Photo: Robert Ashby · CC BY-SA 2.0Carrigaline borders Cork Harbour SPA
There are 0.8 ha of parks and playing fields for every 1,000 people in Carrigaline, against 4.1 in the typical Irish town. One waymarked trail starts within 5 km of Carrigaline: the Carrigaline to Crosshaven Greenway Walking Trail. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 73% of residents.
What kind of outdoors town is Carrigaline?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Carrigaline’s strongest suit is protected land close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
How Carrigaline 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.
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.
Carrigaline has the 2nd fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (15,082 to 22,029 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Esker (10.5 km per km²) to Tullamore (0.7 km per km²).
Carrigaline falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 38 of the 39 others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esker Dublin | 10.5 | 2.1% | 0.1% | – |
| 2 | Tallaght Dublin | 8.8 | 3.8% | 0.6% | – |
| 3 | Old Bawn Dublin | 8.5 | 3% | 1.8% | – |
| 4 | Dolphins Barn Dublin | 8.4 | 2.9% | 0% | – |
| 5 | Stoneybatter Dublin | 7.5 | 1.6% | 0% | – |
| 6 | The Liberties Dublin | 7.4 | 0.5% | 0% | – |
| 7 | Carpenterstown Dublin | 7.3 | 11% | 0% | – |
| 8 | Mulhuddart Dublin | 6.6 | 4% | 0% | – |
| 9 | Stillorgan Dublin | 6.5 | 3% | 0.1% | 17% |
| 10 | Ballinteer Dublin | 6.2 | 7.1% | 2.8% | – |
| 11 | Dundrum Dublin | 6.2 | 4.7% | 1.3% | 6.7% |
| 12 | Rathmines East Dublin | 5.9 | 2.3% | 0.1% | 13% |
| 13 | Rathfarnham Dublin | 5.5 | 4.8% | 0.1% | – |
| 14 | Crumlin Dublin | 5.4 | 0.8% | 0% | – |
| 15 | Templeogue Dublin | 5.2 | 3.8% | 0.1% | – |
| 16 | Cabinteely Dublin | 5.1 | 7.6% | 1.1% | 29% |
| 17 | Kimmage Dublin | 4.3 | 0.1% | 0% | – |
| 18 | East Wall Dublin | 4.1 | 1% | 3.5% | 27% |
| 19 | Maynooth Kildare | 3.7 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 20 | Leixlip Kildare | 3.6 | 7.7% | 0.5% | – |
| 21 | Clontarf West Dublin | 3.2 | 2.2% | 3.5% | 17% |
| 22 | Clontarf East Dublin | 3.1 | 3% | 6.1% | 38% |
| 23 | Dún Laoghaire Dublin | 3 | 0.5% | 0.3% | 56% |
| 24 | Beaumont Dublin | 2.9 | 2% | 3.4% | 9.7% |
| 25 | Celbridge Kildare | 2.4 | 6.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 26 | Castletroy Limerick | 2.4 | 1.8% | 6.6% | – |
| 27 | Malahide Dublin | 2.4 | 3.4% | 2.1% | 32% |
| 28 | Greystones-Delgany Wicklow | 2.2 | 11% | 5% | 35% |
| 29 | Douglas Cork | 1.7 | 4.6% | 5% | – |
| 30 | Ashbourne Meath | 1.6 | 0.3% | 0% | – |
| 31 | Knocknacarra Galway | 1.6 | 3.4% | 32% | 34% |
| 32 | Ballybane Galway | 1.5 | 3.9% | 12% | 15% |
| 33 | Ballincollig Cork | 1.3 | 8.4% | 0% | – |
| 34 | Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington-Donacarney Meath | 1.2 | 0.5% | 4.4% | 39% |
| 35 | Sligo Sligo | 1.2 | 6.1% | 9.5% | 18% |
| 36 | Clonmel Tipperary | 1.1 | 14% | 3.9% | – |
| 37 | Wexford Wexford | 1.1 | 3.8% | 13% | 22% |
| 38 | Dooradoyle Limerick | 1 | 2.6% | 7.7% | – |
| 39 | Carrigaline Cork | 0.9 | 6.5% | 0.2% | 6.7% |
| 40 | Tullamore Offaly | 0.7 | 10% | 3.8% | – |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Carrigaline’s urban area.
7 in 10 Carrigaline 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).
About 4,900 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
The protected site within 5 km of Carrigaline
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.
One protected site lies within 5 km of Carrigaline. 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.
Killarney National Park is 75 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.
Killarney National Park
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).
22 km of footpaths cross Carrigaline
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+.
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Carrigaline has less footpath per km² than 74% 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.
One waymarked trail starts near Carrigaline
22 km of footpaths are mapped in Carrigaline and the kilometre around it, 0.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
2 cycling or paddling trails also start within 5 km.
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.
The best walking months in Carrigaline: 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) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.7 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 10 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 122 | 91 | 88 | 79 | 74 | 78 | 82 | 89 | 86 | 126 | 122 | 134 |
May is the driest month (74 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.8 hours of daylight in December, and 134 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. The climate in Carrigaline →
Carrigaline is near the sea
6.7% of the area within 5 km of Carrigaline is sea.
Bathing water classes: EPA, latest season (CC BY 4.0). Sea: the area outside CSO and ONS land outlines. Check today’s water quality on beaches.ie
2 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.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 2
Plus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Next to Carrigaline
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
| Town | Near a park | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Paths (km/km²) | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrigaline | 73% | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.2% |
| Douglas 6.1 km | 57% | 2.5 | 1.7 | 5% |
| Passage West-Monkstown 6.6 km | 70% | 1.4 | 1.2 | 10% |
| Frankfield and Grange 7.0 km | 61% | 12.8 | 2.1 | 2.1% |
| Crosshaven 7.3 km | 74% | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.4% |
| Cobh 7.3 km | 83% | 0.8 | 0.8 | 13% |
| Tramore 8.2 km | 100% | 17.6 | 4.7 | 3.7% |
In Tramore, 100% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here. Douglas, Frankfield and Grange and Tramore have at least twice Carrigaline’s green space per resident.
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 Carrigaline
What is the biggest park in Carrigaline?
Centenary Garden, 0.1 ha (0 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Carrigaline?
One protected site lies within 5 km, though it covers under 1% of the land. Cork Harbour SPA reaches Carrigaline.
What are the best walks near Carrigaline?
One waymarked trail starts within 5 km: the Carrigaline to Crosshaven Greenway Walking Trail.
How many people in Carrigaline live near a park?
73% 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 Carrigaline?
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 Carrigaline near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Killarney National Park, 75 km west of the town’s edge; it covers about 104 km².
Where Carrigaline’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).