Ireland day 0552. Monday 03 April 2023- Athlone and Belvedere *

Ireland day 0552. Monday 03 April 2023- Athlone and Belvedere
Today’s summary Val drove us over to Athlone to have a look at this new (to us) town right in the middle of Ireland.   It was a bit disappointing insofar as the castle and art gallery were both closed but the river Shannon was very impressive.  Stopped off at the excellent Belvedere house and then had a look at Mullingar on the way back
Today’s weather Overcast, cool and windy but dry all day.   Moderate Easterly wind.   Appx 11c but feeling colder
Today’s overview location
(The blue mark shows the location of our route)
Close-up location
(The blue line shows where we walked)
(No GPX today)
Commentary

(Summary blog only.   Last full blog was Day 0368).

Val had a day off work so we decided to make the most of it and visit somewhere new.

A quick look at the map reminded us we’d never visited the town of Athlone, which lies more or less at the absolute centre of Ireland – astride the River Shannon (which we also hadn’t explored properly).   It only took 90 minutes to drive there, but when we arrived we found that our two main reasons for going – the art gallery and the castle – were both rather inconveniently closed on a Monday.   Revealing a distinct over-reliance on spontaneity on our part.   Still, we had a look in the church, which was impressive with its huge spires (it’s visible for miles around and is often mistaken for a cathedral) and a good wander round the town on both the western (Connaght) and eastern (Leinster) sides of the river.

It was pleasant enough but perhaps not looking quite its best on a grey windswept day like today.   Still, the mighty river Shannon was indeed very impressive in size – I don’t think I’ve seen a river of this size anywhere in the British Isles before – and we did find a nice café to get some welcome hot refreshments half way round.

Once the parking meter ran out we decided not to linger in Athlone but instead to head over to nearby Mullingar, to have a look at the Belvedere stately home and estate.   That turned out to be a absolute gem – a bit off the beaten track, so pretty quiet on a day like today – but stunning grounds with pathways, on the shores of Lough Ennell – which is huge in scale, in the same way that the Shannon seems to be.   There was just time to have a look round the house, which has a fantastic terrace at the front (pictured at the top in the banner image), looking over the lough.  Then a good look round the grounds and at the Jealous Wall folly – all of which is steeped in history, some of which is recorded in the picture notes below.

Then a quick drive back to Malahide via Mullingar (which looked quite nice as we passed through) and soup and toast for tea.   A perfect, and unexpected, day out and sincere thanks once again to Val for doing all the driving

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)

Outside the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, trying to contain our disappointment that both the castle and the art gallery are closed on Mondays The River Shannon splits Athlone in half.   Looking downstream from the bridge by the castle, you can see that  it’s an absolutely massive river – it dwarfs the Liffey by a large margin.   It’s actually the longest river in the British Isles, and drains one fifth of the whole of Ireland
Consolation prize – an excellent coffee and pastel de nata in an authentic Portuguese café. The “Jealous Wall” at Belvedere – a folly built by the “wicked” earl Robert Rochfort in the 1700’s, to block the view so he didn’t have to look at his brother George’s much larger castle on the other side of the valley.   As another facet of his wicked nature, he banished his wife to solitary confinement in a house on his estate for over 30 years, on account of an unfounded rumour that she was having an affair with the same brother George
Lough Ennell, at the bottom of the Belvedere estate.   It’s absolutely massive, and in this view it reminded me of the huge lakes that you find up in the north of Sweden Western Skunk Cabbage – originally imported as an ornamental plant from the Pacific coast of western North America, and now classified in the EU as an invasive weed.
The Catholic church of Sts. Peter and Paul dominates the centre of Athlone.   It’s actually quite new, being opened as recently as 1937
Interactive map

(No map today)

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