Lakeside Hotel, Ballina

My interest in the Lakeside Hotel is that it was used by an ADRIC Company as their base in 1920/1921

It was then just over three hours to our next destination at Killaloe. I felt very tired and head achy during this drive, which was in comparative nice weather, plenty of sunshine and not too blustery winds. We were not impressed by the reception at the Lakeside hotel and once again encountered regimentation over breakfast times. I got away with telling her 830 till 9.00 for breakfast, but with the grimace on the face the Receptionist indicated that she was not happy with such a wide spread of arrival time.

The room was very light and airy, and was right on the river bank. It was modern inside with a small balcony and large large window. David went to bed with his dickey tummy still rumbling and he was slightly feverish, I went out for a wander about 6.30 and visited the leisure centre which was buzzing and I thought that it was not me at all. However I ascertained that it might be quite quiet between 7:30 am and 9 am, so we will see what tomorrow will bring if I try it at that time. Then an early night after a cup of coffee and a snack for me in the room and nothing for David. Let us hope that he feels better tomorrow.

I in fact enjoyed a swim the large pool at the leisure centre where there were only three others swimming at 7:30 am. There was also a Jacuzzi . Then we got to breakfast at 8:50 within the 8.30 to 9 o’clock range that I had given at reception. The breakfast was not of the same quality as that at Renvyle, but was not too bad. David was still well below par and ate very little at all. But he came for a walk with me in order to buy himself some more Imodium. On the way back, we wondered over the old Killaloe Bridge where four prisoners was shot by the local police in 1921 "trying to escape".


Killaloe Bridge	today	as it was	The Gaelic plaque to the murders

It was mildly sunny on our walk but the sunshine did not last long once we were back. So my enjoyment of their balcony was short lived. We went to reception at 12:45 to try to get our room made up so that David could get back into bed. The hotel apparently did not make up the rooms for continuing guests, until the afternoon. I listened to podcasts and also played some Solitaire on BBO and drank a few cups of coffee and ate a ham sandwich and some shortbread biscuits. At 5 pm. the sun came out. albeit briefly and we went off in the car to Castleconnell, where a group of auxiliaries from our Lakeside Hotel had staged an raid on people inside the Shannon House Hotel. The raid had backfired as the people inside were in fact members of the RIC in plain clothes. The Auxiliaries were also in plain clothes, and each thought the other was the IRA. Result was three dead, the landlord, one RIC and one Auxiliary.


The front of the building in 2026	Inside the cafe	The back yard in 2026

We entered the Shannon House Café and ordered two lemonades and a scone and then David talked to the waitress about the events in 1921. She had scant knowledge but she was very obliging in letting us wander around all over the place and take pictures. There was a plaque outside the café mentioning the fact that the proprietor had been shot dead in 1921 along with two others.

Once back at the Lakeside Hotel, the appearance of the sun enabled us to sit on the balcony for a few minutes before it set and David read to me the accounts of what had happened at the Shannon House Hotel back in 1921. The whole event was very complicated and a complete mess. Then in the evening more podcasts and bridge practice on Solitaire.

A perfect days weather, blue sky and Sun sunshine and zero winds. We drove out to Williamstown after an early morning swim and breakfast. I just discovered the pool did not open till 8 am at the weekends, a fact which I had not been told, but I only had to wait about 10 minutes for it to open.

Williamstown was the place where four IRA men who had been murdered by the RIC on Killaloe Bridge had been arrested on November 16, 1920. They had been hiding in Williamstown house which was probably still a hotel at that time and taken on a ship from the quay there to the Lakeside hotel in Killaloe. Here they were handed over to the RIC. There was no trace of the house there now but there was a delightful harbour there where we had a very pleasant walk. There were just two yachts and some people fishing. Williamstown Quay, played an important regional role during the 19th century, including handling traffic and relief efforts during the Famine. Later the buildings were utilized as the Williamstown Hotel and associated with transport operations via the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, leveraging the strategic lakeside positioning. The house was burnt down later in the war of Independence (10 Jun 1921)

We then went to Mountshannon and parked by the Shannon there. We saw a lady swimming in the river and sat on a bench and enjoyed an ice cream before walking up to the local market that was taking place in the main part of this sleepy little town, sadly there was very little in the market. We did see the site of the old post office and the telephone exchange that have been manual until 1987, it then been the last surviving manual exchange in Ireland.


Williamstown Harbour	Williamstown Harbour	Williamstown Harbour	Williamstown House after the fire , circa 1924

Mountshannon	Mountshannon Fair	Mountshannon Marina	Mountshannon Old Telephone Exchange

Killaloe St Flannans CoI Cathedral	Killaloe St Flannans CoI Cathedral	Killaloe	Killaloe

We stopped in Scarriff after this and had a quick walk round before heading back to Ballina, which was actually where our hotel is. We had a sandwich on the balcony and basked in the warmth of the sun. Then around 16.30 we went out for a walk, crossing the now closed to cars Killaloe Old bridge and visited the Church of Ireland. Cathedral . We then a walked up the hill to the town centre of Killaloe. though many of the shops were permanently closed or had moved somewhere else. Then a walk along the river to opposite our hotel and back again.

Later on in the evening we went to the hotel bar and enjoyed a main course each it was very noisy in there for most of the time with one particular gentlemen at the bar making extreme noises.

Another before breakfast swim, having a lane all to myself. Followed by a short stop at the steam room, and then a pleasant enough breakfast. We went for a walk along the river in the opposite direction from before but never actually got to the edge of the river just walked past fairly newly built houses.

We left the hotel about 11.45 and had a three hour journey to the Quinlan and Cooke Hotel in Cahersiveen.