Middle Ireland

Are you planning on a direct, straight shot route between the two towns? If a longer, somewhat out of the way path is up for consideration, Sligo to the north was a worthwhile stopover for us. We actually then continued even further north on our trip, into Northern Ireland and around the coast, before dropping south to Trim, but that would be quite a detour.

And will you have been south of Westport, around Cong, or even farther south, to Galway? The M6 will get you from there towards Trim, if you’re not planning on smaller roads farther north.

What woule be the driving time from Westmport to Trim?

Internet search (https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Westport-Ireland/Trim#r/Drive/s/0) says less than 3 hours.

If breakup mans get out of the car for a bit, Athlone Castle is interesting and there's a silly place called Derryglad Folk Museum just north of Athlone that is just a private collection of some interesting stuff. Ever seen a 50 pound lump of bog butter? The proprietor hovers around to tell great stories about everything he's got. There's also Clonmacnoise if you haven't been.

If breakup means spend a night, and it's a Wednesday, Clarke's in Lanesborough has a nice trad session all year round. We were there by boat so I don't have a lodging recommendation. Sean's in Athlone (oldest bar in Ireland) has music most nights as well.

A couple very close to where my grandfather was born - Rathcroghan and the National Famine Museum.

We stopped at the National Famine Museum several years ago on our way to Trim and found it very interesting. Looks like they are closed for “redevelopment “ but plan to reopen this spring.