Edenderry - town in County Offaly, Ireland

Edenderry (Éadan Doire, "hill-brow of the oak wood") is a town at the east edge of County Offaly, with a population in 2016 of 7359. The main reason to visit is for boating along the canal.

Get in

Go Ahead Bus 120 runs hourly, daily from Dublin, taking two hours. It starts from Connolly railway station and picks up at other city stops including Heuston station, but not Busáras. Don't take 120B or 120F, these only run to Newbridge.

Bus 120C runs from Tullamore to Edenderry (1 hour) and Enfield, with five or six daily. Buses stop outside Town Hall and elsewhere along the main road.

By road from Dublin follow M4 to junction 9 at Enfield, then R402 into town.

Edenderry is linked by a spur to the Grand Canal, part of the navigable network extending to Dublin, Waterford, Limerick and Enniskillen. Check Waterways Ireland for current status of locks, moorings and so on.

Get around

The town is easy to walk round, but you need wheels for outlying sights. A bike would do.

See

• Town hall, originally the market hall and now a courthouse, is a handsome building of 1826 in O'Connell Square.
• Blundell Castle 📍 is a scrappy ruin, unstable and fenced off. It was wrecked in 1691 by Jacobite forces, defeated at the Battle of the Boyne and retreating towards Limerick, while James II himself scuttled back to France.
• The canal is a scenic 1.5 km spur of the Grand Canal, with a footpath along its east bank. The Blundell family sought to keep the canal and those ruffian "navvies" away from town, but their lands passed to the 3rd Marquess of Downshire, who paid £692 for the spur. It boosted trade and growth of the town, as building masonry could be brought in more easily. It remains in use by pleasure craft.
• Carbury Castle is the prominent ruin of a Tudor mansion built over a Norman motte-and-bailey. There's an old graveyard and mausoleum adjacent.
• Lullymore 📍 Heritage Park and the Bog of Allen Nature Centre are across the boundary, see County Kildare.
• Croghan Hill 📍 rears up to the west: see Tullamore#See.

Do

• Fishing in the canal is catch-and-release only.
• Golf: Edenderry GC is 2 km northeast. White tees 5957 m, par 72, visitor round €30.
• Greenway is a long-distance walking and cycling trail along the Grand Canal. The spur footpath needs refurbishment to match, and funding for this was announced in 2020.
• Skydive at Clonbollogue Airfield 📍, home of the Irish Parachute Club. They offer tandem jumps and training, using a Pilatus PC-6 Porter and a Cessna 206. Beware there's another village called Clonbollogue a few km south in County Kildare.

Eat

• Phoenix, Dublin Rd, +353 46 973 3953. M-Sa 17:00-23:00, Su 13:00-22:00. Good reviews for its Chinese food. 2021-04-18
• Station House is a grill and bar in the old railway station.
• Lily Garden, 2 St Mary's Rd, +353 46 977 2917. M-Sa 16:00-23:00, Su 13:00-23:00. Friendly Chinese restaurant. 2021-04-18
• Galileo Restaurant, 36 JKL Street R45 D858, +353 46 973 2965. M-W 16:0-22:00, Th F Su 12:30-22:00, Sa 16:00-23:00. This Italian gets mostly good reviews. 2021-04-18

Drink

• Pubs along the main street are O'Donoghue's, Corner House, Larkin's, Molly's, Logan's and Bryne's.
• Finbarr Cullen's has a Saturday nightclub.

Sleep

Edenderry is short of accommodation, with no campsite, caravan park or hotel. You might do better along M4, eg at Enfield.

• Hogan's B&B, 4 Carrick Rd R45 E397, 53.345°, -7.052°, +353 46 973 2021. Friendly comfy place in town centre. 2021-04-18
• Rita Tyrell, 7 Father Kearns St, 53.343°, -7.046°, +353 46 973 1297. Welcoming B&B on main street. 2021-04-18
• Highfield Lodge is a B&B north of the golf course.
• Hamlet Court Hotel, Gorteen, Enfield A83 WC04 (R402 off exit 9 of M4), 53.402°, -6.855°, +353 46 954 1200. Clean efficient hotel handy for motorists. B&B double €80 2021-04-18

Connect

As of April 2021, Edenderry has 5G from Eir and Three, and 4G from Vodafone.

Go next

• Mullingar has a fine cathedral and Palladian mansion.
• Tullamore is best known for its two whiskey distilleries.
• County Kildare just east is classic horse-breeding and racing country.
• Dublin is the lively unmissable city just beyond.