Midlands & “Midwest”
The Midlands for our purposes include all of Co. Longford, Co. Westmeath, Co. Offaly, almost all of Co. Laois, most of Co. Tipperary, western Co. Kildare and Co. Meath, eastern Co. Clare, Co. Galway, and Co. Roscommon, southeastern Co. Leitrim and southern Co. Cavan. This is widely considered the most boring part of Ireland, the flat middle one has to cross in order to reach the interesting bits (rather as the Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating once remarked that Asia was what one flew over on the way to or from London!). In fact the extensive region well repays exploration.
The Midlands are explored by stretches of ByRoute 6, ByRoute 7, ByRoute 8, ByRoute 9, ByRoute 10, ByRoute 11, ByRoute 12, ByRoute 13, ByRoute 14, ByRoute 15, ByRoute 16 and ByRoute 17, with Special Pages on The Shannon Waterways, Athlone & Environs, Mullingar & its Lake Environs, and Tullamore & Environs.
The “Midwest” is a term that usually refers to the Shannon Industrial Zone, hideous but apparently necessary for Ireland’s economic wellbeing, such as it is; it roughly overlaps with the area covered by the Special Pages on Limerick City & Environs, which also take in several pleasant parts of Co. Limerick and southeastern Co. Clare.
