Castlecomer —County Kilkenny

This attractive little town in the hilly northern part of Kilkenny lies in a wooded valley where the river Dinin is joined by a tributary from the west. Once the centre of the country's largest coalfield, the neighbourhood has a scenic charm usually associated with upland terrain.
Castlecomer takes it's name from a castle built there during the 12th century Anglo-Norman 'invasion'. The district was once part of the territory of the O Brennans. They destroyed the first motte castle in 1200, but it was soon replaced with a structure, the remains of which can be seen in the town. The O'Brennans were finally dispossessed in the seventeenth century but the surname is still numerous in the area. In the first half of the 17th century, the lands were granted to Sir Christopher Wandsford. He developed the local anthracite mines and laid out the town on the model of Alsinore in Italy.
This little village is situated 8km north-west of Ballinasloe on the Ahascragh/Bunowen River - a tributary of the River Suck. Just west of the village lies the former Clonbrock Estate with its late 18th century mansion of the Dillon family, one of the most important seats of the landed gentry of County Galway in the 19th century.