First pick
Balgaddy Park
Park or garden
14 ha2.5 km of path
35 minto walk all 2.5 km of path
0.9 km westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: C O'Flanagan · CC BY-SA 2.085%near a park
Outdoors in Ronanstown · parks, paths & countryside
Ronanstown has more footpath per square kilometre than nearly 9 in 10 Irish towns
Footpaths add up to 92 km in the neighbourhood and the kilometre around it, 6.6 for every square kilometre. Wicklow Mountains National Park begins 9.6 km away. 4 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Ronanstown, among them the Grand Canal Way and National Famine Way.
Near a park
85%
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
92 km
6.6 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Character
What kind of outdoors neighbourhood is Ronanstown?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A neighbourhood of footpaths6.6 km of path per km², more than 88% of Irish towns. The typical town has 2.1.Countryside close byWicklow Mountains National Park starts 9.6 km south.
Ronanstown’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by Wicklow Mountains National Park close by.
Against other towns
How Ronanstown 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 walk85%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
38out of 100
Public green space6.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
66out of 100
Footpaths6.6 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
89out of 100
Protected for nature0%of the land within 5 km
11out of 100
Woodland0.7%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
12out 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
Ronanstown has the 7th most footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (9,616 to 12,816 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Cabra West (7.8 km per km²) to Tuam (0.4 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Ronanstown6.6
Towns its size3.9
Co. Dublin towns5.4
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Ronanstown6.3
Towns its size4.4
Co. Dublin towns7.6
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Ronanstown85%
Towns its size97%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
Against towns its size, Ronanstown stands out most for path per km²: only 6 of the other 39 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 30 of the others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cabra West Dublin | 7.8 | 4.5% | 0% | – |
| 2 | Kilmainham Dublin | 7.7 | 7.3% | 0% | – |
| 3 | Phibsborough Dublin | 7.6 | 0.4% | 0% | – |
| 4 | Kilnamanagh Dublin | 7.4 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 5 | Palmerston Dublin | 6.9 | 8.6% | 0% | – |
| 6 | Firhouse Dublin | 6.8 | 4.4% | 4.2% | – |
| 7 | Ronanstown Dublin | 6.6 | 0.7% | 0% | – |
| 8 | Parnell Square Dublin | 6.6 | 0.2% | 0.1% | 5.6% |
| 9 | Ballsbridge Dublin | 6.3 | 1.3% | 1.2% | 18% |
| 10 | Ballygall Dublin | 6.3 | 1.4% | 0% | – |
| 11 | Summerhill Dublin | 6 | 0.4% | 0.2% | 8.5% |
| 12 | Killiney Dublin | 6 | 7.7% | 0.5% | 45% |
| 13 | Foxrock Dublin | 5.8 | 5.3% | 0.2% | 25% |
| 14 | Churchtown Dublin | 5.6 | 3.3% | 0.1% | – |
| 15 | Drumcondra Dublin | 5.6 | 1.6% | 0.8% | 6.9% |
| 16 | Finglas South Dublin | 5.6 | 1.7% | 0% | – |
| 17 | Terenure Dublin | 4.9 | 2.1% | 0% | – |
| 18 | Blackrock Dublin | 4.7 | 1.4% | 0.2% | 30% |
| 19 | Monkstown Dublin | 4.2 | 0.8% | 0.3% | 38% |
| 20 | Finglas North Dublin | 4.2 | 1.2% | 0% | – |
| 21 | Shankill Dublin | 3.6 | 12% | 3.8% | 28% |
| 22 | Donaghmede Dublin | 3.5 | 2.7% | 6.2% | 31% |
| 23 | Kilmore Dublin | 3.1 | 2.2% | 3.5% | 9.5% |
| 24 | Donabate Dublin | 2.8 | 6.8% | 2.8% | 32% |
| 25 | Portmarnock Dublin | 2.7 | 0.8% | 7.9% | 44% |
| 26 | Skerries Dublin | 2 | 1.7% | 0% | 53% |
| 27 | Shannon Clare | 1.8 | 3.9% | 35% | – |
| 28 | Ratoath Meath | 1.3 | 0.4% | 0% | – |
| 29 | Kildare Kildare | 1.1 | 0.4% | 1.8% | – |
| 30 | Rush Dublin | 1.1 | 0.4% | 3.7% | 51% |
| 31 | Athy Kildare | 0.9 | 0.3% | 1.6% | – |
| 32 | Ballina Mayo | 0.8 | 3.3% | 3.5% | – |
| 33 | Tramore Waterford | 0.8 | 0.9% | 3.9% | 34% |
| 34 | Dungarvan Waterford | 0.7 | 0.7% | 1.8% | 19% |
| 35 | Gorey Wexford | 0.7 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 36 | Cavan Cavan | 0.6 | 6.7% | 5.1% | – |
| 37 | Longford Longford | 0.6 | 2.7% | 5.6% | – |
| 38 | Nenagh Tipperary | 0.4 | 1.8% | 0% | – |
| 39 | Enniscorthy Wexford | 0.4 | 6.9% | 2.1% | – |
| 40 | Tuam Galway | 0.4 | 1.4% | 2.7% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Ronanstown’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 Ronanstown
The biggest is Balgaddy Park, 14 ha (35 acres).
Cherry Orchard Park
Park or garden · 390 m outside town
6.6 ha2.1 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.1 km of path
1.4 km south-eastfrom 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
9 in 10 Ronanstown 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 (85%)Further (15%)
Ronanstown85%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
About 1,600 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 Ronanstown
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 Ronanstown.
National Parks
Wicklow Mountains National Park is 9.6 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
9.6 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
Footpaths and woods in and around Ronanstown
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
92 km
over 13.9 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
0.7%
about 0.1 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
4
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
RonanstownCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths6.6
048 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
RonanstownCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Woodland0.7%
0%50%100%
Ronanstown has more footpath per km² than 89% of Irish towns and less woodland than 88% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
4 waymarked trails start near Ronanstown
92 km of footpaths are mapped in Ronanstown and the kilometre around it, 6.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Long-distance wayGreenway
Grand Canal Way117.1 km
National Famine Way168.6 km
Royal Canal Way146.3 km
Royal Canal Greenway - Drumcondra - Ashtown - Castleknock8.9 km
One more waymarked walk on OpenStreetMap
Other waymarked
Griffeen Valley Walk0.6 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 Ronanstown: 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 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 63 | 55 | 53 | 54 | 56 | 65 | 62 | 70 | 64 | 79 | 85 | 76 |
March is the driest month (53 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.5 hours of daylight in December, and 85 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. The climate in Ronanstown →
Things to do
26 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: Ronanstown has 1.8× as many as the typical Irish town.
Every named place, with directions
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 Ronanstown
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
War Memorial GardensGarden · 4.2 km from town
Its pageSaint Stephen's GreenGarden · 8.0 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Ronanstown
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
PalmerstonCherry OrchardBallyowenCarnaDeansrathBallyfermotRonanstown
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronanstown | 85% | 6.3 | 6.6 | 0% |
| Palmerston 1.3 km | 94% | 78.1 | 6.9 | 0% |
| Cherry Orchard 1.8 km | 96% | 9.4 | 4.6 | 0% |
| Ballyowen 1.9 km | 100% | 5.3 | 7.5 | 0% |
| Carna 2.1 km | 100% | 17.3 | 5.4 | 0% |
| Deansrath 2.3 km | 93% | 13.8 | 7.9 | 0% |
| Ballyfermot 2.4 km | 100% | 208.4 | 6.8 | 0% |
In Ballyowen, 100% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here. Palmerston, Carna and Deansrath have at least twice Ronanstown’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 Ronanstown
What is the biggest park in Ronanstown?
Balgaddy Park, 14 ha (35 acres), just outside the built-up area. Cherry Orchard Park (6.6 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the neighbourhood or within 400 m of it.
What are the best walks near Ronanstown?
4 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Grand Canal Way, National Famine Way and Royal Canal Way.
How many people in Ronanstown live near a park?
85% 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 Ronanstown?
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 Ronanstown near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 9.6 km south of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
Sources
Where Ronanstown’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).