A Guide to Staying on the Correct Side of the Royal Canal
Probably the most frequent question I get asked by those wanting to walk, run or cycle the Royal Canal is which side of the canal should I be on? As a rule of thumb I would always advise people to follow the National Famine Way Signs along the route but below is a list of…
Walking on the Royal Canal: North Wall to Cross Guns Bridge
Distance: 3.15km When I first started writing this blog, several parts of the Greenway were yet to be finished and the section of the canal between Sheriff Street and Newcomen Bridge was still being worked on. Thankfully now that section is open with both a path for pedestrians and a cycle-way too, I have updated…
Walking on the Royal Canal: Cross Guns Bridge to Castleknock Train Station
Distance: 7km One of the great things about walking along the Royal Canal in the Dublin area is that you are never too far from a train station so its always easy to get a train to your starting point or get a train home. In my last walking post, I left you having a…
Walking on the Royal Canal: Castleknock to Leixlip Confey
Distance: 8.65km Part 3 of our journey sees us start at Castleknock Train Station and the start of the stretch known as the Deep Sinking, on past Coolmine and Clonsilla before crossing the Dublin and Kildare county line and finishing at Cope Bridge at Leixlip Confey. There are several reasons why I have chosen to…
Walking on the Royal Canal: Confey to Maynooth
Distance: 7.6km *note Confey to Louisa Bridge is currently closed as of November 2022 for 3 months for upgrade works. In this post I am going to look at the stretch from Cope Bridge at Leixlip Confey to the slipway at Maynooth Harbour which marks the start of the Royal Canal Greenway. While the Greenway…
Royal Canal Greenway: Maynooth to Enfield
Distance: 18.7km After covering the last few sections on my feet, here I take to my bike to cover some more ground as we get further west into more rural landscape from Maynooth Harbour, through Kilcock and on to Enfield. Maynooth is the gateway for many to the Royal Canal Greenway, a perfect route for…
Royal Canal Greenway: Enfield to Thomastown
Distance: 23.5km In the last post I left off as we reached Enfield Bridge by the railway station. In this post I will look at the stretch from Enfield to Thomastown Harbour, all of which lies on the Long Level of the Royal Canal. This route offers a great chance to cycle a flat good…
Royal Canal Greenway: Thomastown to Mullingar Harbour
Distance: 17km Being honest, Thomastown is as close as you can get to being in the middle of nowhere, which is part of its charm. However unless you are able to drive here to start your day, it is an unlikely place for you to start. For me I think it is a good idea…
Royal Canal Greenway: Mullingar Harbour to Coolnahay
Distance: 10.5km I know I have tried to start or finish most my posts at a location with a train station however in my previous post I thought it made sense to stop a little short at Mullingar Harbour rather than going a little further around the bend to Mullingar Railway Station. So for those…
Royal Canal Greenway: Coolnahay to Ballynacargy Bridge
Distance: 8km Coolnahay and the 26th Lock mark the western end of the Summit Level of the Royal Canal and it is the perfect place to slow things down again and walk the to Ballynacargy. The advantage of leaving the Summit Level is this walk is all down hill from the 26th Lock to the…
Royal Canal Greenway: Ballynacargy to Abbeyshrule
Distance: 8.8km Keeping the sections short as I travel further west towards the Shannon, todays post covers the stretch from Ballynacargy to Abbeyshrule, an easy place to start, enjoy some time on the canal before having a good lunch and returning back the way you came. Leaving your vehicle in Ballynacargy village, much of which…
Royal Canal Greenway: Abbeyshrule to Ballybrannigan
Distance: 9km The section between Abbeyshrule and Ballybrannigan Harbour just outside of Ballymahon is one of the quietest and most picturesque sections of the Royal Canal and well worth the visit to meander around the many bends of the canal here. Leaving Abbeyshrule we first cross over Webb Bridge to the southern bank of the…
Royal Canal Greenway: Ballybrannigan to the 41st Lock
Distance: 11km Ballybrannigan as previously mentioned is a harbour just to the north of Ballymahon. Before taking to the Greenway to the 41st Lock, I decided to call into the town for some lunch to fuel for my walk. Ballymahon has a very wide main street with plenty of parking and local pubs, garages and…
Royal Canal Greenway: 41st Lock to Richmond Harbour
Distance: 13km From our starting point at the 41st Lock we will reach the end of the Royal Canal where it joins the Camlin River at the 46th Lock just beyond Richmond Harbour in Cloondara. We are now over 130km from our starting point at the Sea Lock on the Liffey. We have left urban…
Royal Canal Greenway: The Longford Branch
The Longford Branch of the Royal Canal was built several years after the Main Line was completed to Cloondara in 1817. Offically opened in January 1830 the branch is roughly 8.5km long but has since been shortened slightly after Longford Harbour was filled in and the new terminus moved to the south side of the…
Walking the Royal Canal: Lough Owel Feeder
Although not navigable, the Lough Owel Feeder on the summit level of the Royal Canal at Mullingar has a decent path along the majority of it and is well worth taking the time to wander the relatively short 4km stretch out to the Sluice House at Lough Owel. The Feeder itself is about 3.5km however…
Cycling on the Old Rail Trail: Mullingar to Athlone
Given how intertwined the history is between the Royal Canal and the Midlands Great Western Railway (MGWR) I think it would be remiss of me not to put up a post about the old MGWR Mullingar to Athlone railway line which has been converted into an amazing 40km greenway called the Old Rail Trail which…
Cruising on the Royal Canal: Travelling through the Deep Sinking by Barge
Running the length of the Royal Canal in a single day is a fairly unique way to experience the joys of travelling along its banks. However, a promise I made to myself that mid-summers day in 2019 was that one day I would return to see the canal the way it is truly meant to…
Official Launch of The Royal Canal Greenway
The Royal Canal Greenway has been officially launched today 24th March 2021, by Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan and Minister for State Malcolm Noonan. Information, photos and guides for the entire length of the Royal Canal Greenway including the Longford Branch as well as information on the Lough Owel Feeder, the Old Rail Trail and…
Down to Town Marathon Route Description
With the Dublin Marathon being held virtually for another year, Leixlip man Declan Kenny has organised a self supported marathon along the banks of the Royal Canal from the Hill of Down to Leixlip Confey which people can use to record a virtual Dublin City Marathon time on the DCM app or for people who…
Royal Canal Run June 21st 2019
My Royal Canal Run – June 21st 2019. After nearly a year of planning and 35 weeks of training the evening of the 20th of June had arrived, my crew had been briefed, my kit bags and supplies packed and repacked and all the relay runners who would accompany me along the 90 mile journey knew where…
A Royal Adventure: Swim, Bike, Run!
Update: Since I originally posted this Declan put up a great short film about his day which can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX2AmcFT92Y&list=LL If there is one thing I like to highlight on this website more than any other, it is that the Royal Canal is an amazing amenity for all to use. I am hardly…
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