First pick
People's Park
Park or garden
2.1 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
Centralin the middle of Athy
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Roger D Kidd · CC BY-SA 2.065%near a park
Outdoors in Athy · parks, paths & countryside
The Barrow Way runs through Athy
One waymarked trail starts within 5 km of Athy: the Barrow Way. There are 1.5 ha of parks and playing fields for every 1,000 people in Athy, against 4.1 in the typical Irish town. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 65% of residents.
Near a park
65%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
1.5 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
22 km
0.9 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
1.6%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: River Barrow and River Nore SAC
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Athy?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On a long-distance trailThe Barrow Way passes through.Protected land nearbyRiver Barrow and River Nore SAC reaches the edge of Athy.Less park per person1.5 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1.
Athy’s strongest suit is the Barrow Way, followed by protected land close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Against other towns
How Athy 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 walk65%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
16out of 100
Public green space1.5 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
13out of 100
Footpaths0.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
27out of 100
Protected for nature1.6%of the land within 5 km
48out of 100
Woodland0.3%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
3out 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
Athy has the 11th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (9,563 to 12,475 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
Athy0.9
Towns its size3.3
Co. Kildare towns1.0
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Athy1.5
Towns its size4.7
Co. Kildare towns2.2
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Athy65%
Towns its size94%
Co. Kildare towns79%
Typical Irish town92%
Athy falls furthest behind on path per km², where 29 of the 39 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 | Ballygall Dublin | 6.3 | 1.4% | 0% | – |
| 10 | Summerhill Dublin | 6 | 0.4% | 0.2% | 8.5% |
| 11 | Killiney Dublin | 6 | 7.7% | 0.5% | 45% |
| 12 | Foxrock Dublin | 5.8 | 5.3% | 0.2% | 25% |
| 13 | Churchtown Dublin | 5.6 | 3.3% | 0.1% | – |
| 14 | Drumcondra Dublin | 5.6 | 1.6% | 0.8% | 6.9% |
| 15 | Finglas South Dublin | 5.6 | 1.7% | 0% | – |
| 16 | Terenure Dublin | 4.9 | 2.1% | 0% | – |
| 17 | Monkstown Dublin | 4.2 | 0.8% | 0.3% | 38% |
| 18 | Finglas North Dublin | 4.2 | 1.2% | 0% | – |
| 19 | Shankill Dublin | 3.6 | 12% | 3.8% | 28% |
| 20 | Donaghmede Dublin | 3.5 | 2.7% | 6.2% | 31% |
| 21 | Kilmore Dublin | 3.1 | 2.2% | 3.5% | 9.5% |
| 22 | Donabate Dublin | 2.8 | 6.8% | 2.8% | 32% |
| 23 | Portmarnock Dublin | 2.7 | 0.8% | 7.9% | 44% |
| 24 | Skerries Dublin | 2 | 1.7% | 0% | 53% |
| 25 | Shannon Clare | 1.8 | 3.9% | 35% | – |
| 26 | Trim Meath | 1.3 | 0.9% | 1.5% | – |
| 27 | Ratoath Meath | 1.3 | 0.4% | 0% | – |
| 28 | Kildare Kildare | 1.1 | 0.4% | 1.8% | – |
| 29 | Rush Dublin | 1.1 | 0.4% | 3.7% | 51% |
| 30 | Athy Kildare | 0.9 | 0.3% | 1.6% | – |
| 31 | Ballina Mayo | 0.8 | 3.3% | 3.5% | – |
| 32 | Tramore Waterford | 0.8 | 0.9% | 3.9% | 34% |
| 33 | Dungarvan Waterford | 0.7 | 0.7% | 1.8% | 19% |
| 34 | Gorey Wexford | 0.7 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 35 | Cavan Cavan | 0.6 | 6.7% | 5.1% | – |
| 36 | Grantstown and Ballinakill Waterford | 0.6 | 4.5% | 10% | – |
| 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 Athy’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 Athy
The biggest is People's 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
7 in 10 Athy 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 (65%)Further (35%)
Athy65%
Co. Kildare towns79%
Typical Irish town92%
About 3,800 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
Protected sites cover 1.6% of the land within 5 km of Athy
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 Athy5.8%
Within 5 km1.6%
Co. Kildare towns0.5%
Typical Irish town1.8%
One protected site lies within 5 km of Athy. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 1% 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.
River Barrow and River Nore SACSpecial Area of Conservation · 124 km² · reaches Athy
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 28 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
28 km 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
22 km of footpaths cross Athy
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
22 km
over 24 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
0.3%
about 0.1 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
1
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
AthyCo. Kildare townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths0.9
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
AthyCo. Kildare townsTypical Irish town
Woodland0.3%
0%50%100%
Athy has less footpath per km² than 73% of Irish towns and less woodland than 97% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
One waymarked trail starts near Athy
22 km of footpaths are mapped in Athy and the kilometre around it, 0.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Long-distance way
Barrow Way116.9 km
The Barrow Way (117 km end to end) passes through Athy.
One more waymarked walk on OpenStreetMap
National
The Barrow Way7.7 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.
History
2 historic parks, gardens and demesnes on the record in Athy
Parks, gardens, walled gardens and demesne walls in the town on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, each with its record.
Demesne walls/gates/railingsShamrock Lodgefrom 1800Regional rating (NIAH)
Demesne walls/gates/railingsDuke's Lodgefrom 1810Regional rating (NIAH)
The oldest dated is Shamrock Lodge, from 1800.
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0).
When to get out
The best walking months in Athy: 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) | 8.1 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 77 | 61 | 57 | 56 | 57 | 64 | 62 | 73 | 68 | 90 | 87 | 85 |
April is the driest month (56 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.6 hours of daylight in December, and 90 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. The climate in Athy →
Things to do
3 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
Picnic sites 4
Plus 4 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 3
Athy Children's Playgroundin town
DirectionsPlus 2 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.
Next door
Next to Athy
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
BallylinanStradballyCastledermotCarlowMonasterevinCurragh CampAthy
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athy | 65% | 1.5 | 0.9 | 1.6% |
| Ballylinan 6.5 km | 72% | 4.7 | 0.0 | 0.6% |
| Stradbally 11 km | 65% | 2.8 | 0.6 | 1.1% |
| Castledermot 13 km | 100% | 1.9 | 0.2 | 0.3% |
| Carlow 18 km | 72% | 1.9 | 0.9 | 2% |
| Monasterevin 18 km | 78% | 1.7 | 0.6 | 2% |
| Curragh Camp 19 km | 0% | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1% |
In Castledermot, 100% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here. Ballylinan has at least twice Athy’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 Athy
What is the biggest park in Athy?
People's Park, 2.1 ha (5 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Athy?
Yes: 1.6% of the land within 5 km is protected, in one site. River Barrow and River Nore SAC reaches Athy.
What are the best walks near Athy?
One waymarked trail starts within 5 km: the Barrow Way.
How many people in Athy live near a park?
65% 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 Athy?
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 Athy near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 28 km east of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Athy?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 4 picnic sites; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Which parks in Athy are historic?
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage records 2 historic parks, gardens and demesnes in the town, among them Duke's Lodge and Shamrock Lodge.
Sources
Where Athy’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
- Historic parks and gardens. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (CC BY 4.0)
- 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).