Shannonbridge - Entertainment and Tourism

Entertainment and Tourism

At night the picturesque village of Shannonbridge turns into a buzzing hive of chat and good humour with the various pubs offering music, mirth, banter and much-loved traditional Irish stout. Many tourists come to Shannonbridge by cruiser on the River Shannon, a mere stonesthrow from the Main Street. A tourist office is located at the west end of the Main Street. The renowned monastic settlement of Clonmacnoise is some 7 km upriver and attracts approximately 100,000 visitors per annum.

Shannonbridge tennis court was built in 1988. The tennis court was built with funds from the national lottery on land leased from the ESB. The court is located at the eastern end of the village adjacent to St. Kierans Park.

Shannonbridge is a particularly popular destination for angling. For many years now, anglers from all over the world have been returning to once again plunder the incredible array of waters that ebb and flow a mere stone's throw from the village's Main Street.

The River Shannon is Ireland's major waterway, and as a fishery, boasts bountiful stocks of bream, rudd, rudd/bream hybrids, tench, perch, pike and also stocks of trout, eel and salmon. In addition, excellent fishing can be enjoyed in the rivers Suck and Brosna and in the Grand Canal. All of which can be found within a ten 15 km radius of Shannonbridge. Lough Ree, internationally know to anglers is 30 km from the town.

The Clonmacnoise and West Offaly Railway Bog Tour is a 45 minute train journey giving a guided 9-km tour out across a working environment, a cutaway area of preserved peatlands showing 12,000 years of history, heritage and archaeology. About 32,000 visitors go on the tour per annum. The Shannonbridge Pottery is nearby.

In August 2009, Ireland's first ever Climate Camp was held in the village, bringing activists from all over the country to converge in a field next to the West Offaly Power Station. For a week they protested against the extraction and burning of peat in the station, on the grounds that it releases large quantities of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. They held workshops on the general themes of sustainability and climate change.