Overview
The Barrow is the longest of the Three Sisters and, at 192 km (120 mi), the second-longest river in Ireland after the Shannon. It rises at Glenbarrow in the Slieve Bloom Mountains of County Laois and runs to the tidal waters of Waterford Harbour, crossing Laois, Kildare, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford on the way.
Two things bring most people to it. The Barrow Navigation is a 111 km run of slow, lock-lined water, one of the quietest inland waterways in the country to take a boat along. The Barrow Way is the walking trail that follows its old horse-drawn towpath. One honest note before you plan a cycling trip on it: the Barrow Way is really a walkers’ route. About 46 km is developed, hard-surfaced recreational trail; the other 65 km is grassy off-road towpath that gets churned and muddy after rain and is heavy going on a bike. If cycling is the point, wait for the Barrow Blueway, the surfaced cycling-and-paddling trail now nearing completion.
History and legend
Long before it carried barges, the Barrow was a border. In early medieval times it divided the kingdom of Laigin to the east from Osraige to the west – a divide that survives in the old saying, ‘whoso lives west of the Barrow, lives west of the law.’
The name comes from a Proto-Celtic root meaning ‘boil’ or ‘bubble’, tied to the Celtic water-deity Borvo. Legend gives that a sharper edge: the healer-god Dian Cécht is said to have flung three serpents into the river, setting the water boiling.
By the 18th century, engineering had overtaken myth. The river was made navigable with short canal cuts, locks and a dedicated towpath for horse-drawn barges hauling grain, timber and malting barley to breweries as far as Dublin. Many original lock houses and arched bridges survive as protected structures.
Source and upper reaches
The Barrow starts at Glenbarrow, a peaty valley on the western flank of the Slieve Bloom Mountains at about 350 m. This upper stretch is quiet and wooded, a spot for birdwatchers and picnics well away from the towpath crowds. To reach it on foot, the Clonaslee trailhead has a small car park and marked paths – including the Glenbarrow waterfall loop – with the ground getting rougher as you climb.
What to see and do
Boating the navigation
The Barrow Navigation is one of the most approachable inland waterways in Ireland: slow, calm water made for leisure cruising, small motorboats and traditional barges. Worth knowing how the locks add up, because guides often blur it – there are 33 locks on the full navigation, but 23 of those are on the non-tidal river itself, the rest on the Barrow Line canal that links it to the Grand Canal. Operators such as Barrowline Cruisers run narrowboat trips.
Clashganny Lock, near Borris, is the pick of them for watching boats work through the chamber against big timber gates. There are 15 moorings between Athy and St Mullins for overnight stays.
Canoeing and kayaking
The river gives more than 50 miles of paddling, from calm touring stretches to the white water at the Clashganny weirs. Local operators like Go with the Flow River Adventures run guided trips that take in a controlled run over the weir and gentler water for beginners. Check levels first – heavy rain changes the river quickly.
Walking the Barrow Way
The Barrow Way follows the towpath and is as flat as long-distance trails get, waymarked with a yellow arrow on a black background. It runs about 116 km from Lowtown, County Kildare to St Mullins, County Carlow – note it neither starts nor ends in Laois – and takes roughly four days end to end, though most walkers do it in shorter out-and-back sections. Dogs are welcome on a lead.
Worth stopping for along the route:
- Rock of Dunamase – dramatic Anglo-Norman ruins on a limestone crag; it sits east of Portlaoise, a short detour off the upper river rather than on the towpath itself.
- Carlow Castle and St Mullins’ medieval monastic site, with its round-tower base and heritage centre.
- Leighlinbridge and the nearby Black Castle, above the water.
- Duiske Abbey in Graiguenamanagh, founded in 1204.
Fishing
The Barrow is one of Ireland’s best-known coarse fisheries, producing award-winning pike, tench and gudgeon, along with salmon. You will need a valid licence from Inland Fisheries Ireland. The river and its sister the Nore are together a designated Special Area of Conservation, and the quieter wooded stretches hold otters, kingfishers and herons.
Practical information
- Access points and parking: trailheads with parking at Robertstown, Rathangan, Monasterevin, Vicarstown, Athy, Leighlinbridge, Goresbridge, Graiguenamanagh and St Mullins; many have toilets and food nearby.
- Public transport: trains stop at Athy and Carlow (Iarnród Éireann), with Bus Éireann connecting the main riverside towns – handy for one-way section walks.
- Best time to go: May to September for the warmest, longest days on the water and the towpath.
- Conditions: the developed sections are firm underfoot; the grassy towpath turns muddy after rain, so bring waterproof boots in spring and autumn. Dogs are not allowed on commercial boats.
Nearby
- Portarlington – a Huguenot town with a riverside promenade and heritage museum.
- Mountmellick – known for its Quaker heritage and embroidery museum, on the River Triogue that feeds the Barrow.
- Lough Boora – a reclaimed peatland turned wildlife reserve, with good walking and cycling.
For a first taste, start at Graiguenamanagh or St Mullins, where the surfaced path, the moored boats and a couple of good pubs are all within a short walk of each other. For the full towpath, begin at Athy and give yourself four unhurried days.