The Birr FAN Trail
About 5km · Flat elevation
About
A free, self-guided blue plaque trail around the town, created by Rosalind Fanning and Jackie Lynch, covering 27 people and places from Birr's past. FAN is for Famous And Notable, and the cast is stranger than a heritage trail usually manages: Lord Snowdon, whose connection to Birr came through his mother's remarriage to the Sixth Earl of Rosse; Bernadette O'Farrell, who went from a bank manager's house in Birr to Hollywood; Jim Connell, who wrote The Red Flag; Susan Langstaff Mitchell, the Red-headed Rebel of the Irish literary revival; three Victoria Cross holders; the site of William Cunningham's Hotel, where all 42 players of the first All-Ireland hurling final were entertained in 1888; and a murder victim from a cattle fair. The route takes you along the Georgian malls and through the town centre, and the operator suggests diverting off it to walk the Camcor through Mill Island and Camcor parks. Route map and the full biographies are on birrfantrail.ie.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓27 blue plaques
- ✓Emmet Square and the 1747 column
- ✓Oxmantown Mall's Georgian frontages
- ✓Free and open all year
- ✓Bilingual plaque text, Irish and English
- ✓Diversions onto the Camcor at Mill Island
Tips
- →Download the route map from birrfantrail.ie before you start; the plaques are not numbered on the street in an obvious sequence.
- →Emmet Square is the practical start and finish: parking, the post office and a bus stop are all there.
- →Winter is not a bad time for it. The lime trees on the malls are bare and you can actually see the Georgian frontages.
- →Take the suggested diversion down to the Camcor. Mill Island and Camcor Park are the town's own riverside walks and are free.