KILMORE Kilmore is encounted when traveling the Melbourne to Echuca (or vice versa) hgy. Kilmore is an old historic town, and in an earlier era was a day’s ride out of Melbourne when heading north and is contentiously claimed as Victoria's oldest inland settled town. Kilmore was once on the very busy Hume Highway that travelled north to Sydney. So Kilmore is a not quite by-pass town, but a very busy one at that. Kilmore Post Office opened on 1 February 1843 and, with Ovens which opened the same day, were the fifth and sixth to open in the Port Phillip District and the first two inland offices. Kilmore was a stronghold of early Celtic settlers from Ireland and Scotland and remains a strong Celtic area to this day. In the mid-1850s Kilmore was the electorate of the Irish-born Premier of Victoria (1857–59), John O’Shannassy (1818–83). O’Shannassy, an Irish Catholic, was the bane of the Protestant establishment in Melbourne and that rubbed-off of those who lived in Kilmore. Many of Kilmore's oldest extant buildings are made of bluestone including the hospital, old court house, former post office, some churches and gaol and Museum. There are a number of old and heritage buildings in Kilmore. The Catholic Church is a very grand building. The Anglican, United and Presbyterian are all old magnificent  bluestone. The Three Hotels in Kilmore are century plus pubs. The Red Lion is an important visit for the traveler/visitor. Some of the pub memorabilia is very old. Have a look at this etching. Just one of three. The Kilmore War Memorial is located at the southern end of the main cbd strip. Kilmore is a really great town to visit and most will delight at the etching  at the Red Lion, so it is important to plan for a stop over. Heritage diary