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heritage · Sunday 23 August 2026 · 11:00am 
Donamon Area Heritage Walk
At Donamon Castle · Donamon, Co. Roscommon
At Donamon Castle · Donamon, Co. Roscommon
Donamon Castle, one of the oldest continuously inhabited buildings in Ireland, is the starting point for a guided walk through the surrounding area on Sunday 23 August 2026. The Donamon Area Heritage Walk takes in the castle itself, Stoneham’s Lough and its associated crannog, and other sites of historical interest nearby, as part of National Heritage Week. Donamon Castle has been home to the Divine Word Missionaries since 1939, and stands on raised ground overlooking the River Suck, a setting that has made it a defensible site since long before the present castle was built.
Walkers assemble at Donamon Castle at 11am before setting out through the surrounding countryside, with the route built around three main points of interest: the castle and its grounds, Stoneham’s Lough, and the crannog associated with the lough, an artificial island dwelling of the kind once common across Ireland’s lakes and wetlands. The walk is led with an emphasis on explaining how these sites connect, tracing a continuous line of settlement and use in the Donamon area from the crannog-building period through to the castle’s current role. It is a walking event rather than a static talk, so a reasonable level of fitness and suitable footwear for country lanes and possibly wet ground are worth planning for. As with most Heritage Week walks, it is aimed at anyone with an interest in local history rather than specialists only.
Donamon is on the River Suck between Roscommon town and Athleague, reached via the R362. There is space to park near the castle for those attending the walk.
The walk is a rare chance to see inside the grounds of a working religious community at Donamon Castle alongside the older archaeological landscape around it. There is more to see across Co. Roscommon.
Heading to Donamon Castle in Roscommon? Roscommon has plenty more to see. Read the Roscommon area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.