Discover Donaghmore

Donaghmore brings together several historical themes: a church, the remains of a grain mill and a maltings, and a museum with an agricultural collection. If you’re looking for a hotel here, these sights give your trip a specific sense of place. Which one shapes your choice of location depends on whether church architecture, industrial history or the workhouse museum best matches your travel interests.

Church and industrial heritage

Saint Patrick’s Church in Donaghmore is a detached, three-bay Georgian Gothic Church of Ireland church dating from 1821. The building includes a tower and a projecting sacristy. The church provides an architectural focal point alongside the heritage of grain and malt production.

Donaghmore Mill consists of the ruined remains of a water-powered grain mill dating from the late 18th or early 19th century, beside a tributary of the Erkina. The condition of these remains may change over time. Donaghmore Maltings presents a different type of building: the complex includes a largely intact, six-bay, three-storey malt house dating from the late 19th century, as well as an adjoining kiln. Together, the two sites represent different production buildings from different periods.

Museum and events

At the Donaghmore Workhouse & Agricultural Museum, you can explore an agricultural museum collection featuring historic farm machinery and household items. Alongside the buildings, the collection also focuses on tools and objects from everyday life.

Donaghmore Workhouse offers rooms for private hire for conferences, community events and gatherings. If such an occasion is part of your trip, enquire directly about hiring a room.

Getting there and choosing a hotel

Donaghmore is easily accessible from the M7 and M8 motorways. Donaghmore Famine Workhouse Museum is near Portlaoise, just off the M7. Check road conditions and your route before setting out. For your planning, you can first choose your destination based on its historical themes, then compare the specific details of the hotels.

More historical themes in County Laois

In County Laois, Donaghmore Famine Workhouse Museum tells the story of the families who lived and died within the walls of the workhouse before, during and after the Great Famine. This perspective on life in the workhouse complements the architectural heritage with family stories.

Timahoe Round Tower in County Laois also offers a distinctive historical focus: it dates from the late 12th century, has an intricately carved doorway and is part of the Ireland’s Ancient East visitor route. Dunamase developed into one of Ireland’s most important Anglo-Norman fortifications. Emo Court, meanwhile, is a neoclassical mansion designed by James Gandon in 1790; visitors can enjoy walks by the lake and through woodland there. County Laois’s range of themes therefore spans medieval tower building and fortification history to architecture and walking routes.

Discover more destinations: Mountrath, Ballyhenry, Stradbally, Rathdowney, Arles, Emo, Abbeyleix, Whitewell

For the broader travel overview: County Laois.