Location and activities

Lough Ree Lodge with a view

Glasson, also known as the village of the roses, is situated in the heart of Goldsmith Country on the N55, 10 kms from Athlone. The village still has a lot of old world charm, beauty and tranquility with many historic buildings and monuments in the area. Glasson also hosts award winning restaurants, traditional pubs serving pub food as well as shops.

County Westmeath is located in the midlands of Ireland with the main activities centred on watersports. The many lakes include Lough Ree, Lough Derravaragh, Lough Ennell, Lough Lene and Lough Owel. Both the Grand Canal, and the Royal Canal cross through Westmeath, as well as the River Shannon (Ireland's main waterway and longest river).

Athlone town is well served by local and national infrastructure. A new motorway is connecting Athlone with Dublin and Galway, other major highways connect to Sligo, Limerick and Cork. The town as the surrounding area host a variety of visitor attractions and important historical sites including the Athlone Castle and Clonmacnoise Monastic Site(see box on left column). Many newly developed walking, cycling and driving trails open the area for visitors. The town offers many popular cultural and social events and festivals. The Ericsson All Ireland Drama Festival, concerts and exhibitions are hosted in the Dean Crowe Theatre Arts Centre. Other activities include golf, horse-riding, hunting, tennis, rowing, sailing, cruising, kayaking, hockey, rugby, soccer and gaelic football; indoors you find gyms, swimming pools, bowling, badminton, snooker/pool and indoor soccer. [more...]

Lough Ree (Irish: Loch Rí or Loch Ríbh) is the second largest lake on the Shannon after Lough Derg. The lake is also the border between the counties of Longford and Westmeath (both in the province of Leinster) on the eastern side and County Roscommon (province of Connacht) on the western side. The lake is very popular for all kinds of watersports. The island of Inchcleraun (Inis Cloithreann) in the northern part of the lake is the site of a monastery founded in the early Christian era and contains the remains of several ancient churches. In Irish legends, it was on this island that Queen Maeve was killed. The Viking Turgesius controlled a ringfort on the shores until his death by drowning in Lough Owel. Families lived on some of the islands in Lough Ree up until the 1950s. And like many other lakes in Ireland and Britain, Lough Ree has been the scene of claimed sightings of a lake monster over the years.


Angling

In recent years Lough Ree has seen a remarkable improvement in wild trout stocks in response to improved water quality. The local angling club is actively involved in fisheries programmes and operates a hatchery on the system. The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board has been involved in local in-stream and bank rehabilitation development works on the Hind River and the Inny system, which are feeder streams of Lough Ree.

Trout fishing can therefore be very good. Early season trolling along the extensive shores is effective using Rapalas of different types and sizes. In recent years fly fishing has proved to be an equal if not better method than trolling provided the angler concentrates on the shallows and around the islands. Hotspots such as Hare island, Inch More, and Inch Turk are all worth exploring to seek out some of the finest wild brown trout specimens an Irish Lough is capable of producing.

The lake has all the usual fly hatches typical of an Irish limestone lake i.e. duckfly, olives, mayfly, sedges and in September some good fishing dapping the daddy longlegs is possible. Wet fly and dry fly both work well.

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View Lough Ree Lodge in a larger map

  • Glasson Golf Course 2 kms, other golf courses are within 20km
  • Portlick Millenium forest and scenic lakeshore walk 3 km
  • all kinds of watersport activities including angling, kayaking and yachting
  • Lough Ree Yacht Club is ten minutes down river
  • Horse riding lessons available locally
  • Glasson Village with pubs and restaurants 5 km
  • Nearest restaurant 'Walleschs' opened during summer season 2 km
  • Athlone town 12km
  • Dublin City and Airport
    2 hrs
Clonmacnoise



This famous early Christian site founded by St. Ciarán in the mid-6th century is located on the eastern bank of the River Shannon, about 20 kms from Athlone. The site includes the ruins of a cathedral, seven churches (10th-13th century), two round towers, three high crosses and the largest collection of Early Christian graveslabs in Western Europe. The original high crosses and a selection of graveslabs are on display in the visitor centre. The long and varied history of Clonmacnoise is recounted in an audiovisual presentation shown in the visitor centre. There are also exhibitions on the flora, fauna and landscape of the region. [more...]