POSTED FROM

COLEHILL

CO. LONGFORD · IE

Colehill
Cnoc na Góla, Co. Longford

The Ireland's Hidden Heartlands
STOP 06 / 06

Cnoc na Góla · Co. Longford

A quiet crossroads in the south-east corner of Longford, a Georgian house, a Nugent monument, and the Royal Canal a few fields away.

Colehill sits in the south-east corner of County Longford, on the R399 where the county runs out and Westmeath begins. It is a townland and a scattered village rather than a place with a square, in the civil parish of Taghshinny, a couple of kilometres north-west of Abbeyshrule and a short run east of Ballymahon. Most people who pass through are on their way somewhere else.

The name is argued over. The official Irish form is Cnoc na Góla, read as the hill of the pit, with the older anglicisations Knocknagoal and Knocknagole behind it; the local placename records prefer Coll-Choill, the hazel wood. Both readings have their backers, and the village has never settled the matter. What is certain is that by the mid-19th century Colehill was a post-town on the road from Dublin to Ballymahon, which is more than it looks like now.

There is no pub in the village and no shop to speak of - the life of the place runs through Abbeyshrule three kilometres south-east, where the Cistercian abbey, the Rustic Inn and the Royal Canal Greenway are. Come to Colehill for the Georgian house and the Nugent stone, and treat the abbey and the canal as the day around it. It is a place to arrive at on purpose, not one you stumble into.

Population

A few hundred in the wider townland and parish

Founded

Recorded from the early 17th century; a post-town by the mid-1800s

Coords

53.5833° N, 7.6500° W

01 / 06

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

The Rustic Inn, Abbeyshrule

The local for the whole area

Pub, restaurant and events venue, 3 km south-east

Colehill has no pub of its own, so the Rustic Inn in Abbeyshrule is where the area goes. A long-established pub, restaurant and function venue beside the Royal Canal. Food most days, the obvious base for an evening if you are staying out this way.

02 / 06

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

A Nugent house, c. 1760

Colehill House

Colehill House stands back from the road at the eastern end of the townland - a detached three-bay three-storey house built around 1760, with a two-storey return added about 1850, a pitched slate roof and a carved limestone doorcase. It is connected with the Nugent family, and by 1837 was the home of T. Nugent Lennon; later owners included William Ledwith Bole in the 1880s and a Hope Johnston in 1894. A single-arched rubble-limestone bridge carries the approach from the east. The house is on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage with a regional rating. It is a private house, so this is a look from the road, not a visit.

1764 and 1778

The Nugent monument

On the outside wall of Taghshinny Church of Ireland, a short distance east of Colehill House, is a fine cut-stone memorial to the Nugent family of Colehill, dated 1764 and 1778. It is the kind of thing you would drive past a hundred times without noticing, set into the church wall and worth the stop if you are passing the church. The small plain church with its square tower is itself early 19th century, of a type the Board of First Fruits funded across the midlands after 1814.

03 / 06

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Royal Canal Greenway at Abbeyshrule Pick up the towpath at Abbeyshrule, three kilometres south-east. The Royal Canal Greenway runs 130 km of flat towpath from Maynooth to Cloondara, and this is one of its quietest stretches. Abbeyshrule has Waterways Ireland service-block toilets and parking. Walk east toward Ballynacargy in Westmeath or west toward Ballymahon. Flat, easy, and usually empty.

As far as you like; Abbeyshrule to Ballynacargy is about 8 kmdistance

2 hours one way to Ballynacargytime

Colehill to Abbeyshrule abbey A road walk rather than a trail, down quiet local roads to the Cistercian abbey at Abbeyshrule, founded in 1150 and free to enter. The Whitworth Aqueduct, which carries the canal over the River Inny, is a kilometre north of the abbey. Mind the verges - these are working roads with no footpath.

3 km each way by roaddistance

40 minutes on foottime

04 / 06

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The canal towpath dries out and the hedges fill in. Quiet, green, and the easiest walking conditions of the year.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings on the Greenway and the abbey at its best. The Goldsmith Country events around Ballymahon are a short drive west.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

The locals' season on the canal. Low light, fewer people, the Inny running fuller.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days and wet roads. There is no shelter in the village itself - keep Abbeyshrule and the Rustic Inn in mind for warmth.

◐ Mind yourself

05 / 06

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Expecting a village centre

Colehill is a townland and a crossroads, not a town with a square. There is no pub and no shop in the village. Set the bar at a Georgian house, a church monument and a good canal walk nearby, and it delivers.

Trying to visit Colehill House

It is a private family home. The interest is the architecture and the Nugent connection seen from the road and at the Taghshinny church monument. Do not go through the gate.

Getting there.

By car

On the R399 in the south-east of County Longford. Ballymahon is about 10 minutes west, Abbeyshrule about 5 minutes south-east, and the Westmeath border is right alongside. Dublin is roughly 2 hours via the M4 and N55.

By bus

No direct service through the village. Bus Éireann and Local Link routes serve Ballymahon and Longford town; a car is effectively needed here.

By train

No station. The nearest is Longford on the Dublin to Sligo line, about 30 minutes by road.

By air

Dublin Airport (DUB) is about 2 hours by car. Shannon (SNN) is around 2 hours.