First pick
Belcamp Park
Park or garden
23 ha3 km of path
40 minto walk all 3 km of path
0.9 km north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: shaun12246 · CC BY-SA 3.099%near a park
Outdoors in Darndale · parks, paths & countryside
3 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Darndale
Wicklow Mountains National Park begins 19 km away. Parks and playing fields in Darndale add up to 6.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 99% of residents.
Near a park
99%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
6.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
45 km
2.7 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
3.7%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Baldoyle Bay SAC
Woodland
1.9%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
The sea
11%
of the area within 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors neighbourhood is Darndale?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A park on every doorstep99% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Countryside close byWicklow Mountains National Park starts 19 km south-west.
Darndale’s strongest suit is parks close to every home, followed by Wicklow Mountains National Park close by.
Against other towns
How Darndale 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 walk99%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
65out of 100
Public green space6.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
65out of 100
Footpaths2.7 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
55out of 100
Protected for nature3.7%of the land within 5 km
64out of 100
Woodland1.9%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
37out of 100
The sea11%of the area within 5 km
77out 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
Darndale has the 13th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (12,743 to 17,259 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 Mallow (0.6 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Darndale2.7
Towns its size3.7
Co. Dublin towns5.4
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Darndale6.3
Towns its size4.1
Co. Dublin towns7.6
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Darndale99%
Towns its size96%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
Against towns its size, Darndale stands out most for park space per resident: only 12 of the other 39 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 27 of the 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 | Ballyowen Dublin | 7.5 | 6% | 0% | – |
| 5 | Fettercairn Dublin | 7 | 3.5% | 0.4% | – |
| 6 | Ballsbridge Dublin | 6.3 | 1.3% | 1.2% | 18% |
| 7 | Ashtown Dublin | 6.3 | 6.9% | 0% | – |
| 8 | Ballinteer Dublin | 6.2 | 7.1% | 2.8% | – |
| 9 | Dundrum Dublin | 6.2 | 4.7% | 1.3% | 6.7% |
| 10 | Clonskeagh Dublin | 6 | 2.7% | 0.1% | 16% |
| 11 | Rathmines East Dublin | 5.9 | 2.3% | 0.1% | 13% |
| 12 | Knocklyon Dublin | 5.8 | 4.7% | 3.2% | – |
| 13 | Whitehall Dublin | 5.6 | 2.6% | 0.3% | – |
| 14 | Cabinteely Dublin | 5.1 | 7.6% | 1.1% | 29% |
| 15 | Sallynoggin Dublin | 5 | 2% | 0.3% | 47% |
| 16 | Blackrock Dublin | 4.7 | 1.4% | 0.2% | 30% |
| 17 | Kimmage Dublin | 4.3 | 0.1% | 0% | – |
| 18 | Ongar Dublin | 4.2 | 2.7% | 0.2% | – |
| 19 | East Wall Dublin | 4.1 | 1% | 3.5% | 27% |
| 20 | Belmayne Dublin | 3.8 | 1.9% | 5.2% | 25% |
| 21 | Maynooth Kildare | 3.7 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 22 | Mahon Cork | 3.6 | 6.1% | 5.3% | – |
| 23 | Leixlip Kildare | 3.6 | 7.7% | 0.5% | – |
| 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 | Ashbourne Meath | 1.6 | 0.3% | 0% | – |
| 31 | Midleton Cork | 1.6 | 2.6% | 4.5% | – |
| 32 | Ballybane Galway | 1.5 | 3.9% | 12% | 15% |
| 33 | Killarney Kerry | 1.3 | 14% | 34% | – |
| 34 | Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington-Donacarney Meath | 1.2 | 0.5% | 4.4% | 39% |
| 35 | Wicklow Wicklow | 1.1 | 0.9% | 4.3% | 38% |
| 36 | Castlebar Mayo | 1 | 3.1% | 2.3% | – |
| 37 | Cobh Cork | 0.8 | 3.5% | 13% | 23% |
| 38 | Tullamore Offaly | 0.7 | 10% | 3.8% | – |
| 39 | Arklow Wicklow | 0.7 | 5.7% | 0.3% | 34% |
| 40 | Mallow Cork | 0.6 | 5.1% | 3.2% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Darndale’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 Darndale
The biggest is Belcamp Park, 23 ha (57 acres).
Darndale Park
Park or garden
13 ha2.9 km of path
40 minto walk all 2.9 km of path
Centralin the middle of Darndale
Directionsto a point inside
Stardust Memorial Park
Park or garden
7.1 ha2.3 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.3 km of path
0.7 km south-westfrom the centre
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
Almost everyone in Darndale 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 (99%)Further (1.5%)
Darndale99%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
About 200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
3.7% of the land around Darndale 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 Darndale0%
Within 5 km3.7%
Co. Dublin towns0.2%
Typical Irish town1.8%
7 protected sites lie within 5 km of Darndale. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 3.9% 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.
Baldoyle Bay SACSpecial Area of Conservation · 5.3 km² · 2.3 km from the edge
NPWS pageBaldoyle Bay SPASpecial Protection Area (birds) · 2.6 km² · 2.6 km from the edge
NPWS pageNorth Bull Island SPASpecial Protection Area (birds) · 19 km² · 2.7 km from the edge
NPWS pageNorth Dublin Bay SACSpecial Area of Conservation · 15 km² · 2.7 km from the edge
NPWS pageSouth Dublin Bay and River Tolka Estuary SPASpecial Protection Area (birds) · 22 km² · 3.5 km from the edge
NPWS pageNorth-West Irish Sea cSPASpecial Protection Area (birds) · 2,333 km² · 4.0 km from the edge
NPWS pageMalahide Estuary SACSpecial Area of Conservation · 7.9 km² · 4.7 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
Wicklow Mountains National Park is 19 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
19 km south-west223 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
45 km of footpaths cross Darndale
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
45 km
over 16.8 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
1.9%
about 0.3 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
3
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
DarndaleCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths2.7
03.57 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
DarndaleCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Woodland1.9%
0%50%100%
Darndale has more footpath per km² than 55% of Irish towns and less woodland than 63% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
3 waymarked trails start near Darndale
45 km of footpaths are mapped in Darndale and the kilometre around it, 2.7 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
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 Darndale: 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) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 60 | 51 | 52 | 52 | 55 | 64 | 62 | 71 | 63 | 76 | 83 | 70 |
February is the driest month (51 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.5 hours of daylight in December, and 83 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. The climate in Darndale →
The coast
Darndale is near the sea
11% of the area within 5 km of Darndale is sea. 2 bathing waters are within 5 km, each with its latest class.
Dollymount StrandGood (2025) · 4.1 km from town
beaches.iePortmarnock, Velvet Strand BeachExcellent (2025) · 4.7 km from town
beaches.ieOne of the 2 is rated excellent: Portmarnock, Velvet Strand Beach.
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
Things to do
43 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: Darndale has 2.3× as many as the typical Irish town.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 43
Plus 43 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Plus 1 dog park without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
4 gardens and nature sites to visit near Darndale
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
Saint Anne's ParkGarden · 2.3 km from town
Its pageSt Anne's Park and Rose GardensGarden · 2.8 km from town
Its pageNational Botanic GardensGarden · 4.4 km from town
Its pageSaint Stephen's GreenGarden · 7.2 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Darndale
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
AyrfieldKilmoreBelmayneEdenmoreHarmonstownBeaumontDarndale
Under 1%1–10%10–25%25–50%50%+
None of the neighbours has many more of its people near a park than Darndale. Edenmore and Harmonstown have at least twice Darndale’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 Darndale
What is the biggest park in Darndale?
Belcamp Park, 23 ha (57 acres). Darndale Park (13 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the neighbourhood or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Darndale?
Yes: 3.7% of the land within 5 km is protected, across 7 sites. The nearest is Baldoyle Bay SAC, 2.3 km from the edge of town.
What are the best walks near Darndale?
3 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the National Famine Way, Royal Canal Way and Royal Canal Greenway - Drumcondra - Ashtown - Castleknock.
Where can you swim near Darndale?
The nearest bathing water is Dollymount Strand, 4.1 km from town: Good (2025). Check beaches.ie before swimming: a notice can close a beach for the day.
How many people in Darndale live near a park?
99% 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 Darndale?
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 Darndale near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 19 km south-west of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
Sources
Where Darndale’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
- Bathing water. EPA: bathing water quality, 2025 season
- 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).