Rothar Routes

Cycle routes & pilgrim journeys in Ireland and Europe …..

Posts tagged ‘Carlow cycle routes’

Ducketts Grove Night Ride

The thrill of riding in the dark is something I’ve come to savour these past couple of winters!

First thoughts about it were that it would be dangerous and boring, with nothing to see in the pitch black of night. How wrong could I be! Nothing compares to being out on a quiet country road or along the Barrow Track on a cold crisp black night, with stars twinkling overhead or occasionally with the Space Station making its way across the skies. Or a clear moonlit night making it easy to pick out familiar landmarks that aren’t so familiar looking in the half light. Especially trees, which take on a whole new shape and appearance. Throw in a few gusts of wind and it can be damn scary!

It’s only possible of course if you have good lights on your bike, front and rear and you pick your route carefully. With 1800 lumens in my front light I can safely get a good 90 minutes of a ride in. Tonight took me out to other worldly Ducketts Grove – is there a more iconic building for the Halloween season?

Another favourite is the along the River Barrow towpath between St Mullins and Clashganny which I did last year, starting out in daylight on the outward journey and coming back by the light of the bike. It can be tricky on the Barrow in winter as the track softens and becomes slippy so you need to be extra vigilant.

And it shortens the winter; being able to keep up the evening cycles is just magic and helps keep a level of fitness up for the following season!

Turas Columbanus

Life is a real road,

broad for some,

and narrow for others

Columbanus of Carlow

These story boards of the early stages of Turas Columbanus, the latest addition to pilgrimage routes, give a great insight into the life of Columbanus and his journey from Myshall to Bangor and eventually to Bobbio in Italy. Hopefully they will be rolled out soon for the rest of the route to Bangor in County Down for the Irish sections of the route. The route moves to Europe where it crosses through France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. I cycled a version of the Irish route last year and the map of my version of the route follows after the story boards. Credit to all involved in the research and production of the story boards that highlight the life of one of the great saints of Ireland.

Summer Cycling 3 – to Tomard & beyond!

The bicycle is a curious vehicle; the passenger is its engine

John Howard, US cyclist

Climbing any of the roads up towards Bilboa and Killeshin or the Ridge at Old Leighlin definitely reinforces that quote! There’s nothing quite like a good steep climb on a bike ride to reduce you to a quivering mess. Heart rate is through the roof, legs are full of lactic acid and you just feel …. great to be alive!

It’s nice to change things up and get up a few hundred metres to admire the views back across Carlow towards the Nurney Plateau, the Blackstairs and the Wicklow Mountains. Especially at harvest time, fields of golden brown mixed with forty shades of green stretch out before you like a painting. The views are stunning and make the bit of effort to climb the hill so worthwhile.

The Blackbog Road is a great road for getting out of Carlow Town; it’s so quiet, has a good surface and brings out to Milford in a flash. Instead of crossing over the skew bridge at Milford I turned left and carried the bile over the drawbridge across the canal, then took the local road out by Ballygowan to Tomard and continued up to Tomard Upper. These are just perfect roads for cycling, virtually traffic free and so peaceful.

This route is a nice weekend route; its 37kms with about 400 metres of uphill – and better still 400 metres of downhill!

Love these ‘dual carriageways!
Map of route

The descent from Rossmore down past the Reservoir and Killeshin Romanesque Doorway is just fantastic but caution is needed – this section fo road can be busy at times and you pick up serious speed so don’t be taking any risks! There’s a lovely walk around the Reservoir and the Romanesque Doorway is always worth a stop off.

Summer Cycling 2

Carlow – Leighlinbridge Loop

Hang this man!!

Sir Richard Butler

And we all think our bosses are the worst in the world! Poor Phil Kennedy worked as a farm steward for Sir Richard Butler of Garryhunden, the part of the county we visit on this route. He was a member of the United Irishmen during 1798. Sir Richard gave him a letter to deliver to authorities in Carlow. When it was opened, it read ‘hang this man’ and the poor man was executed.

I love these gems of local history that I pick up on cycling the backroads of Carlow and beyond. Well done to Carlow Tourism on erecting fantastic storyboards at heritage sites across the county. This one is at Clonmelsh graveyard, where many of the Butler family are buried. One of their ancestors went on to become a signatory of the American Constitution and the creator of the daft Electoral College systems used in American elections!

  • Disney ancestral graves
  • Ancient cross Rath Melsigi, where St Willibrord was educated
  • Ancestral graves of the Butler family

This is a lovely flat 30kms loop that takes the quiet Blackbog road out of Carlow Town and out to Milford. Just before Morrisseys Quarry, take a right onto a bóitrín which brings you down by the two graveyards. Continue on and you meet the back road to Bagenalstown. Stay on this road as far as the Harrow Cross and turn right for historic Leighlinbridge, one of the prettiest villages on the River Barrow. I love stopping here at the memorial garden where a lot of Carlovians are remembered. Among them the famous scientist and Alpine mountaineer, John Tyndall, Nurse Margaret Kehoe, Orchard, Leighlinbridge, who was shot on Easter Monday during the Easter Rising in 1916 as she carried out her duties. She must surely be related to Captain Myles Kehoe who fought and died at the Battle of the Little Big Horn with General Custer and the 7th Cavalry.

The Black Castle and the Valerian Bridge, Leighlinbridge. The first toll bridge in Ireland!

There’s lots more to see in the Memorial garden, well worth a stop and a nice place to snack. We took the Barrow Track back to Milford.

The grassy pathway is just perfect for cycling, provided Waterways Ireland remember to cut it…..

We crossed over The Barrow at Milford and returned home along the back road to Carlow Town an in along the Green Road.

Summer Cycling Series

Route: Sleaty Lower Killeshin River Barrow

Whether we like it or not Covid restrictions are with us in the medium term and we need to adapt or we will all crack up! With the long summer evenings now is the best time of the year to really get to know your own locality.

I’m going to post up some my favourite local routes using Carlow Town as the starting and end point for my evening routes. The routes will follow the local road network and mostly avoid regional and main roads.

We had a terrific easy 24kms cycle this evening on traffic free roads all within 5kms of Carlow Town Centre!

I’m a firm believer that the local road network is not promoted enough for safe cycling; there should be some investment in good signage and in identifying loops that can be connected up to provide an extensive safe network of dedicated shared cycle routes – it could be done at a fraction of the cost of developing greenways!