Aughrim, Ireland Hotels, Vacations, Tourism

Tiny AUGHRIM , fourteen miles from Loughrea and just short of Ballinasloe, was the scene in 1691 of a key battle in the Williamite Wars, in which the Irish and French forces, retreating westwards towards the ports of Galway and Limerick, were decisively defeated. The Battle of Aughrim Interpretative Centre (June–Aug Tues–Sat 10am–6pm, Sun 2–6pm; €3) explains the significance of the battle – the bloodiest in Irish history with over nine thousand casualties – and places the Williamite Wars in the context of seventeenth-century European power struggles. The adjacent … more »