Things to Do in Edenderry, Co. Offaly: A Local Guide
The canal, the castle ruins, the heritage trail and the bluebell woods — what is actually worth doing in and around Edenderry.
Edenderry town centre, Co. Offaly
Edenderry is a working market town rather than a tourist resort, and that is part of its appeal. There is no queue for anything, nobody is trying to sell you a leprechaun hat, and most of what is worth doing here is either free or costs the price of a cup of coffee. If you are staying in the town for a night or a few days, here is what is actually worth your time.
Walk the Grand Canal
The canal is the reason Edenderry looks the way it does, and it is still the best thing about the town. The harbour sits at the end of a short branch line off the main Grand Canal, which is unusual, and it means the water in the middle of town is calm and quiet rather than a through-route.
The towpath is flat, dry underfoot most of the year, and you can walk it in either direction for as long as you fancy before turning back. Heading east takes you towards Kildare and the bogs, west towards Daingean and Tullamore. You do not need a plan; there is no wrong direction, and you will be walking on the same line that carried turf and porter to Dublin for the better part of two centuries.
Find the three bridges
Edenderry has three canal bridges worth a look, and spotting all three makes a decent short walk in itself. George's Bridge, Drumcooley Bridge (you will hear it called Colgan's Bridge locally, depending on who you ask), and Downshire Bridge. They are unfussy pieces of engineering, but they are the kind of stone work nobody builds any more, and each one gives you a different angle on the water.
Climb up to Blundell Castle
On the hill above the town sit the ruins of Blundell Castle. There is not a great deal left standing, and it is a ruin in the honest sense of the word rather than a restored visitor attraction, but the site has been built on and fought over since medieval times, with surviving phases running from the early fifteenth century through to the end of the seventeenth.
Go for the view rather than the masonry. You get the whole town laid out below you, the canal threading through it, and the flat green Offaly countryside running off in every direction. It is five minutes from the town centre and it is free.
Do the Heritage Trail
Visit Offaly runs a self-guided Edenderry Heritage Trail that starts at the Town Hall and takes in the historic streets, the site of Blundell Castle and the canal harbour. There is a free downloadable audio guide to go with it, produced by Abarta Heritage, so you can put your headphones in and go at your own pace.
It is genuinely well done, and it fills in the parts of the town you would otherwise walk straight past — the plantation history, how the canal changed the place, and how ordinary life here worked. Worth an hour or so, and good with kids because you can stop whenever you like.
Fish the canal
The Grand Canal around Edenderry is well regarded for coarse fishing, with tench, roach, pike and bream all in the water. The banks are accessible and you are not competing for space the way you would on a famous river. If you are bringing rods, this is one of the quieter stretches you will find within an hour of Dublin.
Get out on the water, or on two wheels
The same still water that makes for good fishing makes for easy kayaking — there is no current to fight and no boat traffic to speak of. The towpath also works well on a bike, and it links into the wider network of canal and greenway routes that run across the midlands, so you can go as far as your legs allow on completely flat ground.
Play a round at Edenderry Golf Club
Edenderry Golf Club is a parkland course about three kilometres from the town centre, eight minutes in the car. It is a members' club with a welcoming attitude to visitors, mature tree-lined fairways, and green fees that will not frighten you the way the big-name Kildare resorts will. If you want one of those too, the K Club at Straffan is about thirty-five minutes away.
See the Franciscan Friary
The Franciscan friary is part of the fabric of the town and worth a look while you are walking the heritage trail. Quiet, unshowy, and a reminder of how far back the settlement here goes.
Time it with the harbour festival
Edenderry holds an annual festival centred on the harbour, and if your dates happen to line up it transforms the place — the whole town comes down to the water. Worth checking the dates before you book if you would rather catch it than miss it, or indeed avoid it if you were hoping for a quiet weekend.
Head for the woods and the bog
Two things within twenty-five minutes are worth the drive. Killinthomas Wood is a proper broadleaf forest with waymarked trails and, if you catch it in late April or May, a floor of bluebells that is genuinely worth planning around. The Bog of Allen Nature Reserve, meanwhile, is the raised bog landscape that defines this part of Ireland, with boardwalks out over ground that has been forming since the last ice age. Neither is dramatic in the mountain sense. Both are quietly memorable.
Where to stay
We are Edenderry Central Rooms, ten en-suite rooms right in the middle of town, which means the canal, the heritage trail and Blundell Castle are all walkable from the front door. If you are planning a stay, have a look at the rooms or get in touch and we will help you plan the visit.
