Three of the walks here follow water. The Barrow Way is a flat, well waymarked towpath running 116.9 km south from Robertstown in Kildare through Borris and Graiguenamanagh to St Mullins, and most people take it in sections rather than as a four-day push. The 6.6 km Grennan Loop rings Thomastown, threading two Norman castles, a ruined church with an intact medieval window and the wooded banks of the Nore; reckon on two hours, about 60 m of climb, and no dogs. The South Leinster Way crosses the same ground on its way from Kildavin to Carrick-on-Suir, though a section between Carrick-on-Suir and Piltown is closed in 2026 after a bridge collapse.
The rest are woods. Jenkinstown has two easy looped walks through beech that fills with bluebells in spring, with a deer enclosure by the car park. Castlemorres is 637 acres of Coillte forestry with three colour-coded loops past the outbuildings and family vault of a house demolished in 1978. Knocktopher, on the R713 south of the city, pairs its abbey ruins with the free Castlemorris Wood loop, just off the M9.
Only one of the nine needs no car. The Medieval Mile runs from Kilkenny Castle to St Canice’s Cathedral through the city centre itself.
A flat, well waymarked towpath following canal then river through four counties, easy to pick up in sections at Borris or Graiguenamanagh.
A village of 184 people with eight All-Ireland hurling titles behind it, plus a fossil quarry, an O'Connell monster-meeting field and a Sunday market.
A moderate two-hour loop around Thomastown taking in two Norman castles, a ruined medieval church and the wooded banks of the River Nore, free to walk.
Two easy looped walks through beech woodland that fills with bluebells in spring, with a deer enclosure by the car park and a Thomas Moore connection.
Abbey ruins stacking a 1356 Carmelite friary, a Norman keep and a Victorian house on one site, with a free wood loop just off the M9.
9 of 9 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Kildare, kildare
The Barrow Way is an easy 116.9 km towpath that runs south from Robertstown in County Kildare to St Mullins in Carlow, following the canal line and then the River Barrow through Kildare, Laois, Carlow and Kilkenny. The walking is flat and well waymarked, past canal locks, stone bridges and villages like Borris and Graiguenamanagh, and most people do it in sections rather than the full four days.
Thomastown, kilkenny
Ballyhale Shamrocks are the most successful club in All-Ireland hurling, with eight titles and Henry Shefflin among their own – reason enough for a village of 184 people to matter. Add a quarry that yielded some of the earliest known land plants, a field that held 200,000 people to hear Daniel O'Connell in 1832, and a big Sunday market, and a small place earns a stop.
Thomastown, kilkenny
The 6.6 km Grennan Loop rings Thomastown in County Kilkenny, threading two Norman castles, a ruined church with an intact medieval window and the wooded banks of the River Nore. It's a moderate two-hour walk with about 60 m of climb, free to access, and no dogs allowed.
Jenkinstown, kilkenny
Thomas Moore wrote "The Last Rose of Summer" while staying at Jenkinstown House in 1805, and a walled lawn beside the old house still marks it. The draw today is a stand of beech that fills with bluebells in spring, a deer enclosure by the car park, and two easy looped walks through the wood.
Knocktopher, kilkenny
Knocktopher is a village of 174 people on the R713 south of Kilkenny, best known for an abbey that stacks a 1356 Carmelite friary, a Norman castle keep and a Victorian country house on one site. The house is now a private resort, but the free Castlemorris Wood loop and a scatter of early-medieval stones nearby make it an easy stop off the M9.
Laois, laois
The River Barrow runs 192 km from the Slieve Bloom Mountains to Waterford Harbour, past a 111 km engineered navigation of locks and weirs. Its towpath is the Barrow Way, a level 116 km walking trail linking lock keepers' cottages and river towns from Lowtown in Kildare to St Mullins in Carlow.
Southeast Ireland, carlow
The South Leinster Way runs 104 km from Kildavin in Carlow to Carrick-on-Suir in Tipperary, over the heathery shoulder of Mount Leinster and along the flat River Barrow towpath. It is graded moderate and usually walked in five days, though more than half of it follows quiet roads. Note: a section between Carrick-on-Suir and Piltown is closed in 2026 after a bridge collapse.
Castlemorres Demesne, kilkenny
Kilkenny City, kilkenny
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