First pick
Knockaroura
Wood or forest
126 ha2.8 km of path
35 minto walk all 2.8 km of path
2.6 km southfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: David P Howard · CC BY-SA 2.068%near a park
Outdoors in Mallow · parks, paths & countryside
Mallow is on the Blackwater Way - Avondhu
2 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Mallow, among them the Blackwater Way - Avondhu and Lovers Leap. 17 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 0.6 for every square kilometre. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 68% of residents.
Near a park
68%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
3.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
17 km
0.6 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
3.2%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Blackwater River (Cork/Waterford) SAC
Woodland
5.1%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Mallow?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On a long-distance trailThe Blackwater Way - Avondhu passes through.Protected land nearbyBlackwater River (Cork/Waterford) SAC reaches the edge of Mallow.Few mapped footpaths0.6 km of path per km²; the typical Irish town has 2.1.
Mallow’s strongest suit is the Blackwater Way - Avondhu, followed by protected land close by. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Against other towns
How Mallow 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 walk68%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
18out of 100
Public green space3.2 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
41out of 100
Footpaths0.6 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
16out of 100
Protected for nature3.2%of the land within 5 km
58out of 100
Woodland5.1%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
76out 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
Mallow has the 2nd fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (11,657 to 15,598 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Tallaght (8.8 km per km²) to Enniscorthy (0.4 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Mallow0.6
Towns its size4.3
Co. Cork towns1.8
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Mallow3.2
Towns its size4.6
Co. Cork towns4.3
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Mallow68%
Towns its size96%
Co. Cork towns90%
Typical Irish town92%
Mallow falls furthest behind on path per km², where 38 of the 39 others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tallaght Dublin | 8.8 | 3.8% | 0.6% | – |
| 2 | Cabra East Dublin | 8 | 2.2% | 0% | – |
| 3 | Deansrath Dublin | 7.9 | 2.2% | 0% | – |
| 4 | Phibsborough Dublin | 7.6 | 0.4% | 0% | – |
| 5 | Ballyowen Dublin | 7.5 | 6% | 0% | – |
| 6 | Kilnamanagh Dublin | 7.4 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 7 | Fettercairn Dublin | 7 | 3.5% | 0.4% | – |
| 8 | Firhouse Dublin | 6.8 | 4.4% | 4.2% | – |
| 9 | Ballsbridge Dublin | 6.3 | 1.3% | 1.2% | 18% |
| 10 | Ballygall Dublin | 6.3 | 1.4% | 0% | – |
| 11 | Ashtown Dublin | 6.3 | 6.9% | 0% | – |
| 12 | Summerhill Dublin | 6 | 0.4% | 0.2% | 8.5% |
| 13 | Clonskeagh Dublin | 6 | 2.7% | 0.1% | 16% |
| 14 | Foxrock Dublin | 5.8 | 5.3% | 0.2% | 25% |
| 15 | Knocklyon Dublin | 5.8 | 4.7% | 3.2% | – |
| 16 | Finglas South Dublin | 5.6 | 1.7% | 0% | – |
| 17 | Whitehall Dublin | 5.6 | 2.6% | 0.3% | – |
| 18 | Sallynoggin Dublin | 5 | 2% | 0.3% | 47% |
| 19 | Blackrock Dublin | 4.7 | 1.4% | 0.2% | 30% |
| 20 | Kimmage Dublin | 4.3 | 0.1% | 0% | – |
| 21 | Ongar Dublin | 4.2 | 2.7% | 0.2% | – |
| 22 | Belmayne Dublin | 3.8 | 1.9% | 5.2% | 25% |
| 23 | Mahon Cork | 3.6 | 6.1% | 5.3% | – |
| 24 | Hollystown Dublin | 3.3 | 2% | 0% | – |
| 25 | Clontarf West Dublin | 3.2 | 2.2% | 3.5% | 17% |
| 26 | Bishopstown Cork | 3.2 | 6% | 0.2% | – |
| 27 | Corbally and King's Island Limerick | 3 | 3.7% | 9.5% | – |
| 28 | Darndale Dublin | 2.7 | 1.9% | 3.7% | 11% |
| 29 | Castletroy Limerick | 2.4 | 1.8% | 6.6% | – |
| 30 | Midleton Cork | 1.6 | 2.6% | 4.5% | – |
| 31 | Ballybane Galway | 1.5 | 3.9% | 12% | 15% |
| 32 | Killarney Kerry | 1.3 | 14% | 34% | – |
| 33 | Wicklow Wicklow | 1.1 | 0.9% | 4.3% | 38% |
| 34 | Castlebar Mayo | 1 | 3.1% | 2.3% | – |
| 35 | Cobh Cork | 0.8 | 3.5% | 13% | 23% |
| 36 | Tullamore Offaly | 0.7 | 10% | 3.8% | – |
| 37 | Arklow Wicklow | 0.7 | 5.7% | 0.3% | 34% |
| 38 | Cavan Cavan | 0.6 | 6.7% | 5.1% | – |
| 39 | Mallow Cork | 0.6 | 5.1% | 3.2% | – |
| 40 | Enniscorthy Wexford | 0.4 | 6.9% | 2.1% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Mallow’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 Mallow
The biggest is Knockaroura, 126 ha (312 acres).
All 7 named parks and woods by size: 146 ha (360 acres) and 7 km of path
Parks & gardens 16 haWoods 130 ha
The two biggest, Knockaroura and Mallow Castle Deerpark, are 92% of the named green space and carry 3 km of path between them.
Mallow Castle House
Park or garden
4.2 ha2 km of path
25 minto walk all 2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Mallow
Mallow Castle Garden PathMallow Castle House (Back Avenue)Mallow Castle House+4 paths
Directionsto a point inside
Mallow Town Park
Park or garden
3.2 ha1.2 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.2 km of path
1.1 km westfrom the centre
Blackwater (Avondu) Way
Directionsto a point inside
Lover's Leap
Wood or forest
3.7 ha0.6 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
1.4 km eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Tip O'Neill Park
Park or garden
0.5 ha0.1 km of path
Centralin the middle of Mallow
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
7 in 10 Mallow 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 (68%)Further (32%)
Mallow68%
Co. Cork towns90%
Typical Irish town92%
About 4,300 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 3.2% of the land within 5 km of Mallow
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 Mallow8%
Within 5 km3.2%
Co. Cork towns1.5%
Typical Irish town1.8%
One protected site lies within 5 km of Mallow. Ireland’s National Parks have a block of their own on this page; much of their land also lies inside these sites.
Blackwater River (Cork/Waterford) SACSpecial Area of Conservation · 103 km² · reaches Mallow
NPWS pageProtected 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 56 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
56 km west104 km²
National Park
Burren National Park
93 km north21 km²
2 of Ireland’s six National Parks are within 100 km of Mallow.
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
17 km of footpaths cross Mallow
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
17 km
over 29.4 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
5.1%
about 1.5 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
2
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
MallowCo. Cork townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths0.6
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
MallowCo. Cork townsTypical Irish town
Woodland5.1%
0%50%100%
Mallow has less footpath per km² than 84% of Irish towns and more woodland than 76% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
2 waymarked trails start near Mallow
17 km of footpaths are mapped in Mallow and the kilometre around it, 0.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Long-distance wayWalking trail
Blackwater Way - Avondhu126.2 km
Lovers Leap0.8 km
The Blackwater Way - Avondhu (126 km end to end) passes through Mallow.
2 more waymarked walks on OpenStreetMap
National
Blackwater (Avondhu) Way5.0 km
European long distance path E8 - part Ireland4.8 km
Trails: Sport Ireland National Trails Register (CC BY 4.0), registered trails within 5 km; footpaths: OpenStreetMap (ODbL). More waymarked walks: OpenStreetMap route relations (ODbL) within 2 km, those already on the register left out. 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.
History
4 historic parks, gardens and demesnes on the record in Mallow
Parks, gardens, walled gardens and demesne walls in the town on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, each with its record.
Demesne walls/gates/railingsBearforestfrom 1800Regional rating (NIAH)
Walled gardenBearforestfrom 1820Regional rating (NIAH)
GardenGarden, Mallow Castlefrom 1830Regional rating (NIAH)
Walled gardenBellevue Housefrom 1850Regional rating (NIAH)
The oldest dated is Bearforest, from 1800.
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0).
When to get out
The best walking months in Mallow: 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 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.7 | 16.7 | 16.3 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.7 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 121 | 89 | 77 | 74 | 66 | 66 | 69 | 77 | 80 | 110 | 118 | 121 |
June is the driest month (66 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.7 hours of daylight in December, and 121 mm of rain falls in January, the wettest month. The climate in Mallow →
Things to do
5 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
Picnic sites 3
Plus 3 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Next door
Next to Mallow
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
ButtevantKanturkMallow
Under 1%1–10%10–25%25–50%50%+
In Buttevant, 76% 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 Mallow
What is the biggest park in Mallow?
Mallow Castle Deerpark, 7.1 ha (18 acres). Mallow Castle House (4.2 ha) is second. 5 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Mallow?
Yes: 3.2% of the land within 5 km is protected, in one site. Blackwater River (Cork/Waterford) SAC reaches Mallow.
What are the best walks near Mallow?
2 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Blackwater Way - Avondhu and Lovers Leap.
How many people in Mallow live near a park?
68% 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 Mallow?
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 Mallow near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Killarney National Park, 56 km west of the town’s edge; it covers about 104 km². One more is within 100 km.
What is there to do outdoors around Mallow?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 3 picnic sites; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Which parks in Mallow are historic?
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage records 4 historic parks, gardens and demesnes in the town, among them Bearforest, Bellevue House and Garden, Mallow Castle.
Sources
Where Mallow’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
- Historic parks and gardens. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (CC BY 4.0)
- 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).