Kenagh

The King-Harman memorial clock tower, dated 1878, commemorates Laurence King-Harman of the nearby Mosstown family. Its limestone walls, carved bust and weather vane were designed by Robert William Edis. Even the clock and bell have documented makers: John Moore and Sons of London and John Taylor and Company of Loughborough.

It is not the only older building recorded on the village street. The National Inventory describes a single-storey thatched house of about 1820, once part of a longer terrace. Such small domestic buildings show another side of Kenagh’s history, away from memorials and great houses. Historic listings do not mean private houses are open to visitors.

At Corlea, excavations uncovered a timber trackway laid across bogland in 148 BC. A preserved section of the oak structure is displayed in the visitor centre. Unlike a modern reconstruction, the timbers themselves survived for centuries beneath the peat.

The Royal Canal and its historic remains are another part of the local landscape. Old waterway engineering and the trackway both concern moving through difficult country, but they are separated by almost two millennia.

Corlea Bog Walk gives walkers a different encounter with this landscape from the indoor exhibition. Use the published trail map, and check Heritage Ireland’s opening arrangements separately for the trackway centre.

A village visit can take in the clock tower and older streetscape without suggesting that Corlea, the canal and the memorial are all part of one short walking circuit.