First pick
Littlepace Park
Park or garden · 290 m outside town
9.8 ha2.6 km of path
35 minto walk all 2.6 km of path
1.6 km north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Harold Strong · CC BY-SA 2.096%near a park
Outdoors in Ongar · parks, paths & countryside
Ongar is on the National Famine Way
3 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Ongar, among them the National Famine Way and Royal Canal Way. Wicklow Mountains National Park begins 17 km away. Footpaths add up to 64 km in the neighbourhood and the kilometre around it, 4.2 for every square kilometre.
Near a park
96%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
3.1 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
64 km
4.2 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
0.2%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Rye Water Valley/Carton SAC
Woodland
2.7%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors neighbourhood is Ongar?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On a long-distance trailThe National Famine Way passes through.A park on every doorstep96% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Countryside close byWicklow Mountains National Park starts 17 km south-east.
Ongar’s strongest suit is the National Famine Way, followed by parks close to every home.
Against other towns
How Ongar 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 walk96%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
55out of 100
Public green space3.1 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
39out of 100
Footpaths4.2 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
68out of 100
Protected for nature0.2%of the land within 5 km
29out of 100
Woodland2.7%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
49out 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
Ongar has the 20th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (11,517 to 15,588 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
Ongar4.2
Towns its size4.3
Co. Dublin towns5.4
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Ongar3.1
Towns its size4.1
Co. Dublin towns7.6
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Ongar96%
Towns its size96%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
Ongar falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 24 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 | Arklow Wicklow | 0.7 | 5.7% | 0.3% | 34% |
| 37 | Gorey Wexford | 0.7 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 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 Ongar’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 Ongar
The biggest is Littlepace Park, 9.8 ha (24 acres).
All 4 named parks and woods by size: 18 ha (46 acres) and 5 km of path
Parks & gardens 18 ha
The two biggest, Littlepace Park and Beech Park, are 86% of the named green space and carry 3 km of path between them.
Beech Park
Park or garden · 370 m outside town
6.1 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
2.0 km south-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Cherryfield Park
Park or garden · 260 m outside town
2.1 ha0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
1.2 km eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
The Shackleton Garden
Park or garden · 180 m outside town
0.6 ha0.6 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
1.6 km southfrom 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 Ongar 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 (96%)Further (4.4%)
Ongar96%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
About 600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
Rye Water Valley/Carton SAC is the nearest protected area, 2.7 km away
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 Ongar0%
Within 5 km0.2%
Co. Dublin towns0.2%
Typical Irish town1.8%
One protected site lies within 5 km of Ongar. 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.
Rye Water Valley/Carton SACSpecial Area of Conservation · 0.7 km² · 2.7 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 17 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
17 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
64 km of footpaths cross Ongar
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
64 km
over 15.1 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
2.7%
about 0.4 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
3
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
OngarCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths4.2
03.57 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
OngarCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Woodland2.7%
0%50%100%
Ongar has more footpath per km² than 68% of Irish towns and less woodland than 51% 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 Ongar
64 km of footpaths are mapped in Ongar and the kilometre around it, 4.2 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
The National Famine Way (169 km end to end) passes through Ongar.
2 more waymarked walks on OpenStreetMap
NationalLocal
The Royal Canal Way6.7 km
Sli Na Sláinte Leixlip Sli0.4 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 Ongar: 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) | 67 | 57 | 54 | 57 | 59 | 67 | 66 | 76 | 68 | 84 | 88 | 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 88 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. The climate in Ongar →
Things to do
1 waterfall 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.
Every named place, with directions
Waterfalls 1
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 20
Ongar Children's Playgroundin town
DirectionsFort Lucan1.4 km from town
DirectionsMillenium Play Ground1.9 km from town
DirectionsPlus 17 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Plus 1 dog park without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Plus 1 slipway without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
2 gardens and nature sites to visit near Ongar
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
Hamwood House and GardensGarden · 4.3 km from town
Its pageSaint Stephen's GreenGarden · 13 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Ongar
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
ClonsillaCloneeMulhuddartDunboyneBlanchardstownCarpenterstownOngar
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ongar | 96% | 3.1 | 4.2 | 0.2% |
| Clonsilla 1.0 km | 78% | 3.8 | 6.4 | 0.1% |
| Clonee 1.4 km | 100% | 0.7 | 2.6 | 0% |
| Mulhuddart 3.1 km | 98% | 7.5 | 6.6 | 0% |
| Dunboyne 3.2 km | 100% | 2.2 | 2.2 | 0.4% |
| Blanchardstown 3.7 km | 95% | 8.1 | 7.0 | 0% |
| Carpenterstown 4.3 km | 97% | 39.8 | 7.3 | 0% |
None of the neighbours has many more of its people near a park than Ongar. Mulhuddart, Blanchardstown and Carpenterstown have at least twice Ongar’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 Ongar
What is the biggest park in Ongar?
Littlepace Park, 9.8 ha (24 acres), just outside the built-up area. Beech Park (6.1 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the neighbourhood or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Ongar?
One protected site lies within 5 km, though it covers under 1% of the land. The nearest is Rye Water Valley/Carton SAC, 2.7 km from the edge of town.
What are the best walks near Ongar?
3 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 Ongar live near a park?
96% 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 Ongar?
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 Ongar near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 17 km south-east of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Ongar?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 1 waterfall; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Ongar’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).