Garrykennedy

Garrykennedy was a stronghold of the O'Kennedys who built a castle here. The harbour was constructed in 1829, using stone from the old castle, some of the tower still stands beside a jetty. It was used to transport slate from the local quarries. There is a pleasant village green. Larkin's has a traditional Irish ambience. Ryan's is no less welcoming.

Begin the drive from Garrykennedy heading to Portroe. Turn right into the village of Portroe heading towards Ballina and Killaloe.

The village of Portroe has a commanding view of the countryside, and another pleasant church in cream gritstone. A simple headstone in the churchyard commemorates a Tipperary hurler-author of the landmark 1926 U.S.A. tour, Tommy Kenny, and his son Sean (1930-1973), who crossed the Atlantic with three others in an open Ketch, Ituna, studied with Frank Lloyd Wright at Arizona and became a celebrated designer for the London stage. The signpost indicates a German-owned tube factory originally built up by J.B. O' Driscoll, who in 1923 revitalised the slate quarries which were first worked in the late 1700s and once employed 400 men. The new era lasted until 1956; the now ghostly workings supplied 'Killaloe' slates to a vast number of public and private buildings in Ireland, Scotland and Holland. Since 1991 slates are again being manufactured in this area.