Not much happening at this time of year, so the start of the month was fairly quite. However we had a weekend away planned for the very end of the month in Co Roscommon.

Lough Key

We drove down to Ballghadereen Co Roscommon on Friday night, the drive to Enniskillen was woeful due to road works but when we crosssed the border it turned into a lovely bright moon lite night. We met Cath and Frank and enjoyed a meal in the hotel and a pint in the bar.

Saturday we awoke to find about 1 inch of snow which had frozen solid. After breakfast we drove to Lough Key Forest Park.

Lough Key Forest Park is an 800 hectare park on the southern shore of Lough Key, 40 km south east of Sligo town and 3 km east of Boyle in the Republic of Ireland. Formerly part of the Rockingham estate, it is open to the public.

The estate was taken over by the State in the 1950s and Rockingham house burned down in a fire started by an electrical fault in 1957. The house had been designed by John Nash. After the ruins of the house were demolished in 1971, the Moylurg viewing tower was built on the site in 1973 Lough Wikipedia. The servant’s tunnels still exist, with one entrance near the tower.

We stayed in the Abbeyfield Hotel in Ballghadereen which was excellent, apart from the Band setting the fire alarm off at 2:00am.

Sunday once again brought more snow, so after breakfast we dandered down town and bought a paper, and back to the hotel for coffee before starting the ong drive home. This time we went back via Clones, Monaghan and Armagh which proved a nicer drive than the way down.