Tullamore is the county town of County Offaly, in Ireland. Located in the centre of the county, it is the fourth most populous town in the midlands region with a population of 14,607 in the 2016 census.

The town retained Gold Medal status in the National Tidy Town Awards in 2015 and also played host to the World Sheep Dog Trials in 2005 which attracted international interest in the region. The Tullamore Show is held near the town every year.

The town’s most famous export is Tullamore Dew – an Irish whiskey distilled by Tullamore Distillery – that can be traced back to 1829. The original distillery was shut down in 1954, with the brand later being resurrected and produced at the Midleton Distillery, in Cork. However, the brand’s new owners, William Grant & Sons, invested in a new distillery near Tullamore, bringing whiskey production back to the town in 2014.

Culture

The Tullamore Phoenix Festival was an annual celebration of art, culture and heritage first held in August 2000. Festival events included hot air balloons, sky diving, concerts, street entertainment, a fire parade, and fireworks.

The Queen of the Land Festival takes place in Tullamore each year on the second weekend in November. Primarily a personality contest, it seeks to find the best examples of a modern Irish woman. It is organised by Offaly Macra Na Feirme. Each year about 25 girls between the age of 17 and 35 compete to be crowned Queen of the Land. The festival provides a host of entertainment throughout the town over the weekend, primarily at night.

An annual Tullamore Show takes place on second Sunday of August every year. It has grown considerably over the past number of years and is now the largest one day show in the country. It was cancelled in 2007 and 2008 due to heavy rain, though it ran again in 2009. Agriculture was originally the show’s main focus, but this has broadened considerably over the years to adapt to Irelands changing culture, with entertainment, food, crafts, lifestyle including 700 trade stands, food and refreshments, fashion and entertainment and an average of 60,000 visitors annually.

Hugh Lynch’s Pub on Kilbride Street has been operating as a public house since the early 1800s. In the early 1900s it was bought by the Williams Group, founders of the D.E. Williams Distillery, and run as a public bar and grocery, along with many other outlets in the Irish Midlands, from which they sold their growing whiskey brand “Tullamore Dew”. It has been in the Lynch Family since 1971.

The national Fleadh Ceoil was held in Tullamore for the very first time in August 2007. It returned in 2008, and returned for a third time from 21–23 Aug 2009.

The National Ploughing Championships, Europe’s largest Outdoor Exhibition and Agriculture Trade Show, was held in Screggan, Tullamore in 2016. The total attendance figures for the 2016 Championship came to a record-breaking 283,000. The show was set to return to Screggan in September 2017.^[

Places of interest

The Tullamore Dew Visitor Centre on the banks of the Grand Canal focuses on the distilling, canal and urban history of the town. Audio visual and self-guided tours are available.

Charleville Estate is located on the edge of the town. One of Ireland’s most splendid Gothic buildings, Charleville Castle, stands in this parkland setting which contains the King Oak, one of the biggest and oldest oak trees in the country. The castle is said to be haunted and was featured on series 1 of Living TV‘s Most Haunted. The oak woodland is botanically an important survivor of primeval stock. The park was the location of the annual Tullamore Agricultural Show. However following the cancellation of the show for two consecutive years due to heavy rainfall the event was moved to a new location with improved drainage in the Blue Ball area, south of the town.

Tullamore is used as a base for the Slieve Bloom Mountains to the south of the county.

Just south of Tullamore are the unique ‘Lough Boora‘ parklands. The boglands are a landscape for a wide range of flora and fauna. The wetlands and wildlife wilderness of Lough Boora now host some of the most innovative land and environmental sculptures in Ireland. 

The artists, inspired by the rich natural and industrial legacy of the boglands, have created a series of large-scale sculptures that are now part of the environmental sculpture park Sculpture in the Parklands.

10 km west of Tullamore is the village of Rahan. The remains of a what was once a large monastery settlement founded by St.Carthage or Mochuda in the 6th century, can be seen in the village.

Within 5 minutes’ drive is the Celtic cross of Durrow. In the middle of the 6th century a monastery was founded here by Saint Columba. The monastery is famous for an illuminated manuscript, written here in the 7th century, known as the Book of Durrow.

There are four metal sculptures located on the N52 Tullamore bypass funded under the percentage for arts scheme where 1% of the budget is allocated to roadside art. Sculptor Maurice Harron created the figures presenting symbols of learning and sanctity. From the north the 1st figure holds up a chalice, the 2nd a book, the 3rd a crosier and the 4th shows the release of a flock of birds representing souls. The figures are located on esker ridges that the new roadway cuts through.

There are also a number of churches in the town, including Tullamore Catholic Church, Tullamore Presbyterian Church and St. Catherine’s Church of Ireland church.

Economy

As the county town of Offaly many government services are located here such as the headquarters of Offaly County Council, the Midlands Regional Hospital and HSE services. Government departments located in the town include the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Education and Skills.

Tullamore has traditionally been an important industrial, retail and services centre for County Offaly. When the Grand Canal opened in the late 18th century, it offered increased connectivity to the town and offered an increased market for goods produced in the area. Tullamore Dew, a brand of Irish Whiskey was first distilled in the town in 1829. Tullamore was connected to the national railway network in 1854 by the Great Southern and Western Railway company, now Iarnród Éireann. Tullamore is also located near the boglands of the Bog of Allen. This provided employment through the work of Bord na Mona. Agriculture is also important to the local economy.

A number of industrial estates are located in the town. For example, in Srah Industrial Estate, employers include multinationals like Sennheiser, GeneMedix, Covidien, Isotron and Zannin