Towns in Leitrim | |||
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Carrick on Shannon | Dromod | Jamestown |
County Leitrim is a relatively small mainly inland county of lakes, rivers, hills and bogland. A pretty county with Lough Allen splitting it in two.
Carrick-on-Shannon, the county capital of Leitrim, is the best base for touring the county. One of Ireland's best inland holiday resorts, Carrick, as it is known to the locals, is one of the best developed centres on the river Shannon. Situated just south of Lough Key, it is an ideal base for cruising the Shannon, Angling, walking, biking, horseriding and golf. Carrick was a major depot for river trade up until the 1960's and now, with a lack of heavy industry, this has given way to its unpolluted air and clean waterway. A great meeting place for cruising enthusiasts and anglers, the Shannon provides 258km of cruising waterway, wildfowl, wildlife sanctuaries which occupy its inner lakes and bays, and the colourful and varied flora. Members of the Carrick-on-Shannon rowing club established in 1827 can be witnessed practising on these waterways and the annual regatta at the August holiday has become a famous festivity of the North-West.
Also famous for historic sites of interest, Carrick is home to the masonry remains of 'Carrick drumruske', a ruin that was ahide within the garda station yard, until it was revealed with the demolition of the building in 1983. Also Worth a visit is Costello Chapel, reputed to be the second smallest chapel in the world, built in 1877. Also the location of Ireland's primary official site comemorating the great hunger of 1845-1850 is the Famine Museum. The Carrick-on Shannon workhouse built in 1841, as a result of The Poor Law Act of 1838, this building, which could accommodate 800 inmates, fell short in its inadequacies in dealing with the tragedy of the Famine.
With its varied cruising waters around Carrick, there are a large number of villages within a short cruising distance of one another. southwards along the river as Shannon expands you have Carnadoe, Kilglass and Grange. There are also a variety of channels in Lough Ree, Lecarrow and Hodson Bay (Westward) or Eastward to Inny River and the lakes of Coosan and Killenure.
8km north of Carrick-on-Shannon, situated on the southern shores of lough Allen, is Drumshambo, mainly an angling centre. Within a 6km radius of this town lies 10 other lakes, making Drumshambo ideal for an angling holiday destination, also great for any family holiday, with a heated outdoor swimming pool, children play area and tennis court.
Situated in the Rynn Valley and surrounded by the angling waters of Lough Rynn, Creenagh Lake, Lough MacHugh and Cloonboniagh lake is Mohill, another popular place of interest.
Rooskey/Dromod are also well known angling villages on the river Shannon with the local waters of the shannon tributaries of the Rynn, Eslin rivers, Pigeon Island Bay, Gortinty, Cloonboniagh and Rynn and Aduff Lakes.
Ballinamore with its 28 lakes within a 10km radius and 17km of riverbank also makes for a well equipped angling holiday.
Carrigallen, another great angling centre, is equipped with 14 waterways within a radius of 3 miles of the town.
Hence, this Anglers paradise of Leitrim has played host to many National and International Fishing Competitions, with its 41 lakes and the river Shannon stocked with Roach, bream, rudd, pike, perch, tench, eel and trout. With its Moon River Cruises and Post-Pub Cruises (if you can stand up to it !) providing boozy and entertaining evenings/nights on the shannon in the summer. Boats, bait, specialised fishing maps and expertise is awaiting you.