Overview
Monasterevin has more bridges than a town its size has much use for. The River Barrow, the Grand Canal and its Barrowline branch all cut through it, and the stone bridges that carry roads over the water are what earned it the name ‘the Venice of Ireland’. It’s a working market town of about 5,300 people (2022 census) in south-west County Kildare, bypassed by the M7 since 2004, which leaves the main streets quiet enough for a proper wander. It’s not a polished tourist stop, and that’s much of the appeal.
Just outside town, Kildangan Stud carries on the area’s thoroughbred tradition, while the centre itself mixes Georgian houses, canal-side cafés and a steady traffic of walkers and cyclists off the towpaths.
History and heritage
Saint Evin arrived in the 6th century, coming north from Munster with a band of monks to found a monastery at a spot they called Rosglas, ‘green wood’. He is said to have written an early life of Saint Patrick. Raiders left the place in ruin, and in 1189 the Cistercians founded the Abbey of Rosglas here; little of it survives beyond fragments behind Moore Abbey House.
That house, Moore Abbey, is the thread running through the town’s later history. Built in the 17th century on the site of Evin’s monastery, it was the seat of the Moore family, Earls of Drogheda. The tenor Count John McCormack lived there from 1927 to 1939, and since 1945 it has been a home for people with intellectual disabilities run by the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary.
The Grand Canal’s Barrowline branch turned the town into a trading stop, bringing barges and distilleries. John Cassidy opened the Monasterevin Distillery in 1784, and Cassidy’s whiskey built a strong reputation before the distillery closed in 1934. And on 2 July 1903, the Gordon Bennett Cup – the first international motor race held in Ireland or Britain – roared through on its figure-of-eight course based on Athy, looping through Kilcullen, the Curragh, Kildare and Monasterevin. The Gerard Manley Hopkins Literary Festival, run every year since 1987, marks the poet’s frequent visits to the town.
What to see and do
Monasterevin’s centre is small enough to cover on foot in an hour or two. If you only have twenty minutes, walk out to the aqueduct.
- Grand Canal Aqueduct: Built in 1826, this three-arched limestone structure – the stone came from Mountrice Quarry – carries the canal straight over the River Barrow. It’s the town’s best single sight, and it reads well from both the towpath and the water.
- Prendergast monument: The Celtic cross in the town square remembers Fr Edward Prendergast, hanged on 11 June 1798 for his part in the Rebellion. The cross itself is dated 1898 and was unveiled in 1900.
- Moore Abbey Hill: A limestone outcrop a short walk from the centre, with open grassland and views out over the Barrow valley.
- The towpaths: The old canal towpaths, once worked by barge horses, are now flat, quiet routes for walking and cycling, running under the town’s historic bridges.
For more canal heritage, a short drive north leads to Digby Lock, one of the most photographed locks on the Grand Canal, while the Four Potts Well overflow structure sits just outside Portarlington to the south-west.
On the water and on foot
Monasterevin sits on the Barrowline branch, and the water is half the point. Barge hire runs from Blueway Barges and Jennifer’s Travels Barge Hire; kayaks come from the Monasterevin Blueway Kayaking Club. Anglers work the canal and river for bream, roach, rudd, perch and pike. The long-distance Barrow Way passes close to the town for anyone wanting to string together a longer riverside walk.
Moore Abbey Hill is the best local spot for a proper leg-stretch, its limestone pavement and scattered outcrops making for more interesting ground than the flat towpaths. The Monasterevin Canal Festival, generally held over the August bank holiday weekend, is the town at its busiest.
Getting there
- By car: Signposted off the M7, about 63 km south-west of Dublin on the R445.
- By train: Monasterevin station is on the InterCity lines running from Dublin to Cork, Limerick, Tralee, Galway and Mayo.
- By bus: Bus Éireann route 126 links Dublin and Portlaoise; check the current timetable for stops and times.
- By canal: Leisure craft can reach the Barrowline branch from Athy, a slow-travel way into the wider Grand Canal network.
Amenities cluster along Main Street, where you’ll find the town’s pubs and cafés. If you’re walking the towpaths in spring or autumn, bring a light waterproof – there’s little shelter along the water.