Rothar Routes

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

Posts tagged ‘South Leinster Cycle Routes’

Taking the Long Way Around

There’s more than 60,000 unique Townlands in Ireland, that stretch back to the Middle Ages or before. They remain the basis of rural addresses and provide a sense of identity. No where else in Europe has preserved their place names. Loyalty to the home place is so strong in Ireland, stretching back thousands of years – look at the rivalries between the tiniest of clubs! Most of these names were originally in our native tongue but were transposed into English after the Act of Union. Here’s the names of some of the Townlands I cycled through yesterday:

The Irish version of the names usually provides a clue as to the location – many names will include the likes of ‘Carraig’, Dún’, ‘Rath’ etc.

The Long Way Around

South Carlow is an area of outstanding natural beauty, it doesn’t attract big numbers of tourists but those that do stray in tend to like what they see and return again! I met a surprisingly big family group in Rathanna, probably staying in Osbornes Storehouse. The route I took is mainly in local roads with a few stretches of rough lanes and with plenty of hills – over 850 metres of climbing in 55kms. I must have crossed the disused route of the old railway line from Bagenalstown to Palas East four or five times; there are some beautiful bridges and it’s lovely to see the old station house at Ballyling beautifully refurbished since I last took a photo of it.

An area of outstanding natural beauty, bordered by the River Barrow on the West and the Blackstairs Mountains on the East. There are numerous heritage sites all over south Carlow with many great examples of rock art, which I’ve covered previously. Today was about fresh air and exercise – even if it was assisted…

River at Rosdelllig

I presume this warning is an old sign associated with the railway line. Saw this near Dranagh.

On the Trail of Saints, Kings & Vikings

The source of the Wren Boys tradition is lost in the mists of time and while I wasn’t partaking in any hunting of the wren on this St Stephens Day, I came across a few on my fantastic cycle today along the Nurney Plateau. The road up through Nurney across by Augha gives beautiful views of the Barrow Valley but also access to some great lesser known heritage sites of County Carlow.

I love the climb up to the highest point above Nurney village, its only 226 metres but it’s a good pull rewarded by views of the Wicklow Mountains to the east, the Blackstairs to the south, across the Barrow Valley and up onto the Killeshin Hills in the west, with Carlow Town spread out to the north. I sped down into Newtown and swung right towards the townland of Kildrenagh. There’s a well hidden large head of an old cross and a stoup, or holy well, located in a hedge along a cul de sac. If you didn’t know it was there you would never find it.

Kildrenagh Cross and Stoup.

The Dúchas website is an amazing anthology of folklore collected by school children in National Schools during the 1930s. Here are two stories written by a Joseph Mahon of Augha and a May O Brien of Ballybromell, Fenagh.They make lovely reading as the following extracts show about this site and Augha Church which was my next stopping off point.

Kildrenagh (Cill Droighneach) means The Church of The Blackthorn or Sloe Bush and there are remains of a monastic site and bullaun stones in the fields alongside the road dating back to the 2nd Century BC. The Celtic Cross is 10th or 11th Century and you can see the outline of carvings of a Christ figure in the central panel with various crucifixion symbols on the side panels, a ladder, nails, hammer. They were uncovered in the early 1800s by workmen laying a road for Captain Bruen of Oak Park to link Newtown with Ballywilliamroe Bog. They reerected them on the opposite side of the road to where they were discovered.

I love visiting this well which supposedly has the cure for warts. Time to keep moving and it was on then in the direction of Dunleckney – another interesting place to visit, but this time I turned in the direction of Augha. The 7th Century Church ruins at Augha are considered among the most beautiful pre-Romanesque architecture in Ireland. It’s amazing to see how the granite stones are so uniform in size and shape.

Augha Church
Augha Church
Augha Church
Augha Church

The Vikings paid it a visit in 866 and did their usual plundering and pillage…!

At Augha Church.

It was time to head for home now and I retraced my route from Nurney back towards Tinryland but first stopping off to visit Ballyloo Castle, built in 1390 by Art Óg Cavanagh, King of Leinster who was poisoned in 1417! Isn’t it amazing the history that is around us in plain sight but which we can’t see? The Castle ruin is barely visible as it has become overgrown with ivy. It is another important part of our heritage. All three sites today are in need of protecting or they will sadly crumble into heaps of stones in the next 50/100 years. And there will be no markers to our past.

Ballyloo Castle
Ballyloo Castle
Ballyloo Castle
Ballyloo Castle

It was a perfect day for a cycle, on lovely quiet scenic rural roads of the hidden Carlow. Well worth taking time to explore these historic sites!

2021 – a great year for the bike!

What a year of joy, cycling north, south, east and west of this beautiful island!

Approaching the finish of Malin to Mizen

I’ve said it before but we have an unbelievable network of local roads suitable for riding bikes, whether it be an hour loop or a long distance tour. The beauty of the local roads is that it takes you into the heart of rural Ireland, into small villages and off the beaten track. Virtually traffic free the roads are super safe. As rural Ireland declines, eco tourism offers a mountain of possibilities and the growth of hiking trails and bike routes will aid in the promotion of local areas and perhaps keeping them populated with increased economic activity associated with sustainable tourism. With Covid concerns in 2021, we really enjoyed avoiding the ‘tourist hotspots’ over the year and travelling the road less travelled; people have more time to be friendly and it has a more authentic feel to it.

The Blackstairs Mountains, County Carlow

There’s massive potential for off road touring too if routes can be accessed and developed. Any route development needs to be minimal; in most cases all that is needed is some annual maintenance and good signposting.

Ballycarney, Co Wexford
Sunset Dungarvan Harbour

It’s taken me a while to come to the realisation that a Greenway is definitely not designed as a cycle route. At this stage I’ve now cycled on all the Greenways across the country:

  • Great Western Greenway, Mayo, 42kms
  • Waterford Greenway, 46kms
  • Old Rail Trail, Westmeath, 42kms
  • Royal Canal Greenway, Longford to Dublin, 130kms
  • Suir Blueway, Tipperary, 21kms

My experience on the Greenways is that the routes are used more by walkers than cyclists and by families with young children. Consequently most of the activity is typically in the 5 kms close to the hub points, with the mid sections very quiet. As most of them follow the path of old railway tracks they tend to be very straight and boring after a few kilometres. While there is stunning scenery on the Western Greenway and the Waterford Greenway, most of the routes are enclosed by the old banks that bordered the railway line or hedging. I find them a bit soulless and sterile and much prefer the local roads that twist and turn offer up interesting heritage sites and beautiful views. The Greenways are great additions to an area but for cycle touring I would tend to probably avoid them unless they linked specific places I needed to get to.

Gougane Barra, West Cork
Free Derry Corner, The Bogside, Derry en route from Malin Head to Mizen Head

The majority of our cycling is of course locally and we have got into the habit of cycling all year round. Night cycles on cold winter nights are exhilarating and we have so familiar with our favourite routes close to Carlow Town that the bikes almost steer themselves!

Night cycle on the River Barrow
Heat Map of our cycle routes

We covered a lot of ground in 2021, most of it local but looking at the heat map, we are only scratching the surface of places to see and visit in the years ahead!. Roll on 2022.

How now brown cow?
Training run before Malin to Mizen
Barley Cove, West Cork

The Greenway for south Carlow?

When all the controversy over the proposed Blueway, which was refused by An Bord Pleanála, was in full flow, many of us expressed legitimate concerns about the conversion of the national way marked hiking route, that is the Barrow Way into a hard surface. The Barrow Way is the Irish Trail with the least amount of road walking, as confirmed by the great walking couple, Ellie and Carl who run a fantastic YouTube channel dedicated to trail walking in Ireland.

This Irish Times report may be a game changer for the Carlow route and would give us the best of both worlds – our own greenway through the nicest part of Carlow and retains our walking route along the narrow green corridor of the Barrow Valley, thus protecting its biodiversity, its grass surface, its multi purpose use and its status as an area of special conservation.

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.