First pick
Phoenix Park
Park or garden
704 ha93.1 km of path
20 h 40 minto walk all 93.1 km of path
2.4 km south-eastfrom the centre
Khyber RoadTinkler's PathKaziranga Forest Trail+2 paths
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Laurel Lodged · CC BY-SA 4.0100%near a park
Outdoors in Castleknock · parks, paths & countryside
Castleknock has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 Irish towns
Parks and playing fields in Castleknock add up to 117.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1. 76 km of footpaths run through the neighbourhood and the kilometre around it, 6.2 for every square kilometre. Wicklow Mountains National Park begins 14 km away.
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
117.7 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
76 km
6.2 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Woodland
9.1%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors neighbourhood is Castleknock?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam117.7 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 99% of Irish towns.A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.A neighbourhood of footpaths6.2 km of path per km², more than 84% of Irish towns. The typical town has 2.1.Countryside close byWicklow Mountains National Park starts 14 km south.
Castleknock’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by parks close to every home.
Against other towns
How Castleknock 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 space117.7 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
99out of 100
Footpaths6.2 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
84out of 100
Protected for nature0%of the land within 5 km
11out of 100
Woodland9.1%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
93out 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
Castleknock has the 7th most footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (5,592 to 7,209 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
Castleknock6.2
Towns its size1.8
Co. Dublin towns5.4
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Castleknock117.7
Towns its size3.8
Co. Dublin towns7.6
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Castleknock100%
Towns its size100%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
Against towns its size, Castleknock stands out most for park space per resident: none of the other 39 has more.
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 | Christchurch Dublin | 7.8 | 0.7% | 0.1% | – |
| 3 | Portobello Dublin | 7.2 | 1.2% | 0.1% | 8.8% |
| 4 | Gillabbey Cork | 7.1 | 2.6% | 0.5% | – |
| 5 | South Gate Cork | 6.8 | 1% | 1.3% | – |
| 6 | Glasheen Cork | 6.4 | 2.3% | 0.5% | – |
| 7 | Castleknock Dublin | 6.2 | 9.1% | 0% | – |
| 8 | The Glen Cork | 5.7 | 4% | 1.8% | – |
| 9 | Turner's Cross Cork | 5.3 | 2.5% | 1.3% | – |
| 10 | Rathgar Dublin | 4.8 | 3.5% | 0.1% | – |
| 11 | Knocknaheeny Cork | 4.7 | 2.4% | 0.2% | – |
| 12 | Santry Dublin | 4.4 | 2.8% | 0% | – |
| 13 | Ayrfield Dublin | 3.8 | 1.8% | 5.3% | 19% |
| 14 | Eyre Square Galway | 3.4 | 1.2% | 14% | 36% |
| 15 | Marino Dublin | 3.3 | 2% | 2.8% | 10% |
| 16 | Harmonstown Dublin | 3.2 | 3.8% | 5.3% | 23% |
| 17 | Dock Limerick | 2.5 | 1.3% | 12% | – |
| 18 | Sutton Dublin | 2.5 | 0.7% | 12% | 48% |
| 19 | Dunboyne Meath | 2.2 | 2.5% | 0.4% | – |
| 20 | Lisduggan Waterford | 1.8 | 0% | 5.8% | – |
| 21 | Ballinfoile and Terryland Galway | 1.7 | 2.1% | 22% | 13% |
| 22 | Rathcoole Dublin | 1.6 | 2.4% | 0% | – |
| 23 | Sallins Kildare | 1.6 | 0.8% | 0% | – |
| 24 | Dunshaughlin Meath | 1.5 | 0.4% | 0% | – |
| 25 | Blessington Wicklow | 1.4 | 10% | 1.9% | – |
| 26 | Kells Meath | 1.3 | 6.3% | 1.1% | – |
| 27 | Westport Mayo | 1.2 | 7.1% | 3.3% | 10% |
| 28 | Passage West-Monkstown Cork | 1.2 | 3.5% | 10% | 12% |
| 29 | Ballytruckle Waterford | 1 | 1.2% | 5.1% | – |
| 30 | Kinsale Cork | 0.9 | 1.3% | 0% | 21% |
| 31 | Ferrybank Kilkenny | 0.8 | 4.1% | 6.6% | – |
| 32 | Fermoy Cork | 0.8 | 6.3% | 4.8% | – |
| 33 | Newcastle West Limerick | 0.5 | 1.5% | 7% | – |
| 34 | Carrick-on-Suir Tipperary | 0.5 | 9.9% | 4% | – |
| 35 | Loughrea Galway | 0.4 | 1.7% | 4.7% | – |
| 36 | Carrickmacross Monaghan | 0.3 | 5.5% | 0% | – |
| 37 | Oranmore Galway | 0.3 | 2% | 5.2% | 13% |
| 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 Castleknock’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 Castleknock
The biggest is Phoenix Park, 704 ha (1,739 acres).
All 4 named parks and woods by size: 774 ha (1,912 acres) and 105 km of path
Parks & gardens 774 ha
The two biggest, Phoenix Park and Tolka Valley Park, are 98% of the named green space and carry 104 km of path between them.
Tolka Valley Park
Park or garden
56 ha11.3 km of path
2 h 30 minto walk all 11.3 km of path
3.4 km eastfrom the centre
Tolka Greenway
Directionsto a point inside
Martin Savage Park
Park or garden · 110 m outside town
8.4 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
1.5 km eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Ashtown Lodge grounds
Park or garden
5.8 ha0.3 km of path
Centralin the middle of Castleknock
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 Castleknock 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%)
Castleknock100%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
No protected site lies within 5 km of Castleknock
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.
No site protected for nature lies within 5 km of Castleknock.
National Parks
Wicklow Mountains National Park is 14 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
Wicklow Mountains National Park
14 km south223 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
76 km of footpaths cross Castleknock
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
76 km
over 12.3 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
9.1%
about 1.1 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
4
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
CastleknockCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths6.2
048 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
CastleknockCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Woodland9.1%
0%50%100%
Castleknock has more footpath per km² than 84% of Irish towns and more woodland than 93% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
Castleknock is on the National Famine Way
76 km of footpaths are mapped in Castleknock and the kilometre around it, 6.2 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Long-distance wayGreenway
National Famine Way168.6 km
Royal Canal Way146.3 km
Royal Canal Greenway - Drumcondra - Ashtown - Castleknock8.9 km
Grand Canal Way117.1 km
The National Famine Way (169 km end to end) passes through Castleknock.
One more waymarked walk on OpenStreetMap
National
The Royal Canal Way6.9 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 Castleknock: 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) | 8.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.9 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 64 | 55 | 54 | 55 | 58 | 67 | 64 | 73 | 66 | 80 | 86 | 76 |
March is the driest month (54 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.5 hours of daylight in December, and 86 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. The climate in Castleknock →
Things to do
27 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: Castleknock has 3.3× as many as the typical Irish town.
Every named place, with directions
Picnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 27
Waterville Park Playground1.1 km from town
DirectionsPlus 26 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 2
Plus 2 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
3 gardens and nature sites to visit near Castleknock
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
War Memorial GardensGarden · 3.0 km from town
Its pageNational Botanic GardensGarden · 3.9 km from town
Its pageSaint Stephen's GreenGarden · 6.3 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Castleknock
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
AshtownCarpenterstownBlanchardstownFinglas SouthChapelizodBallyfermotCastleknock
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castleknock | 100% | 117.7 | 6.2 | 0% |
| Ashtown 2.3 km | 100% | 53.7 | 6.3 | 0% |
| Carpenterstown 2.4 km | 97% | 39.8 | 7.3 | 0% |
| Blanchardstown 2.6 km | 95% | 8.1 | 7.0 | 0% |
| Finglas South 3.0 km | 100% | 7.3 | 5.6 | 0% |
| Chapelizod 3.3 km | 100% | 170.9 | 7.8 | 0% |
| Ballyfermot 3.5 km | 100% | 208.4 | 6.8 | 0% |
None of the neighbours has many more of its people near a park than Castleknock.
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 Castleknock
What is the biggest park in Castleknock?
Phoenix Park, 704 ha (1,739 acres). Tolka Valley Park (16 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the neighbourhood or within 400 m of it.
What are the best walks near Castleknock?
4 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the National Famine Way, Royal Canal Way and Royal Canal Greenway - Drumcondra - Ashtown - Castleknock.
How many people in Castleknock 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 Castleknock?
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 Castleknock near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 14 km south of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Castleknock?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 2 picnic sites; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Castleknock’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).