For the 'Have to Be at Something' Ones

 

Monaghan is a bountiful county for all of our guests to experience and discover, with activities including woodland walks, golfing, fishing, rally driving and much much more! Finding the right Monaghan day out for you is easy-peasy – Simply explore your options below to plan your next adventure:

Activities

Garage Theatre

The Garage Theatre provides a venue for touring theatrical groups that produce a high eminence of professional theatre. In addition to this the Garage also provides a space for local amateur groups (both Junior & Senior alike) making it a valuable resource for the local community.

The Garage Theatre is renowned for showcasing comedy, dance, music, concerts and children’s entertainment. 

Market House

Monaghan Market House’s aim is to stimulate the public’s interest, access and participation in the arts and engage audiences through appropriate delivery of Arts Programming.

Suzanne Toal Portrait Studio

Why not book a private portrait session with Suzanne Toal Photography based in the heart of Monaghan town and leave with something special to remember your celebration?

The Craft Farm

Enjoy a specialised craft class in a rustic and charming converted farm building. Half day or full day classes available, alongside a light lunch made up on tea/coffee, scones and sweet treats. All materials supplied on the day, so all you have to do is show up.

Busy Bee Ceramics

When you visit Busy Bee’s pottery studio you get to become a potter and learn something brand-new! It’s a super fun way to spend the day. Busy Bee makes all the pottery themselves, including the pottery you work with during your visit there, which makes it a truly Irish crafted product. 

Offering special rates for group bookings, catered to the group’s skill and requirements.

Glaslough Alpacas

Glaslough Alpacas are very passionate about their alpacas and all things alpaca. They maintain a small, high quality herd. See the alpacas for yourself on a ‘Meet & Greet Experience’. There are many photo opportunities along the way and a very warm welcome is guaranteed. Your experience will include a walk through the alpaca farm learning all about these charming animals. Be enchanted by the gentle, calming nature of these adorable alpacas. Breathe in the refreshing country air and enjoy the spectacular surrounding views.

Drumlin Bike Trails

Drumlin Trails is where guests can drop by, rent a bike for a day or 2 and return it after their experience. Drumlin Trails are now offering numerous intriguing trails to suit all levels of physical (and possibly mental) fitness. Each trail they offer is accompanied by a snippet of useful and sometimes bizarre stories allowing you to fully appreciate some of what is most fascinating things in the North of Monaghan and surrounding counties.

Mullaghmore Equestrian Centre

Mullaghmore Equestrian Centre have both a state-of-the-art purpose-built indoor arena and natural outdoor arena giving you the best of both worlds, regardless of the weather! Offering tailorable horse-riding lessons to cater for all experience levels, in addition to therapeutic horse-riding for both children and adults with any type of disability.

Rally School Ireland

Having first opened its doors in September 1999, Rally School Ireland (RSI) has grown to become Ireland's premier motorsport facility.

The school started with a fleet of only 3 rally cars which over the years has grown to a fleet of over 20. The purpose-built track is designed not only to test the driver, but the car too.

Starting out solely as a rally school, RSI has branched out into drifting, supercar experiences and winter driver training and have built long standing relationships with respected brands such as Pirelli, Subaru and BMW.

Sliabh Beagh Adventures

Sliabh Beagh Adventures is an outdoor adventure centre based in Knockatallon Village, Co. Monaghan - the gateway to the Sliabh Beagh. Sliabh Beagh is an area of upland heathland, blanket bog and outstanding natural beauty that transcends counties Monaghan, Fermanagh and Tyrone. Offering bike hire to travelling visitors, allowing them to explore the region on two wheels. They also offer battle and target archery and various team games and team-building exercises for groups. Guided walks and cycling tours can also be organised.

A.W.O.L Adventure

Experience fun and adrenaline filled outdoor activities at A.W.O.L Outdoor Adventure, set in the magnificent Blackwater Valley, on the border between Monaghan & Tyrone. Surrounded by green hills, wild valleys, lush forests, amazing rivers and lakes. The border region offers one of Ireland's most spectacular landscapes for outdoor activities.

Whether you are looking for a fun adventure, an educational experience, or if you just want to relax and tune into nature, A.W.O.L Outdoor Adventure offers a wide range of fantastic activities to suit all your needs. Activities can be land based and/or water based. 

Ballybay Wetlands Centre

The Ballybay Wetlands Center is a striking multi-purpose venue set in the heart of Co. Monaghan with stunning views of the surrounding wetlands. Wetlands are considered to be the most biological diverse of all eco systems serving as home to a wide range of plants and animal life. There are a number of scenic walks spanning an impressive 65 acres of wetlands.

Liz Christy; Swallow Studios

Over the years, this colourful gem, outside Castleblayney, has become a popular attraction for visitors to the Drumlin County.  In the traditions of Ireland’s Ancient East, Liz is always delighted to welcome tourists. What makes the studios an interesting place to visit is that as well as being able to buy Liz’s beautiful scarves, visitors will see them being created through the crafts of hand-dyeing and hand-weaving. They may hear the clacking of the flying shuttles or witness the quiet concentration of threading or tying on a warp. They will get to chat to the artisan team as they work. And Liz is known to entertain her visitors with a story or two while giving the tour.   

Íontas Arts & Community Centre

Iontas’ aim is to provide, promote and foster the vision and space for initiative and innovation in personal and community development. This happens through all kinds of educational, creative and artistic endeavours through the variety of live performances and exhibitions available to attend.

King’s Forge Glass

King’s Forge Glass is a working glass studio in a renovated old blacksmith’s forge. Grace works with specialist glass and a selection of kilns, to make a range of modern, hand-crafted fused glass taking inspiration from her view of the famous rural drumlins of the county to create beautiful whimsical landscapes in glass. Visitors are more than welcome with just a call in advance. Bookings can be made by phone, email or via Facebook.

Morne Shooting Grounds

Mourne Shooting Grounds is located in the Lough Egish area of County Monaghan. Activities are available to guests of all ages and they can cater for every level of the sport, from novice to professional. Open 6 days a week with outdoor grounds, indoor rifle range, simulated laser range and large shop, you are sure to find something to entertain you! Training lessons are available with qualified coaches to make the experience more enjoyable, or you can avail of one of the packages with lessons and advice included.

The centre can accommodate large and small groups such as corporate, stag and hen parties, gun clubs or a group of people wanting to feel the adrenaline rush.

Irish Country Quads

Irish Country Quads is an adventurous activity centre set between counties Monaghan, Louth & Armagh; Ireland. Tour their purpose-built quad bike course that caters for bikers of all experience through all weather conditions. Quad biking is an exciting and adventurous sport where everyone will have an incredible time!

Walks & Trails

Ulster Canal & Greenway

The Greenway is 4.2km in length, and uses the towpath of the abandoned Ulster Canal. There are numerous heritage structures along the route including 3 bridges, a lock house and two locks. The Greenway contains a mix of rural and urban landscapes and is designed to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, graded as an ‘easy’ route, suitable for the moderately fit and is accessible to wheelchair users.

The Monaghan Way Walk

The Monaghan Way is a long-distance walking route that explores just some of county Monaghan's rich heritage. The walk is a stimulating combination of quiet country roads, cross-country trekking, riverside walkways and lakeshore approaches. The perfect way to enjoy the Monaghan countryside, the walk mixes gentle sloping hill gradients with flat stretches of open countryside, with no long or steep climbs.

Monaghan Town Heritage Trail

Experience Monaghan’s self-guided heritage trail, leading you to no less than 10 cultural hot-spots, starting at Rossmore Monument and ending at the Old Railway Station.

Click here for the Monaghan Town Heritage Trail map.

Clones Town Trail

The trail starts at the old market house and goes on to visit the high cross, St. Tiernach’s church, motte and bailey fort, St. Tiernach’s grave, The Cassandra Hand Folk & Famine Centre and the canal stores. Walkers will learn about the Gaelic chiefs, the McMahons, and how the town suffered during the famine. Learn how the establishment of Clones lace-making became essential to the local economy as did the coming of the railways. See how the establishment of the Irish Free State affected Clones.

Knockatallon Looped Walk

The Knockatallon Looped Walks are a series of four looped walks in the Sliabh Beagh hills of north Monaghan, including the Tra, Rock, Bragan and Esh walks. They range from 6 to 10 kilometres in length; two of which are on quiet country roads that are suitable for all abilities and two of which are over more challenging terrain such as forest tracks and open moorland. Here you will find one of the finest examples of blanket bog in Ireland; a special environment that supports some of our most threatened wildlife such as the Hen Harrier that we have adopted as the symbol for this series of walks. 

Sliabh Beagh Way

There are several walking routes in the Sliabh Beagh area, plus 36 looped walks throughout the Sliabh Beagh region, all of which are way-marked and vary in length from 4km - 15km. These include the Sliabh Beagh Way, a 46km long distance walk, marked from St. Patrick's Chair & Well in Co. Tyrone, entering Co. Monaghan at Lough More, going over Bragan Mountain, carrying on through the lower moorland behind Knockatallon and into Fermanagh via Mullaghfad, Jenkin Carnmore/Carnrock, winding its way through Tully Forest and aptly ending at Donagh.

Rossmore Forest Park

Rossmore Forest Park covers a large area of approximately six by three miles. It was formerly part of the Barony of Rossmore created in 1796 and covers over 320 hectares with many forest walks, a giant sculpture trail and remnants of its past life as an estate. Within its bounds are five fishing lakes. The forests are primarily deciduous with numerous fine specimens of oak, ash, spruce, beech, larch, and giant redwood. It also boasts extensive plantings of rhododendron, many of which were planted over a hundred years ago and are a riot of colour in early summer.

There are great walks within Rossmore Forest Park. The park has well maintained paths, several of which are suitable for wheelchair bound visitors. These walks range in length from two to four miles and are well posted. The most scenic, the Priestfield, with its colonnade of yews, is approximately three miles long and leads past the Rossmore family crypt.

Facilities include a spacious car park, clean toilets, picnic tables, litter bins, and a large, weather-protected map of the entire park and its trails.

Lough Muckno Leisure Park

Lough Muckno Leisure Park is situated close to the centre of the mid Monaghan town of Castleblayney. The lake itself is the largest and most beautiful of Monaghan’s lakes with spectacular views of the surrounding area.

Set on 900 acres of wooded terrain; The two wooded islands both Black and White Island have excellent activities such as orienteering, nature walks/trails, water skiing and wakeboard club, coarse fishing, peace garden and picnic areas. The town itself hosts many festivals with the park used as a venue for the Muckno Mania Festival, the annual triathlon, the water-skiing club is the host for many national and international competitions and hosts many fishing competitions. Recently, major angling access works have been undertaken and Lough Muckno is now an international standard angling venue.

Carrick Walking Tour

The walking tour of Carrickmacross aims to bring alive the vibrant history of the town, including the Famine times within the workhouse, the 2 families who owned the town (The Shirley Estate and the Bath Estate) and the War of Independence. 

Golf

Rossmore Golf Club

Rossmore Golf Club is considered by many to be the driest parkland course in Ireland. That's due in part to a large-scale drainage project at the club, which enables the golf course to withstand the wet weather that is so common in Ireland. While the Rossmore Golf Club course may be dry, there are plenty of chances for your golf ball to get wet here. The course, which was stretched from nine to 18 holes in 1992, was redesigned to take advantage of the many rivers and streams throughout the property. Rossmore has enough challenging holes to test any golfer.

Concra Wood Golf Club

Concra Wood Golf Club was designed by Christy O’Connor Junior and Christy O’Connor Senior, creating 11 holes that lure you to the water’s edge, promising danger and excitement time and again. It will challenge and thrill golfers of all capabilities and with its scenery, international fishing reputation and magnificent clubhouse, it will be an experience you’ll never forget. It is rolling parkland that demands respect off the tee. Despite generous fairways, placement is key if you want to attack the big and sweeping greens. Concra Wood can be as intimidating as it is beautiful, so golfers will want to choose carefully between the three men’s tees.

Concra Wood golf course provides the setting for a tricky, but fair, round of golf that would be suitable for all golf societies.

Mannan Castle Golf Club

Set around the ruins of a 12th Century pre-Christian Castle, Mannan Castle Golf Club boasts an immaculate par 70 parkland course with a state-of-the-art pro shop and practice facilities for all their members and visitors to use.

Located only 45 minutes from Dublin or Belfast they provide an enjoyable, memorable and challenging golf experience.

Fishing

Peter’s Lake

This lake, in the centre of Monaghan town, is a beautiful amenity area with walks, seating areas, angling stands and a water fountain feature in the lake.

Emy Lough

Located just outside Emyvale village in north Monaghan, Emy Lough offers a variety of recreational amenities for visitors to enjoy, including swimming, newly developed beach/play area for children, fishing facilities, picnic area and 4km looped lakeside nature walk.

Rossmore Park Lakes

Are a group of lakes which lie in Rossmore Park, a Coillte Forest Park on the R189 3km southwest of Monaghan Town. There is excellent parking but access to the lakes is difficult with foot access only.

A trolley to wheel tackle to your chosen lake is advisable and there are good pathways. The most popular angling venues in this cluster are the Twin Lakes, Castle Lake, Priestfield Lake and Barnhill Lake. These lakes are generally shallow and best suited to pole and float fishing. All of the lakes are well signposted.

Quiglough

Is a 12-hectare lough and reservoir also by the R186. At the crossroads 1km beyond Drumreaske, take the left turn to Ballinode. The signposted entrance to the lake is a short distance on the left. As the entrance is on business premises it is important to shut the gate. This is a reed fringed lake and there is club standard match fishing with 20 pegs. The lake holds a good stock of fish including Tench to over 6lbs. Parking is located on the grass verges at the end of the lane.

Hollywood Lake

Is on the Erne System and is situated near Scotstown village. It covers an area of approximately 11 hectares. Access is via the amenity area where there is good car parking. Fishing is from stands.

Lough Muckno Forest Park

Lough Muckno is located off the N2 on the eastern side of Castleblaney. This lake covers an area of 325 hectares with depths to 20m. There are a number of well-established fishing locations on this lake including White island, Black Island, Concra Wood, South Lodge and Toome Point. This lake holds huge stocks of fish including bream, rudd, roach, hybrids, tench, perch and pike.

Theme Parks

Although the theme parks are not located in County Monaghan, neither are located too far away from the hotel and offer the perfect opportunity to not have to travel too far to experience another fun activity.

Tayto Park 

Tayto Park is a Theme Park & Zoo in Meath, Ireland, offering over 100 attractions across both.

Have a bite to eat or purchase a special gift to remember your Tayto Park experience in one of their many restaurants, shops or kiosks conveniently location throughout the park.

Ticket prices range from €12 - €35 per guest and the park is closed 21st – 31st December. They also offer favourable rates for group bookings.

Funtasia Waterpark

At 30,000 sq. ft. Funtasia Waterpark is one of Ireland’s largest indoor water parks. There are over 200 Water-based activities. With massive, not-so-massive water slides, Casinos and more at Funtasia Waterpark there’s something for everyone!

They are open every weekend throughout the year and daily during school holidays. Rates vary depending on the area or level of access you wish access, but they also offer favourable rates for themed grouped bookings.