Boating on the River Shannon is for many the best holiday experience in Ireland, beloved of Dubliners looking to experience a taste of freedom on the waterways.

A river cruise on the Shannon, particularly on a warm spring or summer’s day is heavenly and will force you to relax because it’s impossible to speed up on a boat. My partner and I made the most of an extended weekend on the Shannon in early September and lapped up the last of the Indian Summer.

For anyone interested in boating on the Shannon, stopping over at least one night in Carrick-on-Shannon in Leitrim, is highly recommended. This is where we collected the keys for the elegant clipper boat and as soon as we’d had our boating lesson from an Emerald Star staff member, we dropped our bags in a cabin and made our way to The Oarsman, a gastro pub that feels like you’ve stepped back in time hundreds of years ago.

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The place is steeped in history and as customers tuck into sumptuous meals, they can peruse the artefacts that adorn the walls. I enjoyed the herb and garlic marinated free range chicken supreme. I highly recommend the pub, as the food and service is top notch.

After a few drinks, it was time to retire to the boat for the night. One of the cool things about boating, even for a short time, is the apparent community vibe among boaters.

I loved walking back to the boat at night and getting friendly ‘hellos’ from, as we called them, ‘Boat people.’ I slept like a baby on the boat and woke up to lovely fresh air, stepping out onto the boat in my PJs to get that first glimpse of the water and swans gliding across the Shannon.

We spent the morning in Carrick-on-Shannon, milling about the attractive main street and enjoying the river view over lunch. A freshen up and it was time to take on the river.

We set off in the late afternoon and within around an hour, we had arrived in Battlebridge. This is only a 10 minute drive by car but an hour cruising the river doesn’t feel like any effort, as you take in the beautiful scenery and wildlife.

We chose to visit Battlebridge on recommendation and found a very small mooring area, where a grey haired man played his guitar and sang towards the river, from the front of his canal boat. Unsurprisingly, we found more community spirit here, at Beirnes of Battlebridge, a pub a minute’s walk from the mooring area.

It served excellent food and offered even better company. Here you pay a small surcharge to access electricity for the night on your boat.

And again, as we stepped into the pub garden, almost immediately, we met more ‘Boat people’ and realised we were rapidly becoming one of them! A south Dublin couple told us how they’d fallen in love with boating after recent holidays and they decided to buy a second hand boat.

They were making the most of their middle age - with their kids grown up and long weekends off work with time to spare. This spirit for adventure was admirable but the only downside - their boat was broken down - stranding them at the pub for a while!

Some might say that wouldn’t be a problem - but I thought to myself, renting a boat sounded less hassle! We enjoyed hours together and then they went off to check on their boat repair but soon after their place was taken by the mother of a young child, who was making friends with children on a camping holiday nearby.

She was meeting friends and had left her husband to fix the tent up. We left the pub and went for a stroll around the area, over a nearby bridge and down a nearby greenway and before we knew it, it was night-time and I was ready for bed.

But my partner was up for the craic and so headed off to what sounded like an almighty night and Trad session at Beirnes. I set off in the morning and steered my way out of Battlebridge towards Lough Key Forest and Activity Park in Roscommon.

It rained a little and it was somewhat windy that day, so full focus was needed on the journey that took a couple of hours. Lough Key is highly recommended to families, in particular, because it boasts walking and cycling tours, the fun indoor puzzle solving game, Boda Borg.

The Rockingham Remembered Tour showcases the landscape, from underground to a walkway among the treetops. One of the most interesting sights is the shell of Rockingham House, now just a concrete tower, visitors climb for a panoramic view of Lough Key.

The former home to English gentry burned down in 1957 but despite the fire it has left an historic imprint on the Lough and is an interesting attraction to visit. For those who just want to chill out on a Spring or Summer day, this is also the perfect place to do that.

And I guarantee, when it’s time to give those keys back after a trip on the boat, you’ll be counting down the days on when you’ll return. If you want to book a boating trip on the Shannon with Emerald Star a Clipper canal boat can accommodate parties of six.

A four-night self-catered cruise on the Shannon during the 2024 boating season on board a Clipper boat, starting and finishing at Emerald Star’s base at Carrick-on-Shannon, is priced from €679 per boat/ €113.17pp based on six sharing. Next year Emerald Star will operate on the Shannon from 15 March until 31 October 2024. To book log onto the Emerald Star website.

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