First pick
Cork Lough
Park or garden · 190 m outside town
8.2 ha2 km of path
25 minto walk all 2 km of path
1.1 km south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0100%near a park
Outdoors in South Gate · parks, paths & countryside
South Gate has more footpath per square kilometre than nearly 9 in 10 Irish towns
53 km of footpaths run through the neighbourhood and the kilometre around it, 6.8 for every square kilometre. 100% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in South Gate add up to 2.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1.
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
2.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
53 km
6.8 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
1.3%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Cork Harbour SPA
Woodland
1%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors neighbourhood is South Gate?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A neighbourhood of footpaths6.8 km of path per km², more than 89% of Irish towns. The typical town has 2.1.A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Hills with a view5 mapped viewpoints, about 19× as many per resident as the typical Irish town.
South Gate’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by parks close to every home.
Against other towns
How South Gate 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 walk100%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
83out of 100
Public green space2.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
29out of 100
Footpaths6.8 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
90out of 100
Protected for nature1.3%of the land within 5 km
45out of 100
Woodland1%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
18out 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
South Gate has the 4th most footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (6,258 to 8,280 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From O'Connell Street (8.1 km per km²) to Roscommon (0.2 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
South Gate6.8
Towns its size2.3
Co. Cork towns1.8
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
South Gate2.3
Towns its size4.0
Co. Cork towns4.3
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
South Gate100%
Towns its size98%
Co. Cork towns90%
Typical Irish town92%
Against towns its size, South Gate stands out most for path per km²: only 3 of the other 39 have more. It falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 29 of the others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | O'Connell Street Dublin | 8.1 | 0.6% | 0.1% | 7% |
| 2 | Temple Bar Dublin | 7.9 | 1.1% | 0.1% | 6.2% |
| 3 | Christchurch Dublin | 7.8 | 0.7% | 0.1% | – |
| 4 | South Gate Cork | 6.8 | 1% | 1.3% | – |
| 5 | Castleknock Dublin | 6.2 | 9.1% | 0% | – |
| 6 | Dubber Dublin | 5.7 | 2.1% | 0% | – |
| 7 | Ballybough Dublin | 5.5 | 1.4% | 1% | 9% |
| 8 | Turner's Cross Cork | 5.3 | 2.5% | 1.3% | – |
| 9 | Clongriffin Dublin | 5 | 0.2% | 6.6% | 31% |
| 10 | Cherry Orchard Dublin | 4.6 | 0.5% | 0% | – |
| 11 | Santry Dublin | 4.4 | 2.8% | 0% | – |
| 12 | Baldoyle Dublin | 3.7 | 0.3% | 11% | 40% |
| 13 | Perrystown Dublin | 3.6 | 1.8% | 0% | – |
| 14 | Eyre Square Galway | 3.4 | 1.2% | 14% | 36% |
| 15 | Marino Dublin | 3.3 | 2% | 2.8% | 10% |
| 16 | Farranshone Limerick | 2.8 | 1.5% | 11% | – |
| 17 | Walkinstown Dublin | 2.8 | 0.3% | 0% | – |
| 18 | Dalkey Dublin | 2.6 | 3.5% | 0.2% | 60% |
| 19 | Dock Limerick | 2.5 | 1.3% | 12% | – |
| 20 | Kinsealy-Drinan Dublin | 2.3 | 1.8% | 1.1% | 8.3% |
| 21 | Howth Dublin | 2.2 | 2.4% | 18% | 75% |
| 22 | Dunboyne Meath | 2.2 | 2.5% | 0.4% | – |
| 23 | Frankfield and Grange Cork | 2.1 | 4.3% | 2.1% | – |
| 24 | Sallins Kildare | 1.6 | 0.8% | 0% | – |
| 25 | Dunshaughlin Meath | 1.5 | 0.4% | 0% | – |
| 26 | Monaghan Monaghan | 1.3 | 8.7% | 0% | – |
| 27 | Kells Meath | 1.3 | 6.3% | 1.1% | – |
| 28 | Caherdavin Limerick | 1.2 | 3.4% | 12% | – |
| 29 | Westport Mayo | 1.2 | 7.1% | 3.3% | 10% |
| 30 | Ballytruckle Waterford | 1 | 1.2% | 5.1% | – |
| 31 | Fermoy Cork | 0.8 | 6.3% | 4.8% | – |
| 32 | Clane Kildare | 0.6 | 1.9% | 1.5% | – |
| 33 | Thurles Tipperary | 0.5 | 2.8% | 1.2% | – |
| 34 | Newcastle West Limerick | 0.5 | 1.5% | 7% | – |
| 35 | Bandon Cork | 0.4 | 5.6% | 0% | – |
| 36 | Edenderry Offaly | 0.4 | 7% | 1.7% | – |
| 37 | Loughrea Galway | 0.4 | 1.7% | 4.7% | – |
| 38 | Ballinasloe Galway | 0.3 | 3.7% | 9.6% | – |
| 39 | Buncrana Donegal | 0.3 | 3.3% | 12% | 23% |
| 40 | Roscommon Roscommon | 0.2 | 2.3% | 3.9% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is South Gate’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 South Gate
The biggest is Cork Lough, 8.2 ha (20 acres).
All 7 named parks and woods by size: 14 ha (34 acres) and 4 km of path
Parks & gardens 14 ha
The two biggest, Cork Lough and Tory Top Park, are 83% of the named green space and carry 4 km of path between them. 5 of the 7 are under 2 ha.
Tory Top Park
Park or garden
3.1 ha1.6 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path
0.8 km southfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Bishop Lucey Park
Park or garden · 140 m outside town
0.4 ha0.3 km of path
Centralin the middle of South Gate
Christ Church Lane
Directionsto a point inside
Elysian Japanese Gardens
Park or garden · 160 m outside town
0.3 ha0.3 km of path
0.8 km north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Shalom Park
Park or garden · 250 m outside town
0.4 ha0.2 km of path
0.9 km eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Saint John's Graveyard
Park or garden
0.2 ha0.1 km of path
Centralin the middle of South Gate
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
Everyone in South Gate lives 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 (100%)Further (0%)
South Gate100%
Co. Cork towns90%
Typical Irish town92%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
1.3% of the land around South Gate is protected for nature
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 South Gate0%
Within 5 km1.3%
Co. Cork towns1.5%
Typical Irish town1.8%
One protected site lies within 5 km of South Gate. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 1.9% 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.
Cork Harbour SPASpecial Protection Area (birds) · 27 km² · 2.3 km from the edge
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 70 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
70 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
Footpaths and woods in and around South Gate
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
53 km
over 7.8 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
1%
about 0.1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
South GateCo. Cork townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths6.8
048 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
South GateCo. Cork townsTypical Irish town
Woodland1%
0%50%100%
South Gate has more footpath per km² than 90% of Irish towns and less 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
1 waymarked walk passes through or near South Gate
53 km of footpaths are mapped in South Gate and the kilometre around it, 6.8 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
One more waymarked walk on OpenStreetMap
National
Mardyke walk0.7 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.
When to get out
The best walking months in South Gate: 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 | 14 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 119 | 88 | 81 | 77 | 71 | 72 | 74 | 82 | 81 | 117 | 117 | 124 |
May is the driest month (71 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.8 hours of daylight in December, and 124 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. The climate in South Gate →
Things to do
5 viewpoints and 20 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.
5Viewpoints19× the typical Irish town, per resident2Picnic sites20Playgrounds2.1× the typical Irish town, per resident3Slipways
Per resident, viewpoints stand out most: South Gate has 19× as many as the typical Irish town.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 5
Bell's Field (Audley Place)0.9 km from town
DirectionsShandon Bells View0.9 km from town
DirectionsCity View Summit1.4 km from town
DirectionsVernon Mount View1.5 km from town
DirectionsPlus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 20
Toddler Play Park1.6 km from town
DirectionsPlus 19 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 South Gate
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
Cork City CentreTurner's CrossShandonGillabbeyKnockreaSunday's WellSouth Gate
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Gate | 100% | 2.3 | 6.8 | 1.3% |
| Cork City Centre 0.8 km | 100% | 0.9 | 6.7 | 1.8% |
| Turner's Cross 1.1 km | 100% | 11.5 | 5.3 | 1.3% |
| Shandon 1.2 km | 100% | 3.4 | 7.3 | 0.9% |
| Gillabbey 1.3 km | 100% | 6.5 | 7.1 | 0.5% |
| Knockrea 1.4 km | 100% | 9.5 | 4.7 | 3.7% |
| Sunday's Well 1.4 km | 100% | 8.1 | 7.3 | 0.4% |
None of the neighbours has many more of its people near a park than South Gate. Turner's Cross, Gillabbey and Knockrea have at least twice South Gate’s green space per resident.
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 South Gate
What is the biggest park in South Gate?
Cork Lough, 8.2 ha (20 acres), just outside the built-up area. Tory Top Park (3.1 ha) is second. 8 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the neighbourhood or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near South Gate?
Yes: 1.3% of the land within 5 km is protected, in one site. The nearest is Cork Harbour SPA, 2.3 km from the edge of town.
How many people in South Gate live near a park?
100% 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 South Gate?
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 South Gate near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Killarney National Park, 70 km west of the town’s edge; it covers about 104 km².
What is there to do outdoors around South Gate?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 5 viewpoints and 2 picnic sites; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where South Gate’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).