Ballymahon, Co Longford, Irlanda

 The House
The house is cosy, well appointed and maintained with private parking. It is located in a quiet rural setting within 3k of the small market town of Ballymahon https://ballymahontown.com/ in the centre of Ireland. It is surrounded by the Prime Amenity Area of Newcastle Woods with the River Inny flowing through it, popular for walking and cycling. Wildlife includes deer, badgers, pine martin,squirrels, several species of bats and on the odd occasion you can enjoy a fleeting glimpse of a Kingfisher exploring the river. The vegetation in the forest includes a wide variety of fungi.
Very good tourist map of County Longford
http://www.longfordtourism.ie/wp-content/uploads/map_of_county_longford.pdf
Handy references to our area are the Android and IOS smart phone apps:
Explore Longford
MidlandsIreland.ie

Ballymahon is well serviced with Restaurants, Supermarkets, Pharmacies, Butchers Hairdressers and other necessities. The larger towns of Athlone, Longford and Mullingar, can be reached in less than half an hour.
The cities of Dublin and Galway are just over an hour away and are also accessible by an excellent railway service

Center Parcs, the premier holiday destination, located nearby, plan to commence operations in mid summer 2019. Some of their facilities are accessible to the general public, please check with Center Parcs https://www.centerparcs.ie/

The wider area is a good location for cycling with multiple designated cycle tracks on quiet country roads but the real “Gem” is the Royal Canal with its excellent, newly surfaced tow path. The easterly direction will take you all the way to Dublin and in the opposite direction to the River Shannon which is the longest river in the British Isles, running through peaceful rural countryside with interesting bridges, wild flowers etc.

The river Inny flows within 200m of our house and is widely regarded as a popular grade 2 – 3 kayaking river. http://iww.ie/river_guide/river.php?id=309
A wide range of fishing activities are available from bank fishing on the river Inny and the Royal Canal (which is nearby), to the river Shannon, also lake fishing on Lough Ree, less than 10k from our home .
Close by, for the keen fly fisherman, there is a well stocked private lake with boat supplied for a surprisingly low fee.
http://fishinginireland.info/news/trout-reports/mount-dalton-trout-lake-fishing-well/

The quiet Heritage Village of Ardagh which is less than 10k away is well worth a visit
For those with a literary interest, Goldsmith, the Irish novelist, playwright and poet, best known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766). His birthplace is at Pallas, the house is now in ruins and about 3k from our home.
A little further along this road is Abbeyshrule, a picturesque village located on the banks of the Royal Canal. It has won a gold medal winner for the National Tidy Towns Awards. The village also has an airfield which is a popular location for light aircraft enthusiasts and also offers flying tuition.
http://www.megalithicireland.com/Abbeyshrule,%20Longford.html

Just a few kilometres beyond Athlone is Clonmacnoise - an early Christian Monastic Settlement.
https://www.visitoffaly.ie/Places-to-Go/Clonmacnoise-Monastic-Site/