Bathing areas being sought for monitoring
Roscommon County Council is inviting residents to identify official bathing areas in the county so they can be monitored for safety, water quality and their level of use. The Doon Shore and Rockingham would seem like ideal locations for this initiative. According to the local authority: “If you wish to propose a beach/lake/river etc. as a new bathing water site or comment on an existing site please make your submission through this consultation portal – https://consult.roscommoncoco.ie/en/browse“. Closing date for receipt of submissions is Friday, 26th September 2025.
Lots happening for King House anniversary weekend
There is a great line up of events planned for this weekend to mark the 30th anniversary celebrations in King House. The anniversary celebrations begin on Friday July 4th and continue through to Sunday July 6th, with all events free but booking recommended. Saturday events are by invitation only.
Roscommon County Council demonstrated remarkable foresight and determination in the restoration of King House, culminating in its opening as a museum and cultural centre. Once abandoned and in ruins, the Council acquired this historic site and undertook what would become one of the country’s largest single restoration projects, culminating in its opening as a museum and cultural centre in 1995.
In 1989, Roscommon County Council initiated an extensive restoration plan dedicated to preserving the essential architectural qualities of King House, particularly its stunning Georgian architecture. Today, King House stands proudly in Boyle, a majestic and important presence in the community. As a Heritage and Cultural Centre, it warmly welcomes visitors and locals alike, inviting all to explore its storied rooms and breathe life into its rich history. For tickets and further information on this weekend’s events which you can view here, please contact 087 144 4739.
Night and Day was a huge success
The weather most certainly played it’s part in helping make last weekend’s Night and Day festival a resounding success. While official figures are not yet known – but estimated at around 6000, this year’s event seems to have attracted the biggest crowd to date with all in agreement that the location is one of the best in the country for a major festival with rail, road and air links easily accessible and the openness and freedom of the Park something you don’t get elsewhere. A highlight of the festival – certainly for those from Boyle who have looked at the Moylurg Tower with a degree of distaste for years now – was the colourful live animation of the structure by visual artist Sergey Khadzhava. It just goes to show what can be done with the Tower with a bit of outside the box thinking.
The Festival itself seems to have gone off without a hitch although the indiscriminate parking for which Boyle is famous, found it’s way to the Park, especially on Sunday with cars being abandoned on the hill into the venue, causing concern that emergency services could have been hindered gaining access.
Well done to all involved and it’s full steam ahead for the 2026 festival which will take place at the early date of 29-31st May with tickets now on sale here. All eyes now turn to the Hot Air Ballooning Championships in the Park this September.
The ‘blockages’ that are holding Boyle back
A discussion over the weekend with a person involved in the tourism industry in Boyle brought to light a number of “blockages” that are holding Boyle back and that we all know exists with the big question – “how can we address these blockages”. Apart for the obvious “Boyle needs a hotel” (which is being constantly worked on), the lack of a sufficient number of restaurants serving evening meals, the lack of accommodation for tourists and visitors alike, the lack of shops opening on Sundays to attract visitors and the opening hours and marketing of our tourist attractions were all discussed with questions asked as to how these problems can be addressed.
Should we look at what they are doing in Laois to entice restaurants to open in the evening or indeed to attract new restaurants to the town?(see here). Have estate agents a large part to play in selling Boyle and various properties to appropriate people who may set up self catering or B&B’s in the vacant premises in the town centre? Can the Town Team and Roscommon Co Co assist those with ideas for glamping pods/ chalets/camper van parks in the town? Should we have pop-up food stalls and seating along a pedestrianised ‘North Bank’ behind Main Street for the duration of the Arts Festival to show potential cafes/restaurants the great potential of this area?
All agreed that Boyle is on the cusp of a major regeneration uplift, especially with the Lough Key Masterplan etc soon to be unveiled, and this needs to be marketed to investors to entice them to now come to Boyle to build a hotel, open new restaurants, acquire land for tourism related businesses and open up our derelict properties into town centre accommodation and 7 day a week food outlets.
Boyle based author launches new book
Boyle based author and renowned biopsychologist Nigel Barber has just published his latest book – “Weight Loss- Without Diets or Drugs”, which is available to purchase on Amazon here. The book argues that the key to weight control lies in how the body burns energy, rather than diets or drugs that address food intake and have serious drawbacks.
Nigel emigrated from Co Offaly to the United States in 1982. He received his Ph.D. in biopsychology from Hunter College of the City University of New York in 1989, after which he taught at Bemidji State University as an instructor for one year and then at Birmingham-Southern College as an assistant professor. His research focuses on various subjects in the fields of biopsychology and evolutionary psychology. These include the evolution of altruism, the reasons that men grow facial hair and the reasons people believe in religion, which he holds pertain to economic adversity. He has also written numerous books and articles (see here). Nigel also blogs at PsychologyToday.com as The Human Beast. His series of blogs is available in four volumes under the title The Human Beast. Both Nigel and his partner Trudy Callaghan are active members of Boyle Tidy Town group and regularly assist in town clean-ups.
New push to get early morning train to Sligo
Deputy Claire Kerrane and Councillor Leah Cull have got onboard the long running campaign to have an early morning train to Sligo that serves Boyle. This suggestion of connecting Boyle and Sligo was made back in the late 1990’s with a delegation from various organisations in the town meeting representatives of bodies in Carrick and Ballymote. A commuter type train was proposed that would bring students, patients and those employed to Sligo arriving at 8.30am and leaving at 5.30pm. In a social media post last Saturday, Deputy Kerrane and Councillor Cull said: “An earlier Boyle to Sligo train is feasible but we need to show demand for an earlier service. The first train currently gets into Sligo after 10.15am. This was raised with us a lot during recent elections. Keep an eye on our pages for more information on our campaign to deliver an earlier service for passengers, including students going to ATU and patients going to Sligo University Hospital”.
Let’s hope something can be achieved this time.
News snippets from around Boyle
Mixed adults and women’s “Try Tennis” events in Boyle this July. More details and to register please click here and here……The County Roscommon Playday will take place in Boyle’s Lough Key Forest park on Sunday from 1pm-4pm with lots of fun and entertainment for young and old……..The flowers around the town are really coming into bloom now but the green algae on the electricity poles is detracting from their colour. Perhaps a repaint by some locals is in order?……..Boyle Family Resource Centre “Uniform Drop and Swap” – Get ready for back-to-school savings! Swap outgrown uniforms for ones that fit — completely FREE! Drop-off Days: July 7th & 8th 10am-1pm. Collection Days: July 14th & 15th 10am-1pm…………It is great to see major accessibility work commence at Boyle train station. The train station is a very important piece of infrastructure for the town and any upgrade is welcomed……..Great work again by the Wednesday morning Tidy Town crew who this week weeded St. Patrick Street. There would be no need for this to be done if owners of properties took the time to pick the weeds from outside their premises instead of leaving it to others to do the work………The new surface on the pedestrian bridge over the Boyle river from An Rioga car park looks great and is a vast improvement on what was origionally there……parkrun and junior parkrun in Lough Key Forest Park are both cancelled this weekend…….Traditional Music Session in Cleen Hall on Sunday from 4pm-6pm. All welcome……… In preparation for the Arts Festival, Boyle Tidy Town will hold a clean up on Monday evening, meeting in the Pleasure Grounds at 7pm. Gloves and bags provided………Boyle Summer Show church gate collection will take place this weekend (Saturday 5th – 7.30pm and Sunday 6th July at 9.30am and 11.30am) in aid the summer show, The show will take place on Sunday August 10th at Abbeytown.
And finally….!
Tom Smith is on his deathbed and knows the end is near.
His nurse, his wife, his daughter and two sons, are with him.
He asks for two witnesses to be present and a camcorder be in place to record his last wishes, and when all is ready he begins to speak: “My son Bernie, I want you to take the Dundrum houses.” My daughter “Sybil, you take the apartments over in Cabra.” My son John, I want you to take the offices over in the City Centre.” “Sarah, my dear wife, please take all the residential buildings on the north bank of the river.”
The nurse and witnesses are blown away as they did not realize his extensive holdings and as Tom slips away, the nurse says, “Mrs. Smith, your husband must have been such a hard-working man to have accumulated all this property”.
Sarah replies, “Property? …. the idiot has a paper round!”
