Lough Lene, Westmeath, is a winter swimmer’s oasis with a classic example of an inviting wooden jetty

Swan Lough in Gowna in nearby Cavan is beautiful but ominously weedy and treacherous: no swimming (in case you miss the signs like him ↑ …)

Old Fore has seven legendary wonders; to visit no.1, the eerie 15th century anchorite’s cell, borrow the key from the crooked village pub (above)

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The waterscapes here in the midlands are atmospheric and bleakly lovely with a touch of other-worldliness, like drowned lands

It’s a lake county speckled with ancient artefacts and miraculous curios… we’ll return I think, maybe for a night in the valley of the seven wonders

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