The walk
The De Buitléar Way (Slí de Buitléar) is a short 4 km circular trail on Bray Head, with about 120 metres of climbing – a modest outing rather than the full haul to the summit cross. What sets it apart is the theme: it was laid out in memory of Éamon de Buitléar, the wildlife filmmaker, and a run of interpretive panels along the route tells his story and points out the plants and animals of the headland as you go. Follow the red-arrow-on-black waymarks.
You can start it from either end – Bray Promenade or Vevay Road – which is worth knowing, because the Vevay Road parking near the Wilton Hotel roundabout is limited and fills fast at weekends. Coming by train is the easier option: Bray station is on the DART, a short walk from the promenade trailhead.
The honest reason to put it on your list right now: the Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk has been closed on safety grounds, so the De Buitléar Way and the wider Bray Head paths are the way to get the headland’s sea views without the closed clifftop section. It’s exposed up top, the ground turns muddy after rain, and there are no facilities on the trail, so bring water and a waterproof and wear proper shoes.
Éamon de Buitléar
The man the path remembers was one of Ireland’s best-known naturalists – a wildlife filmmaker, writer and traditional musician who brought Irish nature onto television, and who sat as a Senator from 1987 to 1989. Born in Renmore Barracks in County Galway in 1930 and raised among Irish speakers, he settled in Delgany, a few kilometres down the coast, and lived there until his death in 2013. His widow, Laillí de Buitléar, cut the ribbon on the trail when it opened in May 2014. Naming a walk after a wildlife filmmaker, and building it around panels on the local nature he spent his life filming, is a fitting tribute – and a more interesting idea than the usual memorial bench.
Going to the summit
If you want the big view, the thing to do is continue onto the Bray Head Loop and climb to the top, marked by a stone cross placed there in 1950 for the Holy Year. From the summit the panorama opens across Dublin Bay and the town below, out to the Great and Little Sugar Loaf and to Carrickgollogan – the hill locals call Kathy Gallagher. The climb steepens near the top and there’s a short scramble over rock; it’s more demanding than the De Buitléar loop, so treat it as a step up rather than a detour.
Practical information
- The trail: 4 km circular, about 120 m of ascent, allow roughly 90 minutes. Open year-round.
- Start points: Bray Promenade or Vevay Road; parking at Vevay Road is limited and busy at weekends.
- By train: Bray DART station, then a short walk along the promenade.
- Bring: Waterproofs and shoes with grip; the headland is exposed and gets muddy. No facilities on the route, so the promenade is the place for cafés and toilets before or after.
- Dogs: Welcome, but keep them under control near the grazing land on the headland.
Start early on a fine weekend to get a parking space, and read the panels as you go – they’re the point of this particular walk, and the reason to choose it over the plainer climb straight up to the cross.