The Slieve Bloom Mountains from Kinnitty
Varies by route · Rolling upland, nothing above 530m elevation
About
The Slieve Blooms are the source of the Camcor, the river that runs through Birr Castle Demesne, and they rise straight out of the central plain on the Offaly and Laois border about thirteen kilometres east of Birr at Kinnitty. They are low, rounded and quiet: the Slieve Bloom Way is a long-distance circuit around them, and the range carries a substantial network of purpose-built mountain bike trails starting from Kinnitty village. Glenbarrow on the Laois side is the best-known short walk, a loop to a waterfall on the River Barrow, which rises here. For a Birr visitor this is the half-day that gets you out of the Georgian streets, and the connection is real rather than a tourist-board pairing: the water coming off these hills is what floods the Camcor and brings the Croneen trout up to spawn. Check current trail conditions and grades with the Slieve Bloom's own site before setting out, and treat forest-road closures and forestry work as a normal fact of the range.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓Source of the River Camcor
- ✓Slieve Bloom Way long distance route
- ✓Mountain bike trail network from Kinnitty
- ✓Glenbarrow waterfall walk on the Laois side
- ✓Some of the least walked upland in Ireland
Tips
- →You need a car. There is no useful public transport from Birr into the range.
- →Check route grades and conditions on slievebloom.ie before you go; forest roads close for forestry work.
- →The weather on the tops is not the weather in Birr. Bring a layer and boots.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
Birr Castle Demesne
120 acres of parkland, gardens, rivers and a working science site behind the wall on Rosse Row. The demesne is the visitor offer; the castle is a private home.
Ireland's Historic Science Centre
Seven galleries on the Parsons family's telescopes, early photography and engineering, including the oldest intact darkroom in the world.
The Great Telescope, the Leviathan of Parsonstown
The 72-inch reflector the Third Earl of Rosse finished in 1845, the largest telescope in the world until the 100-inch Hooker went up at Mount Wilson in 1917.