West Clare greenway

[west_clare_wanderer]

RTE news: Planning application made for first section of West Clare Railway Greenway

 

https://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2026/0702/1581326-clare-greenway/

[Westcorkrailway]

7 minutes ago, west_clare_wanderer said:

RTE news: Planning application made for first section of West Clare Railway Greenway

 

https://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2026/0702/1581326-clare-greenway/

This will turn into a nightmare as it has in West Cork. From personal experience, landowners on that line can be, funny. 

[west_clare_wanderer]

17 hours ago, Westcorkrailway said:

This will turn into a nightmare as it has in West Cork. From personal experience, landowners on that line can be, funny. 

 

That's interesting. On the RTE radio report yesterday, they were extolling the virtues of the greenway in Mayo.

[Tractionman]

18 hours ago, Westcorkrailway said:

turn into a nightmare

I do wonder about the 'logic' of reusing former trackbeds for greenways, in Ireland where in some cases the lines closed decades ago and have gradually been returned to agricultural land or built upon -- it is not like the Beeching closures in GB where the formations were in good order and more easily turned over to cyclepaths as with the Monsal Trail or Tissington Trail in Derbyshire.

A much as I like riding 'old railways' on my bike, for here a more cost effective approach would be to focus on boreens and other small lanes and dedicate these as 'quiet ways' for walkers and wheelers, as is being done in France for example. These 'voies vertes' in some cases will use an old rail line, or a canal towpath, but equally thread their way through the countryside on existing roads, which are 'downgraded' to 20kph routes and vehicular access only for local farms. 

It'd be quicker to create these routes than the full on 'greenway' infrastructure (greenway being a bit of a misnomer with the amount of tarmac they use...) and they would annoy landowners less yet still get folks in the great outdoors enjoying walking and riding safely, with spin off benefits for local communities through green tourism?

Just a thought

[west_clare_wanderer]

38 minutes ago, Tractionman said:

A much as I like riding 'old railways' on my bike, for here a more cost effective approach would be to focus on boreens and other small lanes and dedicate these as 'quiet ways' for walkers and wheelers, as is being done in France for example. These 'voies vertes' in some cases will use an old rail line, or a canal towpath, but equally thread their way through the countryside on existing roads, which are 'downgraded' to 20kph routes and vehicular access only for local farms

That's a really interesting concept. It's definitely been talked of recently in the UK. In Oxfordshire perhaps? 

I've just got visions of angry people due to the 20kph speed limit being imposed. You know the type. 

[Tractionman]

25 minutes ago, west_clare_wanderer said:

20kph speed limit

yes that's been the issue in Oxfordshire too, it'd need careful scoping of suitable roads, basically 'L' roads -- the white or narrow yellow roads shown on OS maps -- normally windy and serving a few farms, so not main routes, and using 'access only' signage to stop through vehicle traffic--Ireland I read somewhere has more km of roads per head of population than anywhere else in Europe!

[Westcorkrailway]

1 hour ago, Tractionman said:

I do wonder about the 'logic' of reusing former trackbeds for greenways, in Ireland where in some cases the lines closed decades ago and have gradually been returned to agricultural land or built upon -- it is not like the Beeching closures in GB where the formations were in good order and more easily turned over to cyclepaths as with the Monsal Trail or Tissington Trail in Derbyshire.

A much as I like riding 'old railways' on my bike, for here a more cost effective approach would be to focus on boreens and other small lanes and dedicate these as 'quiet ways' for walkers and wheelers, as is being done in France for example. These 'voies vertes' in some cases will use an old rail line, or a canal towpath, but equally thread their way through the countryside on existing roads, which are 'downgraded' to 20kph routes and vehicular access only for local farms. 

It'd be quicker to create these routes than the full on 'greenway' infrastructure (greenway being a bit of a misnomer with the amount of tarmac they use...) and they would annoy landowners less yet still get folks in the great outdoors enjoying walking and riding safely, with spin off benefits for local communities through green tourism?

Just a thought

The formation between kilrush and kilkea is all there (in fact there is 2 former trackbeds running between the two towns, but that’s a whole other story) 

 

The most successful greenway in the country (Waterford) and a host of other less successful ones have been built on tracked. Waterford is great, Mullingar to athlone could arguably be re-opened, new Ross is stuck in funding issues, kings court seems to have done ok. Youghal is probobly the worst greenway in this country when you consider potential! 
 

however, insisting on using lines closed in the pre 1960s is where the issues lie. In 2012 a West Cork Greenway feasibility study was done by CCC for 100’000 (it would be millions now) and I remember they called to my dad and said “some places, the railway is perfectly preserved, in others it’s like it never existed” and that’s where you run into problems. Agriculture has come a long way since and farmers hate the prospect of there farms being split in two by a public highway essentially. 
 

what’s worse about the current plans for the greenway is they now want to use virgin land which goes through hilly terrain, which arguably defeats the purpose of a greenway (that by which using railway grades to make cycling long distances viable) 

 

you also have overextension on the greenway part. I understand there is a landowner in new Ross holding up that whole greenway. South Kerry and west cork is incredibly political. A few years ago, lines like the Tuam line, south Wexford ect. We’re all under pressure to become a greenway, the WRC north of Claremorris is still under pressure in this regard. Youghal still stands as a discrace. Even short term thinking was thrown out the window 

[skinner75]

No bother to tear up tarmac in the future if rails are to go back down. Sure the whole trackbed would need to be torn up & redone anyway, even if the old rails were still in place 

[Tractionman]

13 minutes ago, Westcorkrailway said:

using lines closed in the pre 1960s

yep that was my point, where the trackbed has gone it seems odd to fix a greenway alignment to it, might as well either go for a new route entirely, or use existing roads/paths etc.

in NI where I am the ex-UTA lines had gone by the end of the 1950s and virtually now invisible in the landscape apart from the odd bridge 'in the middle of nowhere', so sticking rigidly to these old routes for greenways (or indeed reinstated railways as is being proposed eg for Omagh etc) seems pointless to me!

[Westcorkrailway]

1 minute ago, Tractionman said:

yep that was my point, where the trackbed has gone it seems odd to fix a greenway alignment to it, might as well either go for a new route entirely, or use existing roads/paths etc.

in NI where I am the ex-UTA lines had gone by the end of the 1950s and virtually now invisible in the landscape apart from the odd bridge 'in the middle of nowhere', so sticking rigidly to these old routes for greenways (or indeed reinstated railways as is being proposed eg for Omagh etc) seems pointless to me!

Well the good thing about re-opening the railways on ground like that is that they can change the route slightly in places to suit modern standards where trackbed has been deleted there is a version of this happening on the Foynes line where the old trackbed was re-aligned for maximum efficiency 

[cheesy_peas]

1 hour ago, Tractionman said:

I do wonder about the 'logic' of reusing former trackbeds for greenways, in Ireland where in some cases the lines closed decades ago and have gradually been returned to agricultural land or built upon -- it is not like the Beeching closures in GB where the formations were in good order and more easily turned over to cyclepaths as with the Monsal Trail or Tissington Trail in Derbyshire.

A much as I like riding 'old railways' on my bike, for here a more cost effective approach would be to focus on boreens and other small lanes and dedicate these as 'quiet ways' for walkers and wheelers, as is being done in France for example. These 'voies vertes' in some cases will use an old rail line, or a canal towpath, but equally thread their way through the countryside on existing roads, which are 'downgraded' to 20kph routes and vehicular access only for local farms. 

It'd be quicker to create these routes than the full on 'greenway' infrastructure (greenway being a bit of a misnomer with the amount of tarmac they use...) and they would annoy landowners less yet still get folks in the great outdoors enjoying walking and riding safely, with spin off benefits for local communities through green tourism?

Just a thought

There's quite a vocal cycle lobby and road running is very popular. You would be made mincemeat of if you attempted cycling, running or walking on many of the regular roads the way people drive these days, so there's that.

Hiking/cross country walking is niche by comparison and hamstrung by having no "right to roam" legislation here.

Greenways are seen, rightly or wrongly, as free* to use leisure facilities which bring visitors and their money to an area**. 

 

*yes I do know they cost money to build and maintain.

**results may vary. 

[Tractionman]

49 minutes ago, cheesy_peas said:

no "right to roam" legislation here

Indeed, and no public rights of way network like in England and Wales, where bridleways are available for cycling off-road.

There are quieter cycling on-road options but it means sitting down with an OS map and working out routes, all part of the fun, but not everyone has the time or inclination to do that and visitors and families are after safer cycling routes where they can rent a bike, or take their kids out for an afternoon, so the greenway network is ideal for that, especially for those lines that were closed but their formations not lost, as with the Dungarvan branch and the Waterford Greenway.

Doing the same for the Ballycastle Railway, as has been proposed, on the other hand, seems mad to me, as the line closed in 1950, and much of the trackbed since reclaimed, so a more realistic route from Ballymoney to Ballycastle (which would be good to have for promoting cycling) might instead be based on the network of small roads and lanes in that part of Co. Antrim, all for a lot less cash than a brand new greenway, and without the lengthy planning disputes with local landowners!

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Tractionman

[cheesy_peas]

13 minutes ago, Tractionman said:

Indeed, and no public rights of way network like in England and Wales, where bridleways are available for cycling off-road.

There are quieter cycling on-road options but it means sitting down with an OS map and working out routes, all part of the fun, but not everyone has the time or inclination to do that and visitors and families are after safer cycling routes where they can rent a bike, or take their kids out for an afternoon, so the greenway network is ideal for that, especially for those lines that were closed but their formations not lost, as with the Dungarvan branch and the Waterford Greenway.

Doing the same for the Ballycastle Railway, as has been proposed, on the other hand, seems mad to me, as the line closed in 1950, and much of the trackbed since reclaimed, so a more realistic route from Ballymoney to Ballycastle (which would be good to have for promoting cycling) might instead be based on the network of small roads and lanes in that part of Co. Antrim, all for a lot less cash than a brand new greenway, and without the lengthy planning disputes with local landowners!

 

Tried out part of the Trans Pennine Trail once (former Woodhead Route) was surprised to see horse riders using it. Horses are expressly forbidden from the greenways here. It was quite mucky in some parts, a maintenance issue rather than horse by-product.

But yes, people with busy lives and kids just want a plug and play venue, with easily followed signs, cafes and bike hire places.

[Tractionman]

On 2/7/2026 at 3:52 PM, west_clare_wanderer said:

Planning application made for first section of West Clare Railway Greenway

This is worth a read too 

https://irishcycle.com/2026/07/02/kilrush-to-kilkee-route-planned-as-first-section-of-wider-85km-west-clare-railway-greenway/