County Offaly is regularly passed over by visitors, despite being home to one of Ireland’s most important early Christian sites and some of Leinster’s best walking trails.
Set in the heart of the Midlands, it’s shaped by bogland, rivers and long settlement, where history sits in the open rather than behind glass.
Clonmacnoise anchors Offaly’s past on the Shannon, while the Slieve Bloom Mountains provide forest trails, quiet roads and wide views across the county.
The best things to do in Offaly
Offaly’s best experiences are rooted in its past. This is a county where early Christian monasteries, ancient trackways, and boglands shaped by thousands of years of human activity sit side by side.
Some places explain Ireland’s history in neat displays; Offaly lets you walk through it. From monastic ruins on the Shannon to estates, castles, and landscapes worked long before modern borders existed, the county offers a slower, more tangible connection to Ireland’s story.
1. Birr Castle
Photos via Shutterstock
Birr Castle is where Offaly quietly punches above its weight. There’s been a stronghold here since the 12th century, but what sets Birr apart isn’t just battlements and lineage.
In the 1800s, this small Midlands town became the centre of the scientific world. The Leviathan telescope, built on the castle grounds in 1845, could see deeper into space than anything on Earth at the time.
Today, the castle remains a private home, but the demesne is open, blending formal gardens, riverside walks, and a science centre that explains why Birr once changed how humanity understood the universe.
2. Clonmacnoise
Photos by Nomos Productions courtesy Failte Ireland
Among the most important places to visit in Offaly, Clonmacnoise stands in a category of its own.
Founded in the sixth century beside the River Shannon, it grew into one of Ireland’s great centres of learning, power, and burial.
Kings, scholars, craftsmen, and pilgrims all passed through here, drawn by its position at a key crossroads of land and water.
Today, the site is stripped back to stone and sky: churches, round towers, high crosses, and grave slabs spread across open ground.
3. The Tullamore Distillery
Photo left: Chris Hill. Others: Via Tullamore Dew on FB
One of the more unique things to do in Offaly with friends is a visit to the Tullamore Dew. Opened in 2014, it marked the return of whiskey-making to the town after decades away.
The tours are modern, well-paced, and focused on how Irish whiskey is actually produced today, from water sourced in the Slieve Bloom Mountains to distillation and blending on site.
It’s an easy win for a group day out: informative without dragging, generous on context, and finished, as it should be, with a tasting.
Even non-whiskey obsessives usually leave with a better appreciation of what’s in the glass.
4. Leap Castle
Photos by Gareth McCormack/garethmccormack.com via Failte Ireland
If you’re deciding what to do in Offaly and want something that sparks conversation long after you leave, Leap Castle is hard to ignore.
Dating back to the 1200s, it’s a place where power struggles, family feuds, and outright brutality shaped the walls you walk through today.
This isn’t a polished heritage site – it’s raw, atmospheric, and deliberately unsettling.
The stories are grim, the setting is remote, and the experience leans heavily on history rather than gimmicks.
5. Test your nerve and get one of the best views in the land
The Irish Parachute Club at Clonbullogue Airfield offers a very different side of Offaly.
This is the long-established centre for skydiving in Ireland, run as a non-profit and built around serious training rather than novelty thrills.
First-timers usually arrive nervous and leave buzzing, helped by instructors who’ve clearly done this thousands of times before.
The setup is professional, calm, and reassuring – right up until the plane door opens. Whether you’re jumping for charity or just testing your nerve, it’s one of those experiences that cuts through the usual sightseeing and gives you a story worth retelling.
6. Head for a ramble around Lough Boora Discovery Park
Set on former industrial bogland, Lough Boora Discovery Park is one of Offaly’s best examples of reinvention done right.
What was once a working peat landscape has been reshaped into open parkland threaded with lakes, sculptures, and long, flat trails that suit walking or cycling.
The outdoor sculpture park is the real hook – large-scale pieces scattered across the land, designed to be stumbled upon rather than signposted to death.
It’s quiet, spacious, and refreshingly unpolished. A visit here is one of the best things to do in Offaly with hard to amuse kids.
7. Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival
The Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival is one of those events that quietly earns its reputation through longevity rather than hype.
Running for decades, it turns Birr into a layered mix of visual art, theatre, music, street performances, and pop-up happenings that spill well beyond formal venues.
Professional artists share space with local groups, exhibitions sit beside workshops, and the town itself becomes part of the programme.
8. Spend a night if the very fancy Kinnitty Castle
Photos via Kinnitty Castle on FB
Kinnitty Castle makes a solid base for exploring Offaly because it drops you straight into the middle of it.
Sitting at the foothills of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, it’s well placed for walking trails, forest roads, and easy spins to Birr, Clonmacnoise, and beyond.
The building itself dates back to the 13th century, so even downtime feels anchored in history rather than filler. Few castle hotels in Ireland boast an interior as authentic.
9. Lace up your boots and walk the Slieve Bloom Way
Photos via Shutterstock
The Slieve Bloom Way is a long-distance walk that cuts a full circuit around Offaly’s only mountain range.
At just over 70km, it’s usually done over three days and demands decent fitness, solid boots, and a bit of planning.
While the Blooms aren’t high, they rise abruptly from the Midlands, which means wide, far-reaching views once you’re up on the ridges.
The route mixes forest roads, rough upland paths, streams, and long, quiet stretches where you’ll barely see another soul.
10. Grab a feed with a view at Lukers
You’ll find Lukers in Shannonbridge, finely situated along the banks of the beautiful River Shannon.
This little gem dates back to 1757 and is split into two parts; the old section and the new.
The new section offers breathtaking panoramic views of the River Shannon and the surrounding area. The perfect place for a meal with a view with friends.
The old section is home to one of the best pubs traditional pubs in Offaly.
11. Dodge the ghosts at Charleville Castle
Photo via Charleville Castle on Facebook
You’ll find Charleville Castle just outside Tullamore. Built in the 1600s, this castle is incredibly well preserved, in comparison to many others in Ireland from the same era.
According to legend, Charleville Castle is haunted by the ghost of a little girl named Harriet, who died tragically in the castle at the age of 8 in 1861.
Sights of her ghost have been reported many times, and by many different people, over the years.
A little girl ghost… bricks shat.
What places to see in Offaly have we missed?
The guides on this site rarely sit still.
They grow based on feedback and recommendations from readers and locals that visit and comment.
Have something to recommend? Let me know in the comments section below!
Keith O’Hara has lived in Ireland for 35 years and has spent much of the last 13 creating what is now The Irish Road Trip guide. Over the years, the website has published thousands of meticulously researched Ireland travel guides, welcoming 40 million+ visitors along the way. In 2022, the Irish Road Trip team published the world’s largest collection of Irish Road Trip itineraries. Keith lives in Dublin with his dog Toby and finds writing in the 3rd person minus craic altogether.