Great Southern Greenway Limerick

So I did this today, got a lift to Abbeyfeale and cycled back to Limerick. I see perfect surface tarred towards the Kerry border starting in Abbeyfeale but its completely fenced off, no hope of lifting the bike over or anything but it looked nearly done.

As for the Greenway itself... a big fat "meh" from me. Good points to start: Perfect surface, flawless smooth black tar the whole way, thats about it for the good points though.

Bad points: The most boring route in Ireland connecting 4 candidates for the most boring town (seriously dont even bother with the 3 towns, closed pubs, a church, a Centra and thats it, Ardagh barely exists so cant even be called a town), there is exactly one highlight, the Barnagh Tunnel, a beautiful cut through solid rock with moss/dripping creepers and ferns and a nice tunnel, even this has its downsides though, you have to take a detour of the route to see it and then retrace your route back to the main Greenway, Id say a good few people are missing it because of this. Even if you take the turnoff the good bit is ridiculously short, you'll be through it in 2 minutes.

The rest of the time you're just cycling through a ditch behind random farms with road noise from the adjacent N road nearly the whole way. Absolutely nothing to see, you cant even look out over fields, the hedges are too thick. I was looking at my odometer for most of it because there was literally nothing better to do. You keep passing signs for places like "The Valley of the Blacksmiths" or "The Vale of Horses" but theres just nothing there even though theres a big signpost for these non-places every 5 minutes, its Father Ted-esqe in a way, its just the black tar and the hedgerows either side of you. Every farm gets its own kissing gates and cattle grid to disrupt the flow as someone already mentioned aswell.

Highlights according to the website:

Fergusons Viaduct: I laughed when I saw this, Father Ted vibes again, a small rickety metal bridge over a dirt track between a bungalow and a few sheds is not a viaduct, if you've ever used a pedestrian footbridge over the M50 or N11 you've seen way more impressive structures. Seriously do a google image search and see for yourself.

Tullig "Forest": Again you have to laugh, a tennis court sized clump of 6-7 trees and a picnic bench, gone in 10 seconds.

3-4 "Restored" Train Stations: They powerhosed a few old 2 storey train stations and bricked them up then slapped on a coat of plaster, there is literally nothing in any of them, not even a water tap or a bench. no reason to stop whatsoever.

And thats about it for highlights. I wish I had better news to report but its a dud, dont even bother, the most boring stretch of the Royal or the Grand you can think of is infinitely more interesting. I bought a spicy chicken roll in Abbeyfeale at 10:30 with a plan to eat it for breakfast as soon as I came to a nice stop, at 12:30 I gave up and just sat on the fence in the middle of nowhere to eat because there was nothing of interest up to that point.

And then the worst bit for last, it ends at a brick wall in Rathkeale and I had to do 30km of horrible dangerous N road back to Limerick. Total waste of time, Im just going to get a car and start going down to Kerry to do routes next year, cycling around Limerick is a total bust.

EDIT: That turned out longer than I thought it would, sorry for the rant but I just feel sorry for anyone being suckered into bringing the family down the country to do this like they would with Achill or Waterford, its just complete sh1te.

I can't agree with either of the comments above.

This is another lovely greenway.

A problem is that people don't do research beforehand.

The Greenway goes from Abbeyfeale to Rathkeale, not to Limerick City. A quick read of the website would explain this.

The surface is excellent though personally I find gravelled greenways better for running and just that feeling of being on a trail. It is an excellent surface for buggies, wheelchairs and I have seen a person roller blading.

As for the scenery you are going through dairy country. Most families would enjoy seeing cattle and machinery operating in fields.

I passed a farmer bringing in his herd of cows for milking at 8am and on their way to grass after milking on the way back, right along a segregated path along the greenway for 400m or so. It was a lovely sight.

I also liked the signs for the various townlands along the way, in Irish and English. Many are connected to the nature where they are located,e.g. hawthorn, oak, ford, hillock, etc.

The Barnagh tunnel is a gem and yes you do turn off the greenway to go through it via an underpass under the N21. When you go through the tunnel and come to the end (about 1km) you climb a short sharp hill. This is where there is a great viewing area overlooking counties Limerick, Clare and Tipperay with a display pointing out the various landmarks. It is a wonderful view on a clear day but even better at sunrise.

The 3 towns Rathkeale, NCW and Abbeyfeale are not Westports. They are typical country towns that like many have issues with derelict buildings but they still have plenty to offer.

The Demesne (park) in NCW is a beautiful place for a walk or run. Abbeyfeale and Rathkeale need to up their game if they want people to come into their towns. They both need quality playgrounds. The one in Abbeyfeale needs a clean up. It is also too far away from the greenway being a 1km out the Killarney road. Both towns really need to have a dedicated cycle lane from the greenway into their town centres.

These places will develop in time once people use the greenway and more and more businesses open up along its route. Abbeyfeale and NCW are also due to be bypassed which will help enormously with making the town centres a better place.

I don't know what the plans are for extending it to Limerick city.

i cycled the NCW - Barnagh section with the family a couple of weeks ago. It was a nice greenway, not amazingly scenic, but a safe place for the family to cycle.

The restaurant just after the Barnagh tunnel ( Platform 22??) was a lovely lunch stop, serving freshly made food in a great setting. They also have a rent a bike place and a small crazy golf course.

On return to NCW I met the project engineer and some workers, he told me they were heading out along the route to identify places to put picnic benches along the way, so I presume it’s a work in progress.