Places to see between Sligo and Dublin?
 

DH and I are leaving for Ireland on Monday and are finalizing our itinerary. On our last full day, we are driving from Sligo to Dublin. Is there anything interesting to see along the way? Castles, charming villages, gardens etc? We'd be driving the N4 the whole way but are willing to take a short detour. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Close to Sligo, on a windswept hill overlooking Lough Arrow, are the neolithic burial cairns of Carrowkeel; you'll pass the Rest Home for Donkeys to get to the top. Simpler and more isolated that Carrowmore, you may be the only person there.

On the N5, south of Carrick-on-Shannon is Strokestown Park House with the Irish Famine Museum in the yard. Closer to Dublin, you might prefer either Belvedere House Gardens on the northern shore of Lough Ennel (2.5 miles south of Mulligar) OR Tullynally Castle and Gardens at the pretty village of Castlepollard (13 miles north of Mullingar), the largest castle in Ireland that still functions as a family home: lots of towers, turrets and crenellations with beautiful parklands. (It looks like you could take the R395 out of Edgeworthstown to Tullynally, then drop down into Mulligar for the last bit into Dublin.) BTW, Mulligar also has a bronze and pewter center, with free tours of its workshop.

Several of the places skibumette mentions involve detours (but that is not to suggest that they are not worth visiting).

Boyle is on the route, and well worth considering. It offers and old abbey (currently undergoing restoration, but still open for visits); King's House, originally the town house of a wealthy family; and nearby is Lough Kee Forest Park, very scenic.

Thanks for the suggestions. The Belvedere House Gardens and Boyle both look like worthwhile stops.