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Athlone Castle
Attractions in Athlone

Athlone Castle and more: what to see in Athlone

Athlone’s list takes in 2 museums, 2 art galleries and a castle. We list 4 places to visit inside Athlone’s urban area and 4 within 5 km of its edge. Inside 1 km of the middle lie 4 of them. Further afield lies Clonmacnoise, at 11 km.

Photo: Athlone Castle, Sgbrito at Portuguese Wikipedia (Public domain)
In Athlone
4
inside the urban area
Within 5 km
4
of the town’s edge
Museums & galleries
4
in or near town
Castles & historic places
2
in or near town
Best known

Where to start in Athlone

Then come 2 art galleries, a museum and a castle, behind Athlone Castle.

MuseumAthlone Castlein townMuseumMuseumAthlone Music Museumin townArt galleryArt galleryBastion Galleryin townArt galleryArt galleryLuan Galleryin townCastleCastleMoydrum Castle900 m outside town, to the eastTheme parkBaysports2.9 km outside town, to the northwest

Each has a page of its own: what it is, who runs it, the weather month by month and what else is near it.

The map

Where to find them

To the southwest is where most of the 4 lie.

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The dashed line is Athlone’s urban area; orange marks its middle (where most people live). Numbers match the list below. © OpenStreetMap contributors · CSO 2022 outline

By kind

The mix

The two biggest groups: museums or galleries (4) and castles or historic places (2).

Museums & galleries 2 museums · 2 art galleries4 in town
Castles & historic places 1 castle · 1 abbey or priory0 in town · 2 nearby
Zoos, theme parks & days out 1 theme park · 1 visitor farm0 in town · 2 nearby

Green: inside Athlone. Grey: within 5 km of its edge.

Every place

The list in full

The 4 inside Athlone come first, then 4 more within 5 km of its edge.

The 4 inside Athlone come first, best known first; then the places within 5 km, close and well known first. Churches, protected structures and monuments belong to the History page, not here.

Monuments and historic buildings in Athlone → · Parks, footpaths and green space in Athlone →

Big names nearby

Day trips

Most famous of the 12 is Clonmacnoise, 11 km from the centre.

Historic house · Office of Public WorksClonmacnoise11 km southCathedralClonfert Cathedral22 km southCastleBirr Castle37 km southCastleCastlePortlick Castle8 km northCathedralSt. Mel's Cathedral35 km northCastleRedwood Castle33 km southCastleRoscommon Castle29 km northwestAbbey or prioryDurrow Abbey30 km eastAbbey or prioryClontuskert Priory24 km southwestAbbey or prioryRoscommon Abbey28 km northwestAbbey or prioryGallen Priory20 km southeastArt gallerySculpture in the Parklands26 km southeast

Places well known beyond Athlone (Wikipedia articles in several languages, published visitor counts, or a Office of Public Works or National Parks and Wildlife Service property), close and famous first. Distances are straight lines from the middle of the town.

What visitors ask about Athlone

What are the main attractions in Athlone?

The best known inside Athlone’s urban area are Athlone Castle, Athlone Music Museum, Bastion Gallery and Luan Gallery. In all, 4 places to visit are mapped inside the town, and 4 more within 5 km.

Does Athlone have a museum?

4 museums and galleries are in or within 5 km of Athlone: Athlone Castle, Athlone Music Museum, Bastion Gallery and Luan Gallery.

Is there a Heritage Ireland (OPW) or national park property near Athlone?

None within 5 km. The nearest well-known one on our list is Clonmacnoise (Office of Public Works), 11 km south.

What are the best-known days out near Athlone?

Within 40 km: Clonmacnoise (11 km), Clonfert Cathedral (22 km), Birr Castle (37 km), Portlick Castle (8 km).

How is this list made?

From Fáilte Ireland’s open data on attractions (museums, castles, historic houses, abbeys, gardens, national parks, landscapes, islands, zoos and visitor farms: restaurants, pubs, shops and tour operators are left out), OpenStreetMap (places open to visitors; a ruined castle on farmland needs a sign it can be visited) and Wikidata (what each place is, who looks after it, its Wikipedia articles), merged into one list and placed in the town’s CSO 2022 outline or within 5 km of its edge.

Places to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in each town’s CSO 2022 outline. Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (13)

Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).