With slow-moving rivers and sparkling lakes teeming with wildlife, as well as cycle and walking trails along quiet canals and through green fields and golden bogs, Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands has plenty to do at a leisurely pace. You’ll discover villages and towns filled with history and heritage, and find restaurants and pubs serving the tastiest local produce – and for 2025, there’s a whole lot more to enjoy.
As this region has an under-the-radar feel to it, it’s perfect for slow travel and slow adventure, where you can immerse yourself in an area, soak up some nature as well, meet some locals and make genuine connections.
One of the best ways to do this is on the Slow Adventure Jackalope Cycle Tour, a leisurely 10km riverside cycle along the Shannon Blueway. Collect your bike or e-bike from Electric Bike Trails in Leitrim village and meet your local guide, former lockkeeper Seamus Gibbons, before starting the journey along the mostly traffic-free towpath on the river, connecting with nature and learning about the area’s history and heritage.
Stops on the tour include Drumhierny Woodland Hideaway with its forest trails, Acres Lake Floating Boardwalk to see the swans or ducks, and Jinny’s Bakery for sweet treats. The tour finishes at The Shed Distillery to sample Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin and Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey.
In County Offaly, you can capture some of the area’s nature, colours and light in a glass workshop at Glasshammer Studios, run by contemporary Irish artist and sculptor Michelle O’Donnell. The studio surroundings are inspirational, with acres of paddocks, peatland and native woodland. On a half- or full-day glass fusing and enamelling class, you can capture all of this to create a souvenir of your visit to take home with you.
To the south, near Ballinasloe in east Galway, explore Brackloon Castle and Farm, an early 1500s fortified tower house built by Gaelic lords the O Maddens, which is still in use as a family home today. A two-hour visit here will give you an interactive experience of castle hospitality with owner Donal Burke, a historian and architect. He will cover more than 500 years of history over five floors, sharing what he has gathered about the heritage of this region from his collection of original historic papers, art and artefacts.
Ahascragh Distillery
Also in east Galway, try eco-friendly whiskey and gin from Ahascragh Distillery. This is the first Irish distillery to use renewable energy instead of fossil fuels and gas, producing zero energy emissions whiskey and gin. Tours take you through the production process from grain to glass, before finishing with a tasting. The Old Mill Café opposite the distillery serves tasty treats and light breakfasts and lunches, should you wish to stay longer.
To the east, the Grand Canal runs for 123km in total, connecting Dublin with the River Shannon, and you can enjoy 70km of walking and cycling along the newest section of the Grand Canal Greenway to open, the Offaly section. This meanders from the town of Edenderry to the village of Shannon Harbour, through historic bridges and canal locks and takes in the town of Tullamore, home of Tullamore Dew. The flat trail is suitable for all ages and fitness levels. Take a short detour to Lough Boora Discovery Park for walking and cycling trails, angling and birdwatching, and stop for a canalside lunch or refreshments along the way at the Old Warehouse in Tullamore or traditional pub The Thatch in Rahan.
Friends Cycling, Ballycowan Castle, Trail, Grand Canal Way, Greenway, Co Offaly
For somewhere cosy to rest your head, the luxury guest house at Barnahown in Mitchelstown, north Cork is set in a mid-1800s farmhouse at the foot of the Galtee Mountains, making a great base for walking, hiking and cycling.
Also in north Cork is the “adventure stay” at Ballyhass Bunkhouse Village, designed for people who love nature and adventure. Stay overnight in your wooden bunkhouse and sign up for three adventures – anything from wakeboarding or ziplining to a swim and sauna, before gathering around the evening campfire. Those with a sweet tooth should check out the nearby Praline Pastry Café and Chocolate Shop in Mitchelstown, by award-winning chocolatier Norma Kelly, with delicately crafted pastries and handmade chocolates with delicious fillings.
The River Shannon is a key feature of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, rising in the Cuilcagh Mountains in County Cavan and flowing 360km to the Atlantic, filling lakes such as Lough Allen, Lough Ree and Lough Derg along the way. Lough Derg is the ideal location for outdoor festivals and there is a new programme each year for newcomers like the Resonance Lough Derg Festival of Ideas, and Field Exchange, which focuses on climate change. For a little more lake action, sign up for Quest on Lough Derg, a one-day race with running, cycling and kayaking, or the Gaelforce great lake swim.
Finally, one of the most popular activities on the Shannon is to hire a cruiser to explore the river and its lakes at a slow pace. You can float along the quiet waterways, enjoying nature and stopping off at towns, villages, pubs and restaurants along the way. Now you can do this in an eco-friendly way, thanks to an exciting new development in this area – the “greening” of the cruise boats, with the cruise operator companies replacing diesel with HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil), bringing down carbon emissions by 92%. So, you now know that during your visit, you are helping to preserve the nature and biodiversity of the heartlands of Ireland for generations to come.
