The most recent addition to our ‘Places to Stay and eBike’ is Shannonvale Cottage. Your hosts Siobhán and Brian offer a beautiful self catering cottage on a quiet site outside of Dromineer. The cottage is next door to their house but you will have your own entrance and can enjoy the peace and quiet. The cottage is on a quiet road which forms part of the Lough Derg Way, a 64km route from Limerick to Dromineer by way of Ballina/Killaloe and Tountinna, which is the highest hill in the Arra range, and which can be seen from Shannonvale.
The cottage features a comfortable sitting area, a well equipped kitchen, 3 bedrooms and an outdoor dining area. It is also very convenient for exploring the beautiful shores of Lough Derg.
Tours From Shannonvale Cottage
You can avail of free eBike delivery to your door for half day and full day eBike rentals, or we offer a choice of 2 eBike Guided Tours. For bookings and availability, see Link.
Tour 1 – Medieval Historic Sites Experience
This tour takes you to some of the churches and castles around Shannonvale. Many of these date back up to 1000 years, and all of the churches can be explored on foot. The exact route will depend on the group’s cycling experience – that is, how far the group is able to go – but will include some or all of the following highlights.
Nenagh Castle was built by the Norman overlords of the region, the Butler family, in the early 13th Century. You can climb the stairs to the viewing platform at the top of the tower. Another site of interest in Nenagh is the Augustinian Abbey, also dating to the 13th Century.
A few Kilometers outside Nenagh is Knigh Cross. Here you will see a castle tower and a church, both dating back to the 15th Century, and hear the stories of the resident ghost at the tower. The tower was built by the O’Kennedy family, who were the most important ‘Old Irish’ landowning family in North Tipperary for many centuries. In the Church you will see the grave of a murder victim, where (very unusually) his murderers are named!
If the group is able to cycle further, we will next go to a beautiful stretch of lake shore at Kilbarron. Here we will see the 12th Century Kilbarron Abbey and the 16th Century Annagh Castle, which is still said to be patrolled by the ghost of one Edward Roe O’Kennedy. As well as the historic sites we will also pass a number of beautiful spots on the lake shore, where we can pause and breathe in the silence!
Finally, we will head back to Shannonvale via the historic village of Dromineer, where we will view the 10th Century church and the 13th Century castle, another of the O’Kennedy family’s former properties, and hear how it relates to Oliver Cromwell’s notorious Irish campaign in the 1640s.
Tour 2 – The Lake Shores
This tour explores the beautiful lakeshores between Dromineer and Garrykennedy. This tour has a combination of historic buildings and beautiful views.
First we travel through farmland to our first lake view at Youghal Quay. This is a quiet spot where local people often come for a swim, and on certain days we may meet the mobile Lakeside Sauna.
A few Kilometers after Youghal we will arrive at Garrykennedy. This is one of the most popular villages on the Lake Shore, and it’s not hard to see why. It is a busy spot for pleasure craft, and also includes the remains of the 15th Century castle shown below, built for the O’Kennedy family.
Finally we will return to Dromineer via quiet country roads. We may omit the Castlelough section if the group doesn’t feel able for the additional mileage.
