Carrick-on-Shannon, Lough Key and Boyle: an easy week

Shop in Carrick before you leave: the town has supermarkets, and a farmers' market on Thursdays. Then run downstream for a little over an hour, with no lock, to Jamestown and tie up at the public village quay above the weir. We know of no services at the quay; the nearest service block is back in Carrick. Jamestown was walled as a plantation town in the 1620s, its old gate still spans the road, and the ruins of a Franciscan friary of 1642 lie beyond it (Wikipedia, Waterways Ireland). Mulvey's Arch Bar is a few minutes' walk away, and The Cottage Restaurant was County Leitrim's overall winner in the 2026 Irish restaurant awards (Travel Extra), so book ahead.

Head back upstream past Carrick, a good place for a coffee or a last shop, and a little further on turn west into the Boyle River. It winds through small Lough Drumharlow to Cootehall, about two and a quarter hours with no lock. The public quay by the three-arched bridge takes about five boats, so arrive early in summer; if it is full, carry on to the public mooring at Knockvicar Bridge, under half an hour upstream. The Waterfront Restaurant at the marina opens on Wednesday to Saturday evenings and from lunchtime on Sundays, and volunteers show a small exhibition in the old barracks where the writer John McGahern grew up (book ahead).

Up past Knockvicar to Clarendon Lock, the only lock between the Shannon and Boyle. Its keeper works the Shannon lock hours with a break from 13:00 to 14:00 (+353 71 966 7011), and a floating boom guards the weir beside it, so keep to the lock side. Above the lock lies Lough Key. It is small, but it is open water: if the wind is strong, wait at Knockvicar until it drops. Look out for Castle Island off the forest park shore (no landing), then follow the Boyle River and its short cut to Boyle Harbour. It has room for about 25 boats, toilets, showers and a pump-out, but no shore power.

A whole morning for Boyle. The Cistercian abbey, one of the best preserved in Ireland, opens in the summer season, and King House, the Georgian mansion of the King family, is a museum from Easter to Halloween; on Saturday mornings its courtyard holds an artisan market. In the afternoon a hop of well under an hour takes you back across the lake to the forest park marina, where the Waterways Ireland block has toilets, showers, a pump-out and shore power on the Smart Card. If it is windy, stay in Boyle: a path through the woods links the harbour with the park. Ashore are the tree canopy walk, the Moylurg viewing tower and the Lakeside Café, and in summer boat trips and rowing boats for hire.

Cross Lough Key to Clarendon Lock, ideally outside its 13:00–14:00 break and not in a strong wind, then run down the Boyle River and up the Shannon to Leitrim, about two and three-quarter hours in all. On the way you pass the works for the new Hartley Bridge, which run until September 2027: only the centre arch is open, boats heading upstream give way to boats coming down, and 5 km/h applies within 200 m of the site (Marine Notice 53/2026). Leitrim Village has a public marina with toilets, showers, a laundry and a pump-out, but no shore power. The Barge Steakhouse is a few steps away, the Leitrim Inn serves food every day, and MJ O'Connor's by the canal has live music and wood-fired pizza.

About a kilometre above the village, Battlebridge Lock takes you off the Shannon into the Lough Allen Canal, a narrow, sheltered cut with two locks between you and Drumshanbo. Its locks share one lock-keeper phone line, so ring ahead (+353 86 812 7522 or +353 71 964 1552) and allow for the lunch break. Beirne's of Battlebridge, a family pub that reopened in July 2026, does bar food from Thursday to Sunday. Above Drumleague Lock the canal opens into Acres Lake. Moor at the Waterways Ireland marina, with toilets, showers, a laundry, a pump-out and shore power, or at the jetty by the floating boardwalk. You stop below Drumshanbo Lock: Lough Allen stays on the far side of it.

Keep the morning for Drumshanbo. The 600 m boardwalk over Acres Lake, the first floating one in Ireland, starts the Shannon Blueway trail, the Shed Distillery runs tours with tastings, and a short walk up to Drumshanbo Lock shows you the big lake you are not crossing. Then go back down through Drumleague and Battlebridge locks to Carrick, about three hours; leave by 11:00 to clear both locks before the lunch break. At the Hartley Bridge works you are now the boat coming downstream, so you have right of way, but keep to the centre arch and to 5 km/h. Hire crews spend the last night at their base, a short walk from the town's pubs and the tiny Costello Memorial Chapel.