County Offaly, Administrative division in central Ireland
County Offaly is an administrative division in Leinster in central Ireland and stretches across wide farmland, forests and wetlands between Dublin and Galway. The area borders seven other regions and is connected through a network of national roads.
The area emerged from the old Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was renamed King's County in 1556 under the Tudors. After Irish independence, the region regained its current name.
The name comes from the Irish Uíbh Fhailí, referring to an old kingdom, while the English designation King's County remained official until 1920. The landscape today is mostly agricultural, with small towns like Tullamore serving as centers of daily life.
Tullamore serves as the main town and sits centrally, so most destinations can be reached comfortably by car. Those planning to visit the monastic site of Clonmacnoise or Birr Castle should allow half a day to a full day for each.
Birr Castle houses the Great Telescope from 1845, which remained the largest astronomical instrument in the world for over seventy years. The massive tube can still be seen on site today, resting in its original mounting.
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