Though its name translates as “the back of the old cow’s arse”, DRUMSHANBO, eight miles north of Carrick, is a neat, cheerful place with an air of briskness poised at the southern tip of the beautiful Lough Allen. The Sliabh an Iarainn Visitor Centre (April-Oct Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 2-6pm; £1/€1.27) gives some interesting background on local life, including the use of the sweathouse, a sort of sauna, and the tradition of coal and iron mining, especially out towards Arigna. The last of the mines in the area closed in 1990.