One of Co. Roscommon's largest towns, Boyle is to be found at the foot of the Curlieu Mountains, on the main Dublin / Sligo N4 road route. This substantial town has more than its fair share of historical buildings and archaeological sites, not to talk of being the birthplace of colourful characters like Sean Doherty.

The pretty lakes of the area meanwhile, Lough Key, Lough Arrow and Lough Gara have fisherman from all over Europe throwing their rods at this Western water-way town. Boyle is also renowned traditional music and a few fresher young talents too. And if nothing else would attract you to the town, you should come to see the home of Emir Holohan Doyle, last year's beautiful Miss Ireland. You might find her in pubs like Crynan; Boyle has a disproportionate amount of pubs to everything else even by Western standards.

On the outskirts of town, there's feted King House. Recently the subject of a complete restoration by Roscommon County Council, King House now hosts an exhibition that chronicles the 'Kings of Connacht'. Just North of Boyle meanwhile, there's Keadue, Ireland's Tidiest Town in 1993 and the resting place of O'Carolan the great Irish bard.

Education in Boyle centres around a few very decent secondary schools. There's Scoil Chriost an Ri and St Mary's College, both fine institutions with a reputation for producing worthy graduates. County Roscommon VEC, meanwhile, reckons it's fostering an enterprise culture in Boyle through its schools and adult education programmes. The VEC operates the following key programmes aimed at community development in County Roscommon: Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS); YOUTHREACH Programme and the Community Education Programme.

Further, through the Adult Education Service, VEC programmes to meet specific needs decided by the community are provided annually. The Adult Education Service co-ordinates the Community Enterprise Programme on behalf of FÁS in Boyle and in broader County Roscommon. This programme provides community groups with an experimental approach to community and enterprise development. To prove they're serious about twinning education and enterprise in Boyle, Roscommon County Enterprise Board works closely with the VEC.

The main providers of evening courses in Boyle are the Boyle College of Business and Adult Education and Scoil Chriost an Ri. According to friendly Deirdre Brady, principal of Chriost an Ri, the emphasis is on computer training, with courses "booked out before they're even announced." This, she says, is at the expense of language courses: "People used to take language courses all the time, but now we've had to replace these courses - there was no demand - with computer courses because the demand is huge." This is a short term trend however predicts Deirdre: "I reckon this is a cycle and that we will have it the other way around eventually."

As well as the computer courses, there's text production (typing), arts and craft, and furniture restoration happening at Criost an Ri every week. There's also English and Maths for adults at Criost an Ri. Classes are held "three of four evenings a week", said Deirdre. Typical classes run for two to three hours, says the principal, who's chuffed at having nearly 200 people taking up courses every year in her school.

Unlike many towns around the country, Boyle really seems to be serious about bettering itself culturally and making the place a better one to live in. The town's annual Arts Festival programme obviously adds to and stimulates the town's learning activity. The festival is all about providing an eclectic mix of entertainment utilising both the visual and performance arts media.

Boyle Arts Festival hosts exhibitions of Contemporary Irish Art with top-name artists exhibiting. The festival has even managed to purchase a number of paintings and sculptures and these works are on exhibition in King House which is open April to October. Scoil Chriost an Ri can be contacted at 079 62048 while St Mary's College are at 079 62192. The Boyle College of Business and Adult Education is situated on Marian Road, Boyle and is reachable by phone on: 079 62183