First pick
Codrum Wood
Wood or forest · 230 m outside town
7.3 ha
1.7 km westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Clint Mann · CC BY-SA 2.093%near a park
Outdoors in Macroom · parks, paths & countryside
93% of Macroom’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Footpaths add up to 6 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 0.4 for every square kilometre. There are 4.5 ha of parks and playing fields for every 1,000 people in Macroom, against 4.1 in the typical Irish town. 3.9% of the land within 5 km is protected for nature, the nearest site being The Gearagh SAC.
Near a park
93%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
4.5 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
6 km
0.4 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
3.9%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: The Gearagh SAC
Woodland
4.9%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Against other towns
How Macroom 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 walk93%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
51out of 100
Public green space4.5 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
56out of 100
Footpaths0.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
11out of 100
Protected for nature3.9%of the land within 5 km
67out of 100
Woodland4.9%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
75out 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
Macroom has the 5th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (3,539 to 4,743 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Gurranebraher (7.4 km per km²) to Charleville (0 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Macroom0.4
Towns its size1.6
Co. Cork towns1.8
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Macroom4.5
Towns its size4.4
Co. Cork towns4.3
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Macroom93%
Towns its size80%
Co. Cork towns90%
Typical Irish town92%
Against towns its size, Macroom stands out most for homes near a park: only 12 of the other 39 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 35 of the others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gurranebraher Cork | 7.4 | 1.6% | 0.5% | – |
| 2 | Shandon Cork | 7.3 | 1.9% | 0.9% | – |
| 3 | Ballyfermot Dublin | 6.8 | 8.7% | 0% | – |
| 4 | Cork City Centre Cork | 6.7 | 1.5% | 1.8% | – |
| 5 | St Luke's Cork | 6 | 3.5% | 2.8% | – |
| 6 | Farranree Cork | 6 | 3% | 0.5% | – |
| 7 | Montenotte Cork | 5.5 | 5.6% | 3.5% | – |
| 8 | Newcastle Galway | 5.4 | 1.7% | 15% | 29% |
| 9 | Shanakiel Cork | 5.3 | 5.7% | 0.1% | – |
| 10 | Saggart Dublin | 4.6 | 2% | 0% | – |
| 11 | Dangan Galway | 4.3 | 3.9% | 18% | 21% |
| 12 | Mervue Galway | 4.3 | 3.6% | 11% | 25% |
| 13 | Bohernabreena Dublin | 4.3 | 2.9% | 5% | – |
| 14 | Tivoli Cork | 4 | 7% | 4.8% | – |
| 15 | Prospect and Newtown Pery Limerick | 3.6 | 1.5% | 9.9% | – |
| 16 | Castlegar Galway | 1.8 | 1.4% | 16% | 16% |
| 17 | Rathbane Limerick | 1.8 | 1.1% | 6% | – |
| 18 | Ballinacurra Limerick | 1.8 | 1.4% | 11% | – |
| 19 | Glanmire Cork | 1.7 | 13% | 6.6% | – |
| 20 | Westbury Clare | 1.7 | 3.3% | 9.6% | – |
| 21 | Kilcoole Wicklow | 1.5 | 4.3% | 5.8% | 37% |
| 22 | Athenry Galway | 1.2 | 1.2% | 0% | – |
| 23 | Lehenagh Cork | 1.2 | 2.5% | 0.3% | – |
| 24 | Newcastle Dublin | 1.1 | 0.9% | 0% | – |
| 25 | Enfield Meath | 1.1 | 3.9% | 0% | – |
| 26 | Grange Waterford | 1 | 0.8% | 5% | – |
| 27 | Cahir Tipperary | 1 | 7.5% | 3.4% | – |
| 28 | Castleblayney Monaghan | 1 | 3.8% | 0% | – |
| 29 | Riverstown Cork | 0.8 | 14% | 2.9% | – |
| 30 | Kilcullen Kildare | 0.8 | 5.3% | 0% | – |
| 31 | Kill Kildare | 0.8 | 2.1% | 0% | – |
| 32 | Birr Offaly | 0.8 | 14% | 5.2% | – |
| 33 | Newtownmountkennedy Wicklow | 0.6 | 12% | 4.9% | 6.2% |
| 34 | Courtown Wexford | 0.6 | 8.6% | 0% | 37% |
| 35 | Claremorris Mayo | 0.4 | 7.1% | 0% | – |
| 36 | Macroom Cork | 0.4 | 4.9% | 3.9% | – |
| 37 | Mitchelstown Cork | 0.3 | 0% | 0% | – |
| 38 | Stamullen Meath | 0.3 | 1.7% | 0.5% | 12% |
| 39 | Carrick-On-Shannon Leitrim | 0.2 | 2% | 0% | – |
| 40 | Charleville Cork | 0 | 0.3% | 0.2% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Macroom’s urban area.
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 Macroom
The biggest is Codrum Wood, 7.3 ha (18 acres).
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
How close Macroom’s homes are to 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 (93%)Further (7.1%)
Macroom93%
Co. Cork towns90%
Typical Irish town92%
About 300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
Protected sites cover 3.9% of the land within 5 km of Macroom
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 Macroom0%
Within 5 km3.9%
Co. Cork towns1.5%
Typical Irish town1.8%
3 protected sites lie within 5 km of Macroom. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 2.9% 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 35 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
35 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
6 km of footpaths cross Macroom
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
6.2 km
over 14.6 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
4.9%
about 0.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
MacroomCo. Cork townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths0.4
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
MacroomCo. Cork townsTypical Irish town
Woodland4.9%
0%50%100%
Macroom has less footpath per km² than 89% of Irish towns and more woodland than 75% 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 Macroom
6 km of footpaths are mapped in Macroom and the kilometre around it, 0.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
No waymarked trail starts within 5 km of Macroom; 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 Macroom: 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) | 9 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 157 | 120 | 100 | 94 | 84 | 82 | 86 | 93 | 99 | 143 | 149 | 162 |
June is the driest month (82 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.8 hours of daylight in December, and 162 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. The climate in Macroom →
Things to do
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
Fairy Gardenin town
DirectionsMacroom Urban District Council Playground0.0 km from town
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Next door
Next to Macroom
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
MillstreetMacroom
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macroom | 93% | 4.5 | 0.4 | 3.9% |
| Millstreet 18 km | 48% | 3.8 | 0.4 | 6.2% |
None of the neighbours has many more of its people near a park than Macroom.
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 Macroom
Is there protected countryside near Macroom?
Yes: 3.9% of the land within 5 km is protected, across 3 sites. The nearest is The Gearagh SAC, 0.6 km from the edge of town.
How many people in Macroom live near a park?
93% 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 Macroom?
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 Macroom near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Killarney National Park, 35 km west of the town’s edge; it covers about 104 km².
Sources
Where Macroom’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).