Discover Ireland Walking Routes - Feedback Please !

[C. Flower]

http://www.discoverireland.ie/Walking.aspx

In the last few years, there's been a big investment of time and money in opening up off-road walking routes all over Ireland.

I've tried a couple of them and they were good.

The Discover Ireland site has maps and directions for loop walks and forest walks. I'm not sure if beach walks are covered.

The site is good, but it doesn't give any opportunity for feedback on the routes. This thread could be used for posting experiences of these routes and any particular pleasures and pains associated with them.

[Ah Well]

Very useful Website here too to find trails

http://www.irishtrails.ie/Home/

[Lapsedmethodist]

Look for a podcast of Pat Kenny this am. English author comparing and contrasting OS maps in UK and OS Maps in Ireland. Bad size in Ireland 1:25000 in UK and 1:50000 in Ireland. Irish maps have almost no walking routes while the UK maps are covered in them. Historical forces in land ownership apparently !! I suppose that means large UK estates versus land hungry Irish peasants.

[C. Flower]

Look for a podcast of Pat Kenny this am. English author comparing and contrasting OS maps in UK and OS Maps in Ireland. Bad size in Ireland 1:25000 in UK and 1:50000 in Ireland. Irish maps have almost no walking routes while the UK maps are covered in them. Historical forces in land ownership apparently !! I suppose that means large UK estates versus land hungry Irish peasants.

In the UK there is a system of legal rights of way across country that are upheld by use, many of them going back hundreds of years.

In Ireland, landownership rights are strong from the point of view of keeping people out.

There were mass paths across country to parish churches, but there seems to be no sense that there is an entitlement to keep them open.

In the last few years there's been a real breakthrough in Ireland, and off road walking routes have been made all over the country. One of the cases of money well spent.

[barrym]

Look for a podcast of Pat Kenny this am. English author comparing and contrasting OS maps in UK and OS Maps in Ireland. Bad size in Ireland 1:25000 in UK and 1:50000 in Ireland. Irish maps have almost no walking routes while the UK maps are covered in them. /

The online versions at www.osi.ie have the main 'ways' clare, kerry, etc.

Historical forces in land ownership apparently !! I suppose that means large UK estates versus land hungry Irish peasants.

Yea, and money grubbing IFA, whatever happened to the €1000 a year demand??

Good stuff that we are finally getting some sort of act together, good tourism potential. I wonder if the Bord F money which was available for signs etc., will survive?

[Munnkeyman]

I've walked the Western Way in pieces a few times and the Dingle Way and have found them really enjoyable.
I'd recommend a copy of the "Discovery Series" 1:50000 scale of maps for the area you are walking, as they are really accurate and give 10m and 50m contours and they show a huge selection and variety of archaeoligical/historic sites.
They are very useful when hillwalking and walking unmarked routes.

I found the Western Way quite tough sometimes as I went off the beaten track quite a bit on the Maum to Leenane section and was carrying about 30 KGs. Lovely scenery around Leenane though it was worth it.

[C. Flower]

I've walked the Western Way in pieces a few times and the Dingle Way and have found them really enjoyable.
I'd recommend a copy of the "Discovery Series" 1:50000 scale of maps for the area you are walking, as they are really accurate and give 10m and 50m contours and they show a huge selection and variety of archaeoligical/historic sites.
They are very useful when hillwalking and walking unmarked routes.

I found the Western Way quite tough sometimes as I went off the beaten track quite a bit on the Maum to Leenane section and was carrying about 30 KGs. Lovely scenery around Leenane though it was worth it.

Was it off road, or on road, or a mixture of the two ?

[Munnkeyman]

Was it off road, or on road, or a mixture of the two ?

There are road sections of the Western Way mainly between Oughterard and Maum but I usually skip that section and go for the Maamturks.
It's the same routing as the western way but I like to go up the mountains for a better view.
I started once by walking from Maam Cross, following the road, to Maum then up and over Lugnabrick to Lough Nafooey then following the river up Munterowen and then down to Leenane. Believe me much better than walking on roads, the views of Lough Mask/Lough Nafooey and Killary etc., although it can be quite foggy and wet sometimes.

[C. Flower]

There are road sections of the Western Way mainly between Oughterard and Maum but I usually skip that section and go for the Maamturks.
It's the same routing as the western way but I like to go up the mountains for a better view.
I started once by walking from Maam Cross, following the road, to Maum then up and over Lugnabrick to Lough Nafooey then following the river up Munterowen and then down to Leenane. Believe me much better than walking on roads, the views of Lough Mask/Lough Nafooey and Killary etc., although it can be quite foggy and wet sometimes.

That sounds as though it could be a bit dodgy for someone who didn't know the area well, if it's not mapped. What I like about the new routes on Discovery.ie is that they are off road and well marked.

How long would the Western Way take to walk btw ?

[Munnkeyman]

That sounds as though it could be a bit dodgy for someone who didn't know the area well, if it's not mapped. What I like about the new routes on Discovery.ie is that they are off road and well marked.

How long would the Western Way take to walk btw ?

It's quite well mapped with the OS Discovery series, you can pick your gradients.
I've never done the full route just sections of it.
My Maam to Leenane section took about 14 hours as I was beelining around.
The Galway part could probably be finished in two days at a reasonable pace.

[morticia]

There's a nice walk from the Glen of Aherlow, up Cush, Galtee Beag and Galtee Mor, then down the other side. Great views. Pathway from a car park, no need to trespass anywhere.

For anyone with kids, there's a great little book, called short walks near Dublin or similar, routes include some in the Wicklows, Howth, Killiney Hill etc. We got ours from the Great outdoors on Chatham Street (which also sells some waterproofed maps and other serious outdoorsy gear). I'm sure a lot of the other bookshops would have it too. Walks range from 20 mins to 2 odd hours.

for walks in the West, GoreTex lined hiking boots are a must 99% of the time (summer of 1995 an exception!). Everything else leaks, regardless of how much you goop them up. Given the ability of weather to appear from nowhere in the West (Mt Brandon a notorious example), mountaineers maps are good (higher res than the OS, precipices marked), and carry a compass, Goretex trousers + coat and a polythene bivvy bag in case of sprained ankles.

Used to hike/camp in the Rockies..... good gear can make the difference between fun and misery (and life and death in some cases).

Good news! In Ireland I don't think the pepper spray and bear bangers will be necessary.

Edit; blisters can be hell..... they used to have some stuff called hockey tape in Canada that you could pre-emptively tape up the pressure points with. Not sure if they've got it here yet, but there's always the interwoogie!