And the good news continues for Boyle…….
When it rains it pours and that saying is certainly true for Boyle, with more good news for the town this week when details were published in relation to the planned refurbishment of the now derelict Kingston Hall in Lough Key Forest Park. The news comes hot on the heels of details for the multi million masterplan for the Park and the lodging of F.I. for the Aldi development in Boyle town centre. In the latest development news, it is understood Kingston Hall Estate Ltd plan to seek planning permission, some time in the future, for the full restoration and adaptive reuse of Kingston Hall and its grounds, transforming the site into a visitor-focused destination with luxury tourist accommodation and wellness. The plan also includes a Wellbeing Retreat (outdoor pool, including wood fired sauna, steam room, treatment rooms, outdoor forest baths, cold plunging and outdoor Jacuzzis etc), a hedge maze in the front garden, events space including catering facilities and toilets for private /corporate events, yoga and wellbeing retreats, seminars, workshops and team building, landscaped gardens including barbeque areas, picnic benches, shelters and outdoor event space, space for outdoor games and puzzles (e.g. Giant Chess, Draughts, Jumbo Jenga etc), refreshment facilities for snacks, lunch and refreshments, high quality gift shop (including local craft producers) and bike hire (including bike trailers for infants / children). The concept photographs of the proposed development look brilliant and if and when planning is sought and granted and the development becomes a reality, we will have a long awaited high quality hotel in the general area.
But as we said before, Boyle town needs to feed off all these planned developments and another hotel or boutique accommodation offering would most definitely work in the town centre as the Kingston Hall development is at a very early stage. To make this a reality, plans are afoot between Boyle Town Team and Roscommon Co Co to get a feasibility study undertaken to provide all the backup information that is needed to convince a developer to build a hotel in Boyle. This is a really positive move towards a long awaited requirement.
Owners that are sitting on properties in the town, also need to get off their behinds and develop their buildings or put them up for sale at a realistic price so someone else can develop them.
If the additional restaurants, gastro pubs, bike hire and other tourism offerings that are being talked about for Boyle and the town become a reality, Boyle will be booming once again in a few more years or less.
St. Brigid’s festival events in Boyle
Roscommon County Council is delighted to present the St. Brigid’s Day Festival 2026, a county-wide celebration of creativity, heritage, and community. Taking place from January 30th to February 6th, the festival honours St. Brigid and the traditions that continue to inspire Irish culture. St. Brigid is connected to the return of spring and to the skills that shaped Irish cultural life – caring for the land and animals and the work of crafting, creating, and writing. Here in Boyle there will be a number of events including St. Brigid Cross Making, Memory Wire Bracelet Workshop, Irish Music and Dancing and a Drawing and Painting Workshop. Find out more here. The festival reflects St. Brigid’s connection to creativity, nature, and community – values that remain central to Roscommon’s cultural life. Proudly supported by the Roscommon Creative Ireland Programme.
Admissions now open for Abbey Primary School
Abbey Primary School’s Admission Policy and the Application Form for Admission for the 2026-2027 school year is now available to download at: www.scoilboyle.ie or on request by emailing [email protected]. The school will commence accepting applications for admission on 30/01/26 and cease accepting applications on 13/02/’26. The date by which applicants will be notified of the decision on their application is 03/03/’26 and the period within which applicants must confirm acceptance of an offer of admission is 10/03/’26. 50 places are being made available from September in junior infants/first year. Failure to accept an offer within the prescribed period may result in the offer being withdrawn. Note: the school will consider and issue decisions on late applications in accordance with the school’s admission policy.
Why do people litter at the bottle banks?
A number of viewers were in touch with this website recently to highlight the overflowing state of the bottle bank at the rear of St. Joseph’s Hall just after Christmas. Whither this was as a result of a delayed collection of the bottles and cans or a belated clean out of post Christmas home drinking is not known! For whatever reason, the fact that some people, who made the responsible effort to decide to recycle their bottles and cans, thought it was ok to leave them on the ground under the bins along with their boxes and bags is unbelievable. If the bottle banks are full, bring you empties home with you and come back later.
News snippets from around Boyle
If you go by the decision date on the planning file, we should know by Thursday next (22nd) if Roscommon Co Co will grant permission to Aldi for their development in Boyle town centre. But this date could be extended………..Great to see a major atheletics event back in the Forest Park yesterday (Thursday) when the North Connacht Schools Cross Country was held in the Boyle venue…………Quiz Night in aid of Lough Arrow Christmas Day Swim/North West Hospice will take place in the Mayfly Inn, Ballinafad on Saturday 17th commencing at 9am. €10 per person with a maximum of 5 per table. raffle and refreshments on the night……..Screenwriting course with Joe O’Byrne will take place in Boyle on Saturday 17th. Learn the full process from story idea to screenplay, explore the role of script editors, producers and funding bodies, plus a discussion on AI in screenwriting. Please email [email protected] for more…… Boyle Film Club kick off the spring season with a screening of ‘The Quiet Girl’ tonight Friday in Boyle Family Resource Centre at 7.30pm with free entry……..In another sign that spring is just around the corner, Lough Key Visitor Centre and Lakeside Cafe are now open to the public each day from 10am-5pm.
And finally…!
Every year the Institution picks two of it’s most reformed patients and questions them. If they get the questions right they are free to leave.
This year the two lucky patients were Tom and Mike. They were called down to the office and left there by the orderly. They were told to wait as the doctor got their files. The doctor came out and motioned for Tom to come in for his questioning. When Tom came into the office he was instructed to sit in the seat across from the doctor.
“Tom, you know the tradition of this institution so I imagine you know why you are here. You will be asked two questions, and if you get them right, you will be free to go. Do you understand all that you have been told?” said the doctor with a rather sly grin. Tom nodded, and the doctor began to question him.
The first question was this. “Tom, if I was to poke out one of your eyes, what would happen?” “I would be half blind of course,” Tom answered without much thought. “What would happen if I poked out the other eye?” “I would be completely blind,” said Tom knowing that he had just got his freedom. The doctor then sent him outside while he drew up the paperwork and accessed Mike’s files.
When Tom got into the waiting room however, he told Mike what the questions would be and what the correct answers were. The doctor calls in Mike and he followed the same procedure that he had with Tom.
“Mike, the first question is what would happen if I cut off your ear?” “I would be blind in one eye,” he said remembering what he had been told. This received a perplexed look from the doctor but he just simply asks the other question so that he could figure out what the man was thinking.
“Mike, what would happen if I cut off your other ear?” “I would be completely blind,” he answered with a smile as if he knew he had passed.
But then the doctor asked him what his reasoning was, and he said flatly, “Sure wouldn’t me hat fall down over me eyes.”
