Knockvicar is located approximately 5km from Cootehall. At Knockvicar bridge O'Sullivan Beara, the Irish Chieftain, following his defeat in Cork, rested here on the last night before reaching O'Rourke's castle at Leitrim village. Only 35 weary followers survived out of the 1,000 who fled with him from West Cork.

The Boyle River, which flows under the bridge, connects with Lough Key via a weir and lock gates 300m upstream. You can now park near the bridge and have a very pretty walk along the towpath if you wish. Nearby is Riversdale Farmhouse, where Maureen O'Sullivan, the noted actress, spent part of her youth.

Clan Name

Knockvicar is part of the ancestral home of the Rourke and forms a stage of the Beara-Breifne Greenway which is based on the historic march of O'Sullivan Beara in 1603.

Heritage Houses

For info on Riversdale House near Knockvicar click here

Greenways Festival 2003

Knockvicar is talking part in the Greenways Festival in summer 2003 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the legendary 1603 march of O’Sullivan Beara from the Beara Peninsula to the Breifne area. Click here for info on the events