Ireland’s walking and cycling landscape has been transformed in recent years with greenways providing traffic-free routes for people of all abilities. A new book, Greenways of Ireland, guides readers through 25 spectacular greenways across the island of Ireland. Author Dr Richard Manton draws on extracts from the book to tell the engineering story of the greenways of Ireland.

Greenways

Greenways are traffic-free routes for shared use by pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users, families with buggies, and others. They are relatively flat and wide, with good-quality surfaces and connections to public transport and other destinations. They are fitted out with signs and mapping, rest and shelter facilities, public toilets, parking, bike repair stands, lighting and artwork.

The greenways of Ireland showcase the diversity of the Irish landscape, including coastlines, bog, forest and pastures. Following canals, rivers and old railway lines, most routes can be found in rural settings with breathtaking scenery.

Some greenways connect urban areas and provide important links for commuters, school children or anybody out for a quick spin. Greenways also bring benefits for physical health, mental health, tourism, biodiversity, environmental education and much more.

The greenways of Ireland.

Greenways of Ireland is a practical guide containing everything you need to know to tackle Ireland's greenways on foot, by bike or wheeling. It features 25 greenways totalling more than 750km across the island, from Waterford to Mayo and Kerry to Antrim. This includes detailed descriptions for 12 long greenways (more than 20km) as well as details of 13 shorter greenways (5km-9km).

Reimagining canals and railways as greenways

Ireland has a rich transport engineering heritage. The first summit-level canal in Britain or Ireland was the Newry Canal, completed in 1741 to bring coal from Coalisland in Co Tyrone to Dublin. The Grand Canal, completed 1804, linked Dublin to the River Shannon (and Limerick) and the River Barrow (and Waterford). Not long afterwards in 1817, and just a short distance to the north, the rival Royal Canal also joined Dublin and the Shannon.

Ireland’s canal network peaked in the mid-19^th century before it was superseded by a new technology: the railway. Today, several canals and their towpaths – once used by horses to tow canal boats – have been converted to greenways or blueways. In Greenways of Ireland, you will find chapters dedicated to the Grand Canal Greenway, Royal Canal Greenway, Barrow Blueway, Suir Blueway, Newry Canal Towpath and the Lagan and Lough Cycleway.

Three generations of transport corridors: canal, railway and greenway.

Ireland’s railway age began with the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, from Dublin City to Dún Laoghaire, which opened in 1834. In the 1840s, railway companies were founded to connect Dublin to cities on the west coast and railways proliferated across the country, serving towns, industry and creating tourist hotspots. Later, in the 1890s, state-funded narrow-gauge branch lines were built to some poorer and more remote parts of Ireland – such as Westport to Achill and Galway to Clifden.

Much as the canals were superseded by rail, the railways fell victim to the rise of the car and many of Ireland’s railways closed in the 1960s. In Greenways of Ireland, you will encounter full chapters on six greenways that have been built along the old railway network, including the Old Rail Trail, Boyne Valley to Lakelands Greenway, Great Western Greenway, Midleton to Youghal Greenway, Waterford Greenway and the Limerick Greenway.

The Old Rail Trail sits on the old Athlone to Mullingar railway.

Each greenway chapter features a history of the old railway or canal along which the greenway was developed. These histories are based on extensive research of Ireland’s engineering heritage and are complemented by exquisite historical photography sourced from the National Library of Ireland. Historic feats of engineering are also described in each chapter, including the viaducts, bridges and tunnels found along these greenway journeys.

Ireland’s greenway revolution

In 2007, Fáilte Ireland identified cycling's potential to attract tourists to Ireland. As part of a strategy for the development of Irish cycle tourism, they designated cycle hub towns (including Mullingar and Westport) and proposed a network of cycling routes and greenways.

New national sustainable travel and cycling policies followed in 2009. Ireland’s greenway revolution was then ignited by the Great Western Greenway in Co Mayo, which was built on an old railway and opened between 2009 and 2011, capturing the public’s imagination and inspiring greenway projects across the island.

The opening of the Waterford Greenway and the Old Rail Trail in Co Westmeath provided fillips to the greenway movement between 2015 and 2017. Seeing the success of these greenways, Northern Ireland and the republic published greenway strategies in 2016 and 2018.

The republic has invested heavily in greenways over the last 15 years: funding grew from €7m in 2012 to €40m in 2019 to €100m in 2025 (including spending by TII on rural greenways and spending by NTA on urban greenways). The National Development Plan also provides investment to deliver many greenway projects currently in planning and design.

This growing greenway network is a significant public asset and offers a return on investment through spending in the local economy. For example, the Great Western and the Waterford Greenway each receive more than 200,000 visitors per year and support about 150 jobs. These greenways have revitalised towns and villages like Mulranny, Newport, Kilmacthomas and Dungarvan.

Spectacular sections of the Waterford Greenway.

Towards a greenway network

If Ireland is to fully realise the benefits of greenways, a joined-up all-island network is needed. Such a network would dramatically increase the level of accessibility by the public to greenways with routes connecting the main population centres, public transport and tourist attractions. A national greenway network would also be a big tourism draw, attracting keen cyclists from abroad while also offering casual cyclists a different way to see the island.

Great strides have been made in this direction. The republic’s greenway strategy targets a network of national and regional routes, including major flagship greenways. There is also a plan for a broader National Cycle Network to link all population centres of more than 5,000 people with a safe, connected and inviting cycle network.

The proposed network encompasses 3,500km of cycling infrastructure, of which 950km is greenway standard (see the map for greenways proposed by TII in 2023). Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland greenway strategy aims for a primary network of seven greenways and a secondary network of 20 greenways.

Future of the greenway network as envisaged in TII (2023).

Greenway builders

Ireland’s greenway revolution would not have taken place had it not been for the vision, persistent campaigning and tireless hard graft of a wide variety of communities and voluntary groups, for example the Royal Canal Amenity Group and the Great Southern Trail Action Group.

Local authorities and state agencies took on the mantle of greenway builders, especially once greater levels of funding became available. In Northern Ireland, the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust is the charity behind the National Cycle Network and aims to provide traffic-free spaces for everybody to enjoy.

Our canals and railways stand as testaments to Ireland’s engineering heritage. Today, a new generation of engineers is bringing this infrastructure back to life as greenways. As you visit the greenways of Ireland, you will see historic tunnels and viaducts complemented by stunning new pedestrian and cycle bridges (such as on the Old Rail Trail in Athlone) and innovative elements like the BladeBridge of decommissioned wind turbine blades on the Midleton to Youghal Greenway.

These engineers are also working with environmental scientists and others to ensure that greenways do not have an adverse environmental impact, particularly on sensitive ecological sites in protected areas.

Dr Richard Manton is the director of sustainability at University of Galway. His book ‘Greenways of Ireland: 25 traffic-free walking and cycling routes’ is available from threerockbooks.com