Westmeath Way

County Westmeath, one of Ireland's smaller counties, is in the midlands, and the Hill of Uisneach in the county is considered the geographical centre of the country. The Westmeath Way is a 33km-long low-level linear walking route from the town of Kilbeggan, famous for its whiskey distilling and horse racing, to the town of Mullingar, the administrative centre of the county. The route follows a section of the River Brosna and then public roads northwards to the townsland of Lilliput on the shores of Lough Ennell: Jonathan Swift is said to have stayed with friends on the lake's shore, and used the name for his fantasy island in Gulliver's Travels. The route then continues by road, fields and woodland path to reach the north end of the lake, and from there it goes by road and canal tow path into Mullingar. Apart from pleasant river-bank stretches (which may be a little wet and overgrown), woodland sections and canal bank, much of this route is on road, some sections of which carry fast traffic.