Ireland - Shannon Bars and Restaurants - Mountshannon - Neils Travel WebIreland - Shannon Bars and Restaurants - Mountshannon - Neils Travel WebShannon Towns & Bars - Mountshannon

This attractive village is beautifully situated on the high ground overlooking Lough Derg. It is an example of a typical landlord's village of the 18th century. Always a top class fishing centre, Mountshannon became a popular sailing centre following the reconstruction of the harbour. It is now one of the principal stopping places on the lake for hire cruisers and other boats.
Holy Island (Inis Cealtra - Island of the burial ground; or Island of monastic cells)
 Situated at the mouth of Scariff Bay on Lough Derg, Inis Cealtra is one of the most famous monastic sites in Ireland. It's many attractions include a well preserved Round Tower, the ruins of six churches and a cell like structure which is one of the most extraordinary buildings in Ireland. Boats to Holy Island are available at the harbour, as no moorings are available for private craft at the island.

The Aistear Iniscealtra project was officially opened in 2000. It tells the story of Irish spirituality over 9,000 years.

Lough Derg from MountshannonMountshannon lies near the south western end of Lough Derg. The large and well equipped harbour lies in a sheltered area of Lough Derg. Care should be taken while approaching the harbour as there are several small Islands around the Harbour. One of which, Holy Island contains remains of an ancient monastery which looks similar to the ruins found at Clonmacnois. From the harbour a road climbs up the hill to the main village.

View from the pub*Holy Island*Mountshannon approach*Memorial

Village Inn

● If you take the right hand road leaving the harbour (the left hand one leads to the other end of the village) you will arrive at the Mountshannon Hotel. The hotel has a bar attached which is called the Village Inn. This bar was fairly small and like many other Irish bars fairly dimly lit. The pub does pub grub, from a limited menu, but was the normal good value and excellent standard that we found in several pubs in Ireland.

The bar was fairly crowded when we first arrived, mainly with tourist but it emptied out later in the evening and more locals turned up.

June 2001

Cois na hAóhan

● The Cois na hAóhan lies along the main road through the village along from the Village Inn. The bar was mainly filled with locals when we arrived but we easily managed to get a seat.
The bar filled up over the Sunday afternoon we were there getting fairly crowded when the music started around 5 o'clock.
Like many other Irish bars we did not pay for the drinks until we left the bar, this trust of strangers is one of the joys of the friendly welcome we found in Ireland. However the music here was too loud for us so we returned to the Village Inn via our boat. However before you leave the pub a visit to the beer garden at the back is worthwhile as the views over the Lough are quite stunning as the picture at the top of this page will testify.

 

June 2001

Comments and additional material on the bars in this area are always welcome.
I can be contacted on Neil MacPhersonl.
Last Updated 29th December 2004 - Neils Travel Web - Ireland - Mountshannon - Pubs