Oldcroghan Man gives vital boost to Offaly tourism

The rare finding of a 2,000 year old male torso in a county Offaly bog in 2003, known as Oldcroghan Man, has helped to give a much-needed boost to tourism in the county with over 1,000 tourists alone visiting Croghan Hill over the last two summers.

The perfectly preserved torso of Oldcroghan Man, which was found by peat worker, Kevin Barry, when he was digging a drainage ditch on Clonearl Bog in 2003, now formers the centrepiece of the Kingship and Sacrifice exhibition in Dublin's National Museum, where it is viewed each year by thousands of people.

Oldcroghan Man has also helped to revitalise tourism in Offaly since Fin Dwyer of the Irish History Podcast launched "The Road to Oldcroghan," last year, with research by Damian Lawlor and Miriam Ryan.

In the eighteen months since the Podcast was launched, Damian and Miriam launched the "Oldcroghan Man Walking Tour" which has already attracted over 1,000 tourists to Croghan Hill.

The final Walking Tour of 2021 took place on Sunday last, and tour guide Damian Lawlor said, “It was great to see another sell out crowd for the tour on Croghan Hill. The tour explores the fascinating story of the find and preservation of this uniquely-preserved iron age King. The history of the area and of the iron age society in which he lived and died is explained in detail. The fact that Fin Dwyer of the Irish History Podcast was able to join the tour was also great as he was able to give valuable insights into research carried out for the series.”

The finding of such a bog mummy is extremely rare and important and has attracted writers, archaeologists, historians and documentary makers from all over the world. Now the podcast series and tours given by local guides is helping kick start tourism in this rural part of Offaly.