Mullingar is the county town of Westmeath, sitting at the heart of Ireland's lakeland midlands — a region of limestone plains, bogland, and dark, fish-rich lakes that attract anglers from across Europe. The town itself is a busy market centre with a working cathedral and an unhurried character that hasn't been touched by tourism. It's not a postcard destination, but it's a decent base for the surrounding countryside.
The main draws are outside the town: Lough Owel and Lough Ennell offer excellent coarse fishing and sailing, while Tullynally Castle — a vast Gothic pile north of the town — opens its gardens to visitors in summer. Belvedere House, a few kilometres south on Lough Ennell, has one of the more unusual features in Ireland: the "Jealous Wall," a fake Gothic ruin built by an 18th-century earl specifically to block the view of his brother's house. Stranger still is the Hill of Uisneach, west of town — the ancient ritual centre of all Ireland, an atmospheric hilltop of earthworks and mythology that sees almost no tourists. In town, the Cathedral of Christ the King is worth a look for its scale and its Boris Anrep floor mosaics.