First pick
Taobh Chnoic Park
Park or garden
2.1 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
Centralin the middle of Newcastle
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Original uploader was Sarah777 at en.wikipedia · Public domain61%near a park
Outdoors in Newcastle · parks, paths & countryside
3 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Newcastle
Wicklow Mountains National Park begins 8.2 km away. 61% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in Newcastle add up to 3.0 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1.
Near a park
61%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
3.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
23 km
1.1 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Newcastle?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Countryside close byWicklow Mountains National Park starts 8.2 km south-east.Parks can be a walk away39% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Newcastle’s strongest suit is Wicklow Mountains National Park close by. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Against other towns
How Newcastle 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 walk61%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
12out of 100
Public green space3.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
38out of 100
Footpaths1.1 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
33out of 100
Protected for nature0%of the land within 5 km
11out of 100
Woodland0.9%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
16out 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
Newcastle has the 15th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (3,926 to 5,285 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Chapelizod (7.8 km per km²) to Charleville (0 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Newcastle1.1
Towns its size1.8
Co. Dublin towns5.4
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Newcastle3.0
Towns its size6.1
Co. Dublin towns7.6
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Newcastle61%
Towns its size79%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
Newcastle falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 27 of the 39 others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapelizod Dublin | 7.8 | 11% | 0% | – |
| 2 | Gurranebraher Cork | 7.4 | 1.6% | 0.5% | – |
| 3 | St Luke's Cork | 6 | 3.5% | 2.8% | – |
| 4 | Ballyboden Dublin | 5.9 | 4.3% | 0.5% | – |
| 5 | Montenotte Cork | 5.5 | 5.6% | 3.5% | – |
| 6 | Newcastle Galway | 5.4 | 1.7% | 15% | 29% |
| 7 | Tramore Cork | 4.7 | 4.6% | 3.7% | – |
| 8 | Knockrea Cork | 4.7 | 3.1% | 3.7% | – |
| 9 | Saggart Dublin | 4.6 | 2% | 0% | – |
| 10 | Woodquay and Nuns Island Galway | 4.5 | 0.7% | 14% | 32% |
| 11 | Inchicore Dublin | 4.5 | 3.9% | 0% | – |
| 12 | Dangan Galway | 4.3 | 3.9% | 18% | 21% |
| 13 | Mervue Galway | 4.3 | 3.6% | 11% | 25% |
| 14 | Bohernabreena Dublin | 4.3 | 2.9% | 5% | – |
| 15 | Tivoli Cork | 4 | 7% | 4.8% | – |
| 16 | Fair Hill Cork | 4 | 4.4% | 0.4% | – |
| 17 | Prospect and Newtown Pery Limerick | 3.6 | 1.5% | 9.9% | – |
| 18 | Poleberry Waterford | 2.4 | 0.6% | 7.2% | – |
| 19 | Castlegar Galway | 1.8 | 1.4% | 16% | 16% |
| 20 | Rathbane Limerick | 1.8 | 1.1% | 6% | – |
| 21 | Glanmire Cork | 1.7 | 13% | 6.6% | – |
| 22 | Kilcoole Wicklow | 1.5 | 4.3% | 5.8% | 37% |
| 23 | Glounthaune Cork | 1.2 | 8% | 6.1% | – |
| 24 | Athenry Galway | 1.2 | 1.2% | 0% | – |
| 25 | Lehenagh Cork | 1.2 | 2.5% | 0.3% | – |
| 26 | Newcastle Dublin | 1.1 | 0.9% | 0% | – |
| 27 | Ballybeg Waterford | 1 | 1.2% | 4.1% | – |
| 28 | Grange Waterford | 1 | 0.8% | 5% | – |
| 29 | Castleblayney Monaghan | 1 | 3.8% | 0% | – |
| 30 | Birr Offaly | 0.8 | 14% | 5.2% | – |
| 31 | Courtown Wexford | 0.6 | 8.6% | 0% | 37% |
| 32 | Macroom Cork | 0.4 | 4.9% | 3.9% | – |
| 33 | Duleek Meath | 0.4 | 0.1% | 1.3% | – |
| 34 | Cashel Tipperary | 0.4 | 1.8% | 1.4% | – |
| 35 | Listowel Kerry | 0.4 | 2.3% | 4.8% | – |
| 36 | Mountmellick Laois | 0.3 | 0.5% | 3.4% | – |
| 37 | Tullow Carlow | 0.3 | 0.4% | 1.7% | – |
| 38 | Clonakilty Cork | 0.3 | 1.8% | 3.3% | 7.1% |
| 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 Newcastle’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 Newcastle
The biggest is Taobh Chnoic Park, 2.1 ha (5 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
6 in 10 Newcastle 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 (61%)Further (39%)
Newcastle61%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
About 1,800 people live further than that. 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 Newcastle
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 Newcastle.
National Parks
Wicklow Mountains National Park is 8.2 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
8.2 km south-east223 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
23 km of footpaths cross Newcastle
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
23 km
over 20.8 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
0.9%
about 0.2 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
3
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
NewcastleCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths1.1
03.57 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
NewcastleCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Woodland0.9%
0%50%100%
Newcastle has less footpath per km² than 67% of Irish towns and less woodland than 84% 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 Newcastle
23 km of footpaths are mapped in Newcastle and the kilometre around it, 1.1 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Long-distance wayWalking trail
Grand Canal Way117.1 km
Slievethoul Lugg Walk6.9 km
Saggart Hill Loop3.4 km
For a shorter walk, the Slievethoul Lugg Walk is 6.9 km, graded easy.
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 Newcastle: 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 | 15.8 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 67 | 60 | 54 | 57 | 58 | 66 | 65 | 75 | 68 | 86 | 89 | 80 |
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 89 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. The climate in Newcastle →
Things to do
3 hills and peaks and 24 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: Newcastle has 4.1× as many as the typical Irish town.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 3
Athgoe Hill0.1 km from town
DirectionsLyons Hill1.2 km from town
DirectionsPlus 1 peak without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 1
Plus 1 nature reserve without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 24
Slide0.8 km from town
DirectionsSwings0.9 km from town
DirectionsSand Pit0.9 km from town
DirectionsSaggart Playground1.9 km from town
DirectionsPlus 20 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
A garden or nature site to visit near Newcastle
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
Saint Stephen's GreenGarden · 14 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Newcastle
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
RathcooleSaggartFettercairnCelbridgeJobstownDeansrathNewcastle
Under 1%1–10%10–25%25–50%50%+
In Jobstown, 99% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here. Saggart, Fettercairn and Celbridge have at least twice Newcastle’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 Newcastle
What is the biggest park in Newcastle?
Taobh Chnoic Park, 2.1 ha (5 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
What are the best walks near Newcastle?
3 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Grand Canal Way, Slievethoul Lugg Walk and Saggart Hill Loop.
How many people in Newcastle live near a park?
61% 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 Newcastle?
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 Newcastle near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 8.2 km south-east of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Newcastle?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 3 hills and peaks and 1 nature reserve; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Newcastle’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).