historical weight that is easy to overlook amid the scenery but rewards those who know the story. In terms of its physical character, Lough Owel is the kind of place that rewards slow, attentive visiting. The shoreline varies considerably — in some areas there are reed beds and marshy margins that provide important habitat for waterfowl, while in others the ground is firmer and more accessible. On windy days the lake can whip up surprisingly choppy conditions, and the sound of water against the reeds and the calls of birds create a textured, living soundscape. On still mornings, especially in autumn or early spring, a mist often lies across the water, and the silence is broken only by the occasional splash of a grebe or the honk of passing geese. The surrounding woodland and hedgerow provide shelter, and the air has the clean, damp quality typical of the Irish lake country. The lake is well known to anglers and is considered one of the premier trout fisheries in the country. Brown trout and pike are the main species, and the lake has a long association with quality fly fishing. Permits are required and are managed by the local angling club and Inland Fisheries Ireland, which maintains stocking and conservation practices to keep the fishery healthy. The clarity of the water means that fishing here requires a degree of skill and care that suits experienced anglers, and the lake has a reputation in Irish angling circles as a place where technique matters. Canoe touring is also occasionally undertaken on the lake, though recreational boating is controlled to protect the environment and the water quality. The surrounding landscape is typical of County Westmeath at its finest — a patchwork of small farms, hedgerows, patches of broadleaf woodland, and quiet country roads that wind between the lakes. Mullingar itself, less than five kilometres to the south, is a busy market town with good services, restaurants, and accommodation, making it an ideal base for exploring the wider lake district. The area around Lough Owel is also close to Lough Ennell and Lough Derravaragh, the latter of which is steeped in the legend of the Children of Lir, one of the great tragic tales of Irish mythology. Together these lakes form a loose constellation of beautiful water bodies that give Westmeath its character and its nickname, the Lake County. Visitors can access Lough Owel by car via the R394 regional road and a series of local roads that approach the shoreline. There is a small car park and access point at the southern end of the lake that serves anglers and walkers alike. The lake is best visited in spring or early summer when wildflowers are at their most abundant along the margins, or in autumn when the surrounding trees turn and the light over the water has a particular golden quality. Winter visits can be rewarding too, particularly for birdwatchers, as the lake attracts wintering wildfowl including tufted duck, pochard, and whooper swan. Given the lake's role as a water supply and conservation area, visitors are asked to keep dogs under control, avoid disturbing nesting birds, and take care not to introduce any foreign material or species to the water.

Lough Derravaragh is a long, narrow glacial lake in County Westmeath, in the Irish Midlands, and is one of the most storied and scenically beautiful bodies of water in Ireland. Stretching roughly eight kilometres in length and set amid gently rolling drumlin countryside, it occupies a distinctive finger-like shape that betrays its glacial origins — carved and deepened by ice sheets during the last Ice Age and fed by streams draining the surrounding bogland and farmland. The lake sits at a modest elevation on the central plain, and its calm, reed-fringed waters are known for their exceptional clarity and the way they mirror the sky, turning silver or gold depending on the light and season. It is a designated Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area under European wildlife directives, recognising both its ecological richness and the internationally significant populations of waterfowl that gather on its surface. The lake is above all associated with one of the greatest and most haunting tales in early Irish mythology: the Children of Lir. In this legend, four royal children — Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiachra, and Conn — were transformed into swans by their jealous stepmother Aoife, condemned to spend nine hundred years wandering between three bodies of water. The first three hundred years of their enchantment were spent on Lough Derravaragh, within sight and sound of their heartbroken father Lir's home. According to the tale, their singing was so magical and beautiful that people came from across Ireland to hear them, and those who listened found themselves soothed into a deep, peaceful sleep. The story ends in sorrow and redemption, and it remains one of the Four Sorrows of Irish mythology, a narrative of love, loss, transformation, and the cruelty of time. For centuries, killing a swan in Ireland was considered deeply unlucky, a taboo at least partly traceable to this myth. A stone sculpture commemorating the Children of Lir stands in the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin, and Lough Derravaragh is still spoken of as the lake most intimately associated with their long enchantment. Ecologically, Lough Derravaragh is a place of remarkable vitality. The lake supports large populations of wintering whooper swans, which arrive from Iceland in autumn and can be seen in numbers that make the myth feel uncannily real. Tufted ducks, pochards, goldeneyes, and great crested grebes also gather in significant numbers, and the shoreline habitats include reedbeds, wet grassland, and carr woodland that provide shelter for breeding and migrating birds alike. Otters inhabit the margins of the lake, and pike, perch, bream, and brown trout are found in its waters, making it a destination for coarse fishermen as well as birdwatchers. The surrounding landscape is classic Midlands scenery — wide open skies, hedged fields, scattered farms, and low drumlins that give the horizon a gently humped profile. The sense of quietness here, especially in early morning or evening, is profound; the sound of wind across reeds, the honking of swans overhead, and the lapping of water on the shore create an atmosphere of genuine solitude and ancientness. The nearest town to the lake is Multyfarnham, a small village a few kilometres to the east, which itself is home to a Franciscan friary with medieval origins that remains active today. The town of Castlepollard lies to the north, and the larger town of Mullingar — the county town of Westmeath — is roughly fifteen kilometres to the south and serves as the main hub for visitors to the region. Just a short distance from the lake's northern shore lies Tullynally Castle, a remarkable Gothic Revival pile that is one of the largest inhabited castles in Ireland, home to the Pakenham family for over four hundred years and open to the public during summer months. The grounds of Tullynally include extensive gardens and woodland walks. The Royal Canal, a historic waterway constructed in the late eighteenth century, passes through Mullingar and the surrounding countryside, offering towpath walks and cycling routes that link the Midlands towns and villages. Visiting Lough Derravaragh is a low-key, unhurried experience rather than a structured tourist attraction. There is no large visitor centre or commercial infrastructure at the lake itself, which contributes greatly to its appeal. A minor road runs along part of the western and northern shore, affording occasional glimpses of the water through hedges and gaps in the trees, and there are informal pull-ins and access points where walkers can reach the shore. The lake is well used by local fishermen and birdwatchers, and small boats can be launched at certain points. The best time to visit is autumn or winter for the spectacle of migratory waterfowl, particularly the whooper swans, but the lake is beautiful in every season — in spring the surrounding fields are vivid green and the first wildflowers appear along the margins, while summer brings long evenings and a more populated rural landscape. Wellies or sturdy waterproof footwear are advisable for walking near the water's edge, as the ground can be boggy even in dry periods. What makes Lough Derravaragh unusual among Irish lakes is the way it combines genuine mythological depth with ecological importance and sheer landscape beauty, all in a part of Ireland that is often overlooked by visitors fixated on the west coast. The Midlands of Ireland carry their own quiet and ancient character, shaped by the vast boglands that once dominated the region and by the slow rhythms of pastoral farming that have marked the land for millennia. Derravaragh's waters are deep enough in places to have a dark, almost black quality when seen from certain angles, and on overcast days the atmosphere can feel genuinely primordial — as though the landscape has changed very little since the swans of the legend first settled on these shores. For anyone travelling through the Irish Midlands, it offers one of those rare and rewarding experiences of a place where mythology, natural history, and landscape converge in a way that feels entirely unforced.

Lough Lene is a serene and strikingly beautiful lake situated in County Westmeath, Ireland, lying roughly between the towns of Castlepollard and Collinstown. It is one of the clearest and cleanest lakes in the Irish midlands, long celebrated for the exceptional purity and visibility of its water. The lake occupies a glacially carved basin in the drumlin landscape of this quiet corner of Westmeath, and its unusually clear waters allow visibility of several metres, making it particularly popular with scuba divers who come from across Ireland and further afield to explore its submerged contours and the underwater remains of a crannog — an artificial island dwelling — that lies beneath its surface. The lake's history is deeply entwined with early Christian and medieval Ireland. The shores of Lough Lene were home to a monastery associated with Saint Erc and later with various ecclesiastical communities that took advantage of the natural protection offered by its waters. The crannog on the lake was inhabited during the early medieval period and represents the kind of island settlement common throughout Ireland during times of instability, where the water offered both a natural moat and a reliable source of food. Traces of these ancient habitations still interest archaeologists and divers today. The area around the lake was also part of the broader O'Reilly and later Nugent family territories during the medieval period, and the landscape retains echoes of that Gaelic and Norman layering. Physically, Lough Lene is a medium-sized lake, roughly two kilometres in length, with wooded and gently rolling shores. The surrounding hills are dressed in mixed woodland and pasture, and the drumlin topography gives the landscape a rounded, softly undulating quality that is characteristic of County Westmeath. The water itself has a remarkable clarity, often appearing almost aquamarine in bright sunlight, a quality that has earned it comparison to alpine lakes by those who visit. On still mornings, the surface mirrors the surrounding treeline perfectly, and the silence is broken only by birdsong, the occasional splash of a fish, and the distant sound of cattle from nearby farms. The surrounding area is part of the quiet, agricultural heartland of Westmeath, and is not heavily touristed, lending Lough Lene an atmosphere of genuine seclusion. Collinstown, a small village, lies close by and provides a modest focal point for the local community. Castlepollard, a few kilometres away, is a more substantial town with services and amenities, and is also notable for Tullynally Castle, the ancestral seat of the Pakenham family and one of the largest inhabited castles in Ireland, whose extensive gardens are open to visitors. The broader region around Lough Lene includes other lakes typical of the Irish midlands, such as Lough Derravaragh, which is steeped in the legend of the Children of Lir, creating a landscape dense with mythological resonance. Lough Lene holds a particular reputation among Ireland's diving community. The exceptional water clarity — which can exceed five metres of horizontal visibility, remarkable for an inland Irish lake — combined with the presence of the underwater crannog, makes it a destination of genuine interest for both recreational and archaeological divers. Diving clubs regularly organize trips to the lake, and the crannog remains are considered a meaningful underwater heritage site. The lake is also used for swimming and is a local favourite during summer months, with the clear water and gentle, accessible shores making it an appealing spot for a traditional Irish lake swim. The best time to visit Lough Lene is during the late spring and summer months, from May through August, when the light is long and warm, the vegetation is at its fullest, and the water temperature becomes bearable for swimming. Autumn visits have their own character, when the surrounding woodland turns amber and gold and the lake sits quiet and mist-covered in the mornings. Access is relatively straightforward via local roads from Collinstown or Castlepollard, and there is a small parking area near the shore. The road network in this part of Westmeath is rural and narrow in places, but manageable with care. There are no large commercial facilities at the lake itself, so visitors should come prepared with their own provisions. One of the more quietly fascinating aspects of Lough Lene is precisely its combination of unassuming appearance and hidden depth — both literally and historically. A lake that at first glance seems like simply another beautiful Irish midland water in fact conceals medieval archaeology on its bed, supports a niche but passionate community of divers, and sits within a landscape layered with early Christian heritage and Gaelic history. It is the kind of place that rewards the visitor who arrives without great expectations and leaves with a strong impression of having discovered something genuinely special and overlooked.

Lough Ennell is a large, shallow freshwater lake located in County Westmeath in the Irish Midlands, sitting roughly three kilometres south of the town of Mullingar. Covering approximately 1,870 hectares, it is the third largest lake in the Republic of Ireland and holds a place of considerable importance in both Irish history and natural heritage. The lake is an internationally recognised Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area under European Union designations, protected for its machair grasslands, its populations of rare aquatic plants, and its role as a wintering ground for significant numbers of wildfowl, particularly whooper swans, tufted ducks, and pochards. For the angler, historian, naturalist or casual walker alike, Lough Ennell offers an uncommonly rich experience in a landscape that feels both timeless and deeply rooted in Irish identity. The history surrounding Lough Ennell stretches back millennia. The lake was known in early Irish texts as Loch Ainninn, and its shores were intimately connected with the High Kings of Meath and the ancient kingship of Ireland. Most famously, the eastern shore was home to Belvedere House, but more ancient still are the associations with the Hill of Uisneach and the broader sacred geography of the midlands. The lake is closely tied to the legendary figure of Malachy II, the High King of Ireland who famously wrestled the Collar of Gold from the Norse king of Dublin. Malachy had a stronghold in this region, and it is said that he drowned the Viking leader Turgesius in Lough Ennell in the ninth century — an event preserved in annals and local tradition alike. These deep layers of heroic and mythological history give the lake a resonance that goes well beyond its scenic beauty. On the eastern shore stands Belvedere House, Gardens and Park, the finest Palladian villa in the Irish Midlands and one of the most visited heritage sites in County Westmeath. Built around 1740 for Robert Rochfort, the first Earl of Belvedere, the house sits in landscaped grounds that slope gently down to the lakeshore. The estate is perhaps most notorious for its so-called Jealous Wall — a ruined Gothic folly deliberately constructed by Rochfort to block the view of his brother's adjacent mansion, born out of a bitter family dispute that also saw Rochfort imprison his own wife for over thirty years on suspicion of adultery with that same brother. This extraordinary tale of domestic cruelty and aristocratic rivalry lends the beautiful grounds an undercurrent of dark fascination that visitors often find unexpectedly moving. Physically, Lough Ennell is a wide, open expanse of pale grey-blue water that shifts dramatically with the weather and the season. The lake is notably shallow — rarely more than about seven metres at its deepest — which means it warms relatively quickly in summer and supports dense growths of aquatic macrophytes including stoneworts and water milfoil, giving the water a peculiar clarity in calm conditions. The shoreline varies from reed-fringed margins and boggy inlets to more open grassy lakeshores, and the smell of clean water, reeds, and turf smoke from nearby farmhouses is characteristic on cooler days. The sound of the lake on a windy afternoon — whitecaps slapping against the shore, the calls of coots and mallards, the distant honking of whooper swans — is one of those elemental Irish experiences that stays with visitors long after they have left. The surrounding landscape is quintessentially midland Irish: drumlin country shaped by retreating glaciers, with low rounded hills, small farms bounded by hawthorn hedges, and patches of unimproved wet grassland. The town of Mullingar lies a few kilometres to the north and provides all necessary amenities including hotels, restaurants and shops. The Royal Canal runs nearby and offers pleasant walking and cycling along its towpath. The broader County Westmeath lake district, which includes Lough Owel, Lough Derravaragh — itself legendary as the place where the Children of Lir were transformed into swans — and Lough Sheelin, is easily accessible and makes the area well worth spending at least a day or two exploring. For visitors, the easiest access point is through Belvedere House, Gardens and Park on the R392 road south of Mullingar, which charges a modest entrance fee and provides car parking, toilets, a café, and well-maintained walking trails along the lakeshore and through the gardens. There is also public access to parts of the western shore, and the lake is popular with coarse anglers fishing for bream, roach, pike and perch, with day tickets available locally. The best times to visit are late spring, when the grounds are in flower and the bird life is active, or early winter, when the whooper swans arrive from Iceland and can be seen in impressive numbers on the open water. The lake and estate are accessible year-round, though the estate house itself keeps seasonal hours. One of the more unusual and lesser-known facts about Lough Ennell is that it was once the site of a celebrated Victorian fishery, drawing wealthy anglers from Britain and beyond who considered its trout — a distinct local strain of brown trout known for their large size — among the finest in Ireland. The lake's trout fishing declined significantly during the twentieth century due to eutrophication caused by agricultural run-off, but concerted conservation efforts in recent decades have improved water quality measurably, and the fishery is slowly recovering. The lake also featured in the early aviation history of Ireland: the surrounding flat midland landscape was used for early flying experiments, and Mullingar itself has modest but genuine claims in the story of Irish aviation. Lough Ennell, in short, is a place where natural beauty, ecological richness, aristocratic drama, and deep historical memory converge in a way that rewards curiosity and careful attention.