Things to do...
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Birr Castle
Golf
Birr
Rahan
Esker Hills
Lough Boora Parklands
Birr Castle
(15min from Kilcormac on the N52, Directions, Website)
The castle demesne comprises of Ireland's Historic Science Centre, 50 Hectares of park land including the Formal Gardens and the great telescope.
The Science Centre contains astronomical instruments, cameras, photographs and photographic equipment used in the castle in the mid to late 1800's. It also contains electrical and engineering equipment originally belonging to Charles Parsons and used in his experiments as well as a large area devoted to the botanical work carried out in the Demesne.
The gardens were origionaly landscaped in the 18th centurary and are home to diverse collection of plant material.
The formal gardens home the worlds tallest box hedges. The terraces give you a view of the 1820 suspension bridge over the River Camcor, the earliest of its kind in Ireland. The parklands are also home to various wildlife.
In the early 1840's, the Third Earl of Rosse designed and built the largest telescope in the world. With this telescope, he discovered the spiral nature of some of the galaxies, and from 1845-1914, anyone wishing to witness this phenomenon had to come to Birr.
And they came, in their hundreds, from across Europe and beyond, to observe the stars with Lord Rosse or simply to marvel at this feat of engineering in the middle of Ireland.
This Reflecting telescope remained the largest in the world for over 70 years and is arguably the largest historic scientific instrument still working today. This 'leviathan' as it is named, remains in the centre of the Demesne as Ireland's greatest scientific wonder and represents a masterpiece of human creative genius.
Golf
Birr Golf Course
Rahan Golf Course
Esker Hills
Lough Boora Parklands
(9Min from Kilcormac on Kilnagall Road, Directions, Website)
The parklands consist of a magnificant collection of natural & manmade lakes, wetlands, woodland areas, 50km of walkways, natural recolonisation and pastureland whilst providing a new habitat for wildlife, flora & fauna.
Among these walkways are unique and rare birds, sculptures, information pavilions and a mesolithic site.
1500 items were discovered in the mesolithic site and settlement dates back as far as 6800 BC. While there is not much left of the encampments to see, it is one of the most important archaeological finds in Ireland. Prior to its discovery it was thought that the first human settlements were near to the coast and that the midlands remained uncolonised. The discovery of the Lough Boora Mesolithic site has proven this to be inaccurate and pushed the accepted date for the colonisation of the midlands back by over 3,000 years.
There are sculptures located around the walkways and the majority are accessable to the public. The majority of these sculptures are made from materials found in the bog, such as old railway locomoticves, rail tracks, timber and stone. The sculpture sites have their own site with more information, available here.
The park is free and open all year round, the majority of the parks are wheelchair friendly. Bike hire is available onsite.
Play Ground
There is a modern playground located in the grounds of St Josephs community centre. It was recently build by the community with support from X,Y and Z. Please note, for safety reasons the playground is under 13's only and is monitored by CCTV.
