Local Activities at the Carlton Shearwater Hotel & C Spa

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There's plenty of Activities in the local area to keep you and the kids occupied during your stay at the Carlton Shearwater Hotel & C Spa, Ballinasloe. Whether its a Museum, Castle or Pet Farm that you want to visit we're sure to have something to suit you!

Tours

• The Bog Rail - For a unique learning experience, take a ride aboard the Clonmacnoise & West Offaly Railway through the Offaly bogs. This guided tour journeys through a raised bog with its unusual flora and fauna and its 6,000 year old bog oaks.
• Rathcroghan Tours - Take a guided walk around the ancient capital of Rathcroghan, home to Queen Medb and the burial place of long forgotten heroes and kings. Learn about the mythology, archaeology, history and spirituality of this incredible ancient landscape. Follow in the footsteps of our ancestors to Oweynagat - the entrance to the otherworld. Tours are led by Mike Croghan, a local archaeologist, who specialises in rediscovering this long forgotten landscape.

Equestrian Stables

• Flower House Equestrian Farm
• Waterview Riding Stables

Pet Farms

• Turoe Pet Farm - Since Turoe farm first opened in 1993 it has grown from strength to strength and is now one of the leading visitor attractions in the West of Ireland.
• Glendeer Pet Farm - A six acre award winning Open Pet Farm with over 50 species of animals and birds and plenty of things for children to do, from hand feeding many of the animals to playing in the playground.

Castles

• Athlone Castle is a focal point for tourism and visitors and it features exhibitions and audio visual presentations.
• Birr Castle is the private home of the Parsons family. The Demense has become world famous for its exotic tree and plant collections, rivers and lakes, formal gardens, terraces and wildflower meadows exuding an atmosphere of intimacy and grandeur.
• Clontuskert Abbey was founded in 805 and although not much of the original building remains, the churhc still has some interesting fragments and is worth a visit.
• Kilconnell Abbey is the ruins of the Fransiscan Friary of Kilconnell which was originally founded in 1353
• Leap Castle is Ireland's most haunted castle and is only open to visitors on request
• Portumna Castle was originally built before 1618 by Richard Burke the 4th Earl of Clanricarde. This important Jacobean house was the main seat of the de Burgo family for over 200 years until it was gutted by fire in 1826. Only the ground floor of the house is now open to the public.

Museums & Interactive Centres

• An Dún Transport & Heritage Museum houses an excellent exhibition of vintage and classic cars and trucks, along with a marvellous display of restored farm machinery and rural utensils
• Clonmacnoise Monastic Settlement has a long and varied history which is recounted in an audiovisual presentation shown in the visitor centre.
• Dartfield is a spacious purpose built musuem which shows the use of the horse through history in the areas of transport, farming, sport and local traditions
• Claypipe Visitors Centre is located in the village of Knockcroghery which has been famous for over 250 years for the production of the tobacco clay pipe
• Roscommon Museum has a unique collection of artefacts relating to the history of the county, the town and its people.
• Larry's Old Time Village is a beautiful crafted model village which depicts Ireland from the early 1900s up to 1950. Each model cottage is roofed with authentic thatch and is finished to intriguing detail.
• Ballinasloe Famine Park

Golf & Fishing

• Ballinasloe Golf Course is one of Connacht's oldest golf cluns and was founded in 1894. It is a mature and testing parkland course with excellent greens and is playable all year round.
• Ballinasloe Pitch & Putt
• The River Suck which surrounds Ballinasloe is famous as a Coarse Fishing Venue