First pick
Glen River Park
Park or garden · 210 m outside town
24 ha5.6 km of path
1 h 15 minto walk all 5.6 km of path
2.6 km south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: David Hawgood · CC BY-SA 2.092%near a park
Outdoors in Ballyvolane · parks, paths & countryside
Cork Harbour SPA reaches the edge of Ballyvolane
2.8% of the land within 5 km is protected for nature, the nearest site being Cork Harbour SPA. There are 8.2 ha of parks and playing fields for every 1,000 people in Ballyvolane, against 4.1 in the typical Irish town. 77 km of footpaths run through the neighbourhood and the kilometre around it, 1.6 for every square kilometre.
Near a park
92%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
8.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
77 km
1.6 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
2.8%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Cork Harbour SPA
Woodland
6.7%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Against other towns
How Ballyvolane compares with Irish towns
Each figure against Ireland’s 321 towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (city hubs left out): the marked bar is the town’s, the line the median. Ireland has no Outdoors Grade yet: the figures are described, each against other Irish towns, and none of them counts towards the overall grade.
A park within a walk92%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
50out of 100
Public green space8.2 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
75out of 100
Footpaths1.6 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
43out of 100
Protected for nature2.8%of the land within 5 km
56out of 100
Woodland6.7%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
82out of 100
Parks, paths and woods: OpenStreetMap; residents: CSO Census 2022 Small Areas; protected sites: NPWS; sea: CSO and ONS land outlines. A 0 means nothing is mapped.
Towns its size
Ballyvolane has the 15th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (7,526 to 10,044 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Cabra West (7.8 km per km²) to Tuam (0.4 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Ballyvolane1.6
Towns its size2.5
Co. Cork towns1.8
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Ballyvolane8.2
Towns its size4.5
Co. Cork towns4.3
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Ballyvolane92%
Towns its size96%
Co. Cork towns90%
Typical Irish town92%
Against towns its size, Ballyvolane stands out most for park space per resident: only 11 of the other 39 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 25 of the others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cabra West Dublin | 7.8 | 4.5% | 0% | – |
| 2 | Sandyford Dublin | 7.5 | 4.8% | 0.3% | 6.2% |
| 3 | Grand Canal Dock Dublin | 6.6 | 0.9% | 1.4% | 16% |
| 4 | Glasnevin Dublin | 6.6 | 1.2% | 0% | – |
| 5 | Killiney Dublin | 6 | 7.7% | 0.5% | 45% |
| 6 | Dubber Dublin | 5.7 | 2.1% | 0% | – |
| 7 | Churchtown Dublin | 5.6 | 3.3% | 0.1% | – |
| 8 | Ballybough Dublin | 5.5 | 1.4% | 1% | 9% |
| 9 | Booterstown Dublin | 5.4 | 2.2% | 0.2% | 29% |
| 10 | Cherry Orchard Dublin | 4.6 | 0.5% | 0% | – |
| 11 | Monkstown Dublin | 4.2 | 0.8% | 0.3% | 38% |
| 12 | Finglas North Dublin | 4.2 | 1.2% | 0% | – |
| 13 | Baldoyle Dublin | 3.7 | 0.3% | 11% | 40% |
| 14 | Perrystown Dublin | 3.6 | 1.8% | 0% | – |
| 15 | Donaghmede Dublin | 3.5 | 2.7% | 6.2% | 31% |
| 16 | Kilmore Dublin | 3.1 | 2.2% | 3.5% | 9.5% |
| 17 | Raheny Dublin | 3.1 | 2.8% | 11% | 46% |
| 18 | Farranshone Limerick | 2.8 | 1.5% | 11% | – |
| 19 | Donabate Dublin | 2.8 | 6.8% | 2.8% | 32% |
| 20 | Dalkey Dublin | 2.6 | 3.5% | 0.2% | 60% |
| 21 | Kinsealy-Drinan Dublin | 2.3 | 1.8% | 1.1% | 8.3% |
| 22 | Howth Dublin | 2.2 | 2.4% | 18% | 75% |
| 23 | Hollyhill and Ballincolly Cork | 2.1 | 7.2% | 0.5% | – |
| 24 | Frankfield and Grange Cork | 2.1 | 4.3% | 2.1% | – |
| 25 | Kilcock Kildare | 1.7 | 2.8% | 0% | – |
| 26 | Ballyvolane Cork | 1.6 | 6.7% | 2.8% | – |
| 27 | Trim Meath | 1.3 | 0.9% | 1.5% | – |
| 28 | Monaghan Monaghan | 1.3 | 8.7% | 0% | – |
| 29 | Waterford City Centre Waterford | 1.3 | 1.5% | 6% | – |
| 30 | Lusk Dublin | 1.1 | 0.6% | 1.3% | 6.4% |
| 31 | Youghal Cork | 0.9 | 0.6% | 13% | 29% |
| 32 | New Ross Wexford | 0.9 | 7.3% | 5.4% | – |
| 33 | Portarlington Laois | 0.8 | 2.5% | 1.6% | – |
| 34 | Grantstown and Ballinakill Waterford | 0.6 | 4.5% | 10% | – |
| 35 | Clane Kildare | 0.6 | 1.9% | 1.5% | – |
| 36 | Thurles Tipperary | 0.5 | 2.8% | 1.2% | – |
| 37 | Nenagh Tipperary | 0.4 | 1.8% | 0% | – |
| 38 | Bandon Cork | 0.4 | 5.6% | 0% | – |
| 39 | Edenderry Offaly | 0.4 | 7% | 1.7% | – |
| 40 | Tuam Galway | 0.4 | 1.4% | 2.7% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Ballyvolane’s neighbourhood.
Green: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces and woods, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · NPWS · Sport Ireland · CSO
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Ballyvolane
The biggest is Glen River Park, 24 ha (60 acres).
All 5 named parks and woods by size: 41 ha (100 acres) and 9 km of path
Parks & gardens 35 haWoods 5.7 ha
The two biggest, Glen River Park and Vienna Woods, are 73% of the named green space and carry 6 km of path between them.
John O'Callaghan Park
Park or garden
5.4 ha1.2 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.2 km of path
2.4 km eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Tinker's Cross Park
Park or garden
2.9 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
1.1 km southfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Kempton (Meelick) Park
Park or garden · 300 m outside town
2.4 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
2.0 km south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Named parks, gardens, commons and woods in the town or within 400 m of it, from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); pieces of one name that touch are one place. Sizes are the whole site; directions go to a point inside.
Close to home
9 in 10 Ballyvolane residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (CSO Census 2022 Small Areas against OpenStreetMap).
Within 400 m (92%)Further (7.6%)
Ballyvolane92%
Co. Cork towns90%
Typical Irish town92%
About 700 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
The 2 protected sites within 5 km of Ballyvolane
Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and Natural Heritage Areas designated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, within 5 km of the town’s edge.
Inside Ballyvolane0.2%
Within 5 km2.8%
Co. Cork towns1.5%
Typical Irish town1.8%
2 protected sites lie within 5 km of Ballyvolane. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 3.2% of the land within 5 km as well; many have been proposed since 1995 and aren’t counted here. Ireland’s National Parks have a block of their own on this page; much of their land also lies inside these sites.
Protected sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service designated site boundaries (CC BY 4.0), 2026; land within 5 km from CSO Small Areas and, over the border, ONS. Overlapping sites are counted once.
National Parks
Killarney National Park is 68 km away
Ireland’s National Parks within 100 km, and the nearest always, by direction and distance from the town’s edge; circle size shows each park’s area.
National ParkThe 5 km around the town
National Park
Killarney National Park
68 km west104 km²
National Park boundaries: National Parks and Wildlife Service, generalised to 50 m (CC BY 4.0, © Government of Ireland), 2022. Distances from the town’s outline (CSO Small Areas).
Footpaths and woods
77 km of footpaths cross Ballyvolane
Footways that aren’t pavements, paths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, and mapped woods and forest, in the town and 1 km around it, each beside the county’s and Ireland’s typical town of 2,500+.
Footpaths
77 km
over 48.5 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
6.7%
about 3.2 km² of mapped woods
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
BallyvolaneCo. Cork townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths1.6
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
BallyvolaneCo. Cork townsTypical Irish town
Woodland6.7%
0%50%100%
Ballyvolane has less footpath per km² than 57% of Irish towns and more woodland than 82% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
Footpaths in and around Ballyvolane
77 km of footpaths are mapped in Ballyvolane and the kilometre around it, 1.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
No waymarked trail starts within 5 km of Ballyvolane; its footpaths are counted above.
Trails: Sport Ireland National Trails Register (CC BY 4.0), registered trails within 5 km; footpaths: OpenStreetMap (ODbL). Coillte’s own forest trails and recreation sites aren’t included: Coillte’s terms limit its data to research or private study. Its trails on the National Trails Register are listed.
When to get out
The best walking months in Ballyvolane: May to September
Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages for the town’s 1 km square and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 15 to 30 °C and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.2 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.7 | 16.3 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 123 | 94 | 88 | 83 | 78 | 79 | 83 | 92 | 88 | 126 | 123 | 131 |
May is the driest month (78 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.8 hours of daylight in December, and 131 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. The climate in Ballyvolane →
Things to do
2 viewpoints and 26 playgrounds
Mapped on OpenStreetMap in the town and 2 km around it; each count per resident beside Irish towns’ typical town of 2,500+. Beaches are on the coast’s list, from the EPA.
Per resident, playgrounds stand out most: Ballyvolane has 2.3× as many as the typical Irish town.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 2
Murphy's Rock0.3 km from town
DirectionsDublin Hill1.1 km from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 5
Plus 5 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 26
Glanmire Playgroundin town
DirectionsMonkey Mazein town
DirectionsMarina Park Playground0.9 km from town
DirectionsPlanet Leisure Centre0.9 km from town
DirectionsToddler Play Park1.8 km from town
DirectionsPlus 21 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 3
Plus 3 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Next door
Next to Ballyvolane
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
MayfieldTivoliMontenotteThe GlenRiverstownGlanmireBallyvolane
Under 1%1–10%10–25%25–50%50%+
| Town | Near a park | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Paths (km/km²) | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballyvolane | 92% | 8.2 | 1.6 | 2.8% |
| Mayfield 1.6 km | 100% | 11.6 | 4.7 | 3.3% |
| Tivoli 2.2 km | 88% | 10.5 | 4.0 | 4.8% |
| Montenotte 2.4 km | 100% | 12.2 | 5.5 | 3.5% |
| The Glen 2.5 km | 100% | 7.7 | 5.7 | 1.8% |
| Riverstown 2.5 km | 70% | 3.7 | 0.8 | 2.9% |
| Glanmire 2.8 km | 79% | 3.5 | 1.7 | 6.6% |
In Mayfield, 100% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Green space nearby. The share of residents (CSO Small Areas, by where people live) within 400 m of a park, garden, common or playing field mapped on OpenStreetMap. Mapping is uneven: a town whose parks nobody has mapped looks greyer than it is.
- Protected areas. Land in a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area or Natural Heritage Area within 5 km, overlaps counted once. Protected for nature doesn’t always mean open to walkers.
- Footpaths and hiking routes. Footways that aren’t pavements, paths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, in the town and 1 km around it, from OpenStreetMap. Trails are the registered ones within 5 km; a trail often follows mapped paths, so the two aren’t added.
- Woodland. Woods and forest as OpenStreetMap maps them, private and Coillte forests included: mapped cover, not access.
- No grade yet. Ireland’s grades don’t include the outdoors yet: these figures describe the town and stand beside the median Irish town.
Questions about the outdoors in Ballyvolane
What is the biggest park in Ballyvolane?
Glen River Park, 24 ha (60 acres), just outside the built-up area. John O'Callaghan Park (5.4 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the neighbourhood or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Ballyvolane?
Yes: 2.8% of the land within 5 km is protected, across 2 sites. Cork Harbour SPA reaches Ballyvolane.
How many people in Ballyvolane live near a park?
92% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a park or playing field; in the typical Irish town it is 92%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Ballyvolane?
On the town’s 1991–2020 averages and its daylight: May to September, when days are long, highs reach 15 °C and rain is light for the place.
Is Ballyvolane near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Killarney National Park, 68 km west of the town’s edge; it covers about 104 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Ballyvolane?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 2 viewpoints and 5 picnic sites; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Ballyvolane’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks, woods and paths. OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): parks, woods and footpaths, Geofabrik extract, October 2026
- Protected sites. National Parks and Wildlife Service: designated sites (SAC, SPA, NHA), 2026
- Trails. Sport Ireland: National Trails Register, 2026
- Residents. CSO: Census 2022 Small Areas (residents)
- National Parks. National Parks and Wildlife Service: National Park boundaries, generalised to 50 m (CC BY 4.0), 2022
- Things to do. OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): viewpoints, hills, waterfalls, nature reserves, picnic sites, playgrounds, campsites and waymarked walks, Geofabrik extract, October 2026
- Weather. Met Éireann: 1991–2020 averages (Copyright Met Éireann)
Protected sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service (CC BY 4.0). Trails: Sport Ireland National Trails Register (CC BY 4.0). Bathing water: EPA (CC BY 4.0). Parks, woods and paths: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Not on this page yet: Coillte’s forest trails (its terms) and bike routes.
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).