Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [458]
Ard na Hoo
Cleanse the mind and spirit and get back to basics at Ard na Hoo ( 071-913 4939; www.ardnahoo.com; Mullagh, Dromahair; 4-bed cabin weekend/week €550/750), a rustic eco-retreat where you can rent a self-catering eco-lodge, join a yoga retreat or detox program, take a course in alternative living or natural healthcare, or simply sign up for some pampering in the spa. Facilities are simple but comfortable and are designed to relieve you of the stress of city living.
Rossinver Organic Centre
All things good and wholesome come together at the Rossinver Organic Centre ( 071-985 4338; www.theorganiccentre.ie; Rossinver; adult/child €5/free; 10am-5pm Feb-Nov), which aims to promote organic horticulture and sustainable living at its beautiful grounds in north Leitrim. You can simply come and tour the beautiful display gardens, or take a course in anything from organic growing to sustainable design, cheese-making, willow sculpture, bread baking or silk painting. The cafe ( 11am-4pm Sat & Sun) serves wonderful vegetarian fare baked with ingredients from the garden.
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COUNTY LONGFORD
A solidly agrarian region, County Longford is a quiet place of low hills and pastoral scenes. It has few tourist sights but is a haven for anglers who come for the superb fishing around Lough Ree and Lanesborough.
Longford suffered massive emigration during the Famine of the 1840s and 1850s and it has never really recovered. Many Longford migrants went to Argentina, where one of their descendants, Edel Miro O’Farrell, became president in 1914.
Longford’s eponymous county town is a decidedly workaday place, but there’s a friendly tourist office ( 043-334 2577; www.longfordtourism.ie; Market Sq; 9am-5.30pm Mon-Sat May-Sep, hr vary Oct-Apr) and plenty of places to eat.
The county’s main attraction is the magnificent Corlea Trackway ( 043-332 2386; www.heritageireland.ie; Keenagh; admission free; 10am-6pm Apr-Sep), an Iron Age bog road that was built in 148 BC. An 18m stretch of the historic track has now been preserved in a humidified hall at the visitor centre, where you can join a 45-minute tour that details the bog’s unique flora and fauna, and fills you in on how the track was discovered, and methods used to preserve it. Wear a windproof jacket as the bog land can get blowy. The centre is 15km south of Longford on the Ballymahon road (R397).
Longford is also home to one of the three biggest portal dolmens in Ireland. The Aughnacliffe dolmen has an improbably balanced top stone and is thought to be around 5000 years old. Aughnacliffe is 18km north of Longford town off the R198.
There are regular Bus Éireann ( 01-836 6111) services from Longford town to numerous destinations, including Dublin (€15, two hours, 13 daily Monday to Saturday, 11 Sunday) and Sligo (€13, 1½ hours, six daily Monday to Saturday, five Sunday). Buses stop outside Longford train station.
Longford train station ( 043-334 5208), off New St, has trains to Dublin (€34, one hour and 40 minutes, four daily) and Sligo (€26, 1¼ hours, three daily Monday to Saturday, four Sunday).
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COUNTY WESTMEATH
Characterised by lakes and pastures grazed by beef cattle, Westmeath has a wealth of attractions, ranging from a wonderful whiskey distillery and the miraculous Fore Valley, to the country’s oldest pub in the confident county town, Athlone. The rivers and lakes attract a steady stream of visitors and a host of gourmet restaurants and fine accommodation options have sprung up in recent years to cater for the discerning crowds.
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ATHLONE
pop 14,347
Set on the banks of the Shannon, the