Canal Way from Phibsborough to Cabra

Kintarō Hattori

Hey Folks,

I was walking with the GF the other day by the canal from Phibsborough to Cabra. She's been hassling me ever since saying that it's a dangerous area and we shouldn't have been there.

Is it a dangerous area? We were there in the evening when it was bright.

Mully

You were fine. The only problem I could see would be a few homeless lads having a drink. They'd be harmless.

Like most places, just keep your eyes open & head screwed on.

empirix

This is my patch, i live in the houses on the far side of the canal where theres a park with big trees running along side the canal, you were probably on the far side(walking by the little cottages). Anyways, to answer your question, its pretty safe, does be a few heads around drinking but by and large i've never heard of them giving anybody trouble(as sinister as some of them look!), walk away but keep your wits about you - should be fine, often go for a walk up there myself

Dirk Gently

It's usually ok during day light. I cycle it most days going into work. There's always people about from the nearby factories and people jogging / walking in the evenings. The nice weather does bring out the gangs of cider drinkers though and sometimes you can run into a few worse for ware people down under the bridge for the train. I find a quick hello to most of them and every thing is cool but the later you leave it, the more dodgy heads there is and the less other people there are around. Sometimes kids do be on the far side of the canal too lobbing stones over at passing joggers / cyclists.

I'm cycling that stretch about 5 or 6 years now though and never had a problem. The stretch from dorset street to phisborough is grand and again from finglas to ashtown is great, the bit inbetween is a bit of a grey area though, mostly because of the drinkers but they never caused me any hassle.

Kintarō Hattori

Cool, thanks for your replies folks. I've been vindicated so!

mikemac

Very interesting.

With the long evenings, I wouldn't mind planning a cycle route.
Can you cycle along the whole route of the canal?

I'm thinking North Strand to Clonsilla and back again but I'm not can sure if this is possible.

Is there an open towpath along the full lenght of the canal? I'd imagine the M50 will be a problem here

Dirk Gently

micmclo wrote:

Very interesting.

With the long evenings, I wouldn't mind planning a cycle route.
Can you cycle along the whole route of the canal?

I'm thinking North Strand to Clonsilla and back again but I'm not can sure if this is possible.

Is there an open towpath along the full lenght of the canal? I'd imagine the M50 will be a problem here

I'll do a dummy run for you tomorrow actually. ashtown into the city is grand. I'm gonna start off from ashtown tomorrow and see how far west I can go before turning around and heading back into the city. I'll post again tomorrow afternoon and let you know how I got on.

mikemac

Brilliant, thanks Clown Bag.

There was a realy old thread in the Cycling forum of a guy who cycled from North Strand to where the Royal Canal meets the Shannon.

It took two days so an overnight stay in Mullingar and got the train back to Dublin from Longford.
Might do this some Saturday and Sunday but must build up my shocking poor fitness first.:o

Dirk Gently

micmclo wrote:

Very interesting.
Can you cycle along the whole route of the canal?

I'm thinking North Strand to Clonsilla and back again but I'm not can sure if this is possible.

Is there an open towpath along the full lenght of the canal? I'd imagine the M50 will be a problem here

Route: Finglas --> Croke Park --> Lexlip (near enough) --> croke park --> Fingerless

Started off this morning at about 11:30am from Fingerless and cycled into Dorset street. Barrier at the croker end so turned into the canal at dorset street and headed west.

good surface from dorset to hearts corner.

average surface from hearts corner to cambells garage (gravel / tarmac / a few easily avoidable pot holes)

cambells garage to ashtown bridge perfect surface.

ashtown bridge to castleknock - dirt trails / grass / gravel. road racing bike might have difficulty here.

castleknock station to clonsilla station - very poor terrain. only attempt this on a mountiin bike. front suspension came in handy here. terrain slowed me down to less than walking pace at times but it is passable (barely). Some good dirt trails here but extremely narrow at points (the points with 30 foot drops into the canal unfortunetly). overgrown, nettles, stingers, tree roots, sharp arkward rocks, hog weed very close. Road racing bike would not make this part of the trip. road racers should turn at castleknock and head towards the park tbh. opened up closer to clonsilla and was able to pick up some speed again on the dirt trails.

clonsilla to lexlip - grand for mountain bike, dirt trails / grass / gravel mostly. stopped before lexlip and turned around and cycled back to croke park. clonsilla to castleknock wasn't so bad this time as I was able to speed up on the bits I knew where safe and knew when to slow down for the other parts.

be very careful between castleknock - clonsilla. trail is very rough and very narrow (not even a bike width in parts) with a big drop into the canal below if you don't concentrate.

Overall a great cycle, the ever changing terrain was challanging and some stretches were urban and some were country so it made for an interesting visual experience. The hawt chicks along the way were also visually spectacular.

Unfortunetly once you go beyond ashtown the terrain dictates your pace, at times slowing you down to nothing so the stretch between croker and ashtown is where you want to be hitting your top speeds, and beyond clonsilla you can speed up within reason along the trails.

Castleknock to clonsilla was a real let down I have to say. All it would take is a bit of a short back and sides to clear enough room for a bit of speed but the nettles and stingers are less than a bike width apart in some places so you have to slow down and manouver between them.

click on the SET to view a slide show. I've commented on the individual PHOTOS too and tried to get a few pics of the trails to show you what kind of terrain you're up against.

mikemac

You sir are a legend-great post

Bought a racing bike this weekend and there's no way I'd consider taking it on that trail

Seriously considering my trek from Dublin to the Shannon and then getting the train back.

Here's a interesting guide on the rest of the route

Edit: The file is too large to upload so it's the first link on the page
http://walks.iwai.ie/royal/

Victor

The area around Broombridge Station suffers from drunks and junkies hanging around dtoning the trains. You also get kids doing the same in the evening.

mikemac

Victor wrote:

The area around Broombridge Station suffers from drunks and junkies hanging around dtoning the trains. You also get kids doing the same in the evening.

This is true unfortunatly.:(
But if you pass through the area early enough I doubt the lazy scumbags would be out of bed. Unless it's social welfare day when they'll be up before any of us

It's a pity. If Broombridge station is ever closed, the same people will moan about disadvantaged people being left behind and ignored by the government.
But that's a debate for another thread

Dirk Gently

tbh, the stretch from phibsborough to broombridge does have its fair share of drinkers (mostly because its a long stretch away from any canal exits and main roads so they don't get much hassle from the guards).

however.............

I've been cycling by them 4 or 5 times a week for about 6 years now and I've never had any trouble from them. They were there again today in the afternoon when I was getting back but again they just keep to themselves and say hello when you cycle by. They generally don't harass people because they want somewhere to call there own and don't want guards patrolling their spot all the time.

The biggest threat along that stretch is kids on the opposite side lobbing bricks over but they couldn't hit a cows backside with a frying pan tbh. Having said that it's about two years since any unguided missiles popped up on my radar.

As long as its not really late at night (beyond 9pm - 10pm) that stretch is as safe / unsafe as any other stretch. I suppose it is a long way to run to exit the canal if anything where to happen though.




edit: Leixlip to Kilcock looks doable from that link you provided. might give it a go, will probably bypass the castleknock to clonee section though. don't fancy getting too close to all that hog weed again.

Borzoi

clown bag wrote:

I've never had any trouble from them. They were there again today in the afternoon when I was getting back but again they just keep to themselves and say hello when you cycle by. They generally don't harass people because they want somewhere to call there own and don't want guards patrolling their spot all the time.
.

Used to walk it a lot, particulary in good weather, never any aggro.

The social drinkers are not that far from the radar, as many of the joggers on the stretch from Phibsborough to Cabra are Prison Officers form the Joy