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)
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
