First pick
Cherry Avenue Park
Park or garden
5.8 ha
1.0 km southfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.054%near a park
Outdoors in Kildare · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in Kildare
54% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in Kildare add up to 1.1 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1. Wicklow Mountains National Park begins 26 km away.
Near a park
54%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
1.1 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
17 km
1.1 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
1.8%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Pollardstown Fen SAC
Against other towns
How Kildare 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 walk54%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
5out of 100
Public green space1.1 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
5out of 100
Footpaths1.1 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
32out of 100
Protected for nature1.8%of the land within 5 km
50out of 100
Woodland0.4%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
6out 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
Kildare has the 13th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (8,844 to 11,911 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
Kildare1.1
Towns its size2.9
Co. Kildare towns1.0
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Kildare1.1
Towns its size4.4
Co. Kildare towns2.2
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Kildare54%
Towns its size96%
Co. Kildare towns79%
Typical Irish town92%
Kildare falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 35 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 | Sandyford Dublin | 7.5 | 4.8% | 0.3% | 6.2% |
| 5 | Kilnamanagh Dublin | 7.4 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 6 | Palmerston Dublin | 6.9 | 8.6% | 0% | – |
| 7 | Ronanstown Dublin | 6.6 | 0.7% | 0% | – |
| 8 | Parnell Square Dublin | 6.6 | 0.2% | 0.1% | 5.6% |
| 9 | Glasnevin Dublin | 6.6 | 1.2% | 0% | – |
| 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 | Churchtown Dublin | 5.6 | 3.3% | 0.1% | – |
| 14 | Drumcondra Dublin | 5.6 | 1.6% | 0.8% | 6.9% |
| 15 | Terenure Dublin | 4.9 | 2.1% | 0% | – |
| 16 | Monkstown Dublin | 4.2 | 0.8% | 0.3% | 38% |
| 17 | Finglas North Dublin | 4.2 | 1.2% | 0% | – |
| 18 | Shankill Dublin | 3.6 | 12% | 3.8% | 28% |
| 19 | Donaghmede Dublin | 3.5 | 2.7% | 6.2% | 31% |
| 20 | Kilmore Dublin | 3.1 | 2.2% | 3.5% | 9.5% |
| 21 | Donabate Dublin | 2.8 | 6.8% | 2.8% | 32% |
| 22 | Portmarnock Dublin | 2.7 | 0.8% | 7.9% | 44% |
| 23 | Skerries Dublin | 2 | 1.7% | 0% | 53% |
| 24 | Shannon Clare | 1.8 | 3.9% | 35% | – |
| 25 | Trim Meath | 1.3 | 0.9% | 1.5% | – |
| 26 | Waterford City Centre Waterford | 1.3 | 1.5% | 6% | – |
| 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 | Portarlington Laois | 0.8 | 2.5% | 1.6% | – |
| 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 | Grantstown and Ballinakill Waterford | 0.6 | 4.5% | 10% | – |
| 38 | Longford Longford | 0.6 | 2.7% | 5.6% | – |
| 39 | Nenagh Tipperary | 0.4 | 1.8% | 0% | – |
| 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 Kildare’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 Kildare
The biggest is Cherry Avenue Park, 5.8 ha (14 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
5 in 10 Kildare 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 (54%)Further (46%)
Kildare54%
Co. Kildare towns79%
Typical Irish town92%
About 4,700 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
1.8% of the land around Kildare 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 Kildare0%
Within 5 km1.8%
Co. Kildare towns0.5%
Typical Irish town1.8%
One protected site lies within 5 km of Kildare. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 15% 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.
Pollardstown Fen SACSpecial Area of Conservation · 2.3 km² · 3.2 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 26 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
26 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
17 km of footpaths cross Kildare
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
17 km
over 16 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
0.4%
about 0.1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
KildareCo. Kildare townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths1.1
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
KildareCo. Kildare townsTypical Irish town
Woodland0.4%
0%50%100%
Kildare has less footpath per km² than 68% of Irish towns and less woodland than 94% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
Footpaths in and around Kildare
17 km of footpaths are mapped in Kildare and the kilometre around it, 1.1 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
No waymarked trail starts within 5 km of Kildare; its footpaths are counted above.
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 Kildare: 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 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.5 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.5 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 79 | 65 | 62 | 60 | 60 | 71 | 71 | 80 | 74 | 95 | 93 | 88 |
May is the driest month (60 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.6 hours of daylight in December, and 95 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. The climate in Kildare →
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
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
A garden or nature site to visit near Kildare
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
Pollardstown FenNature site · 3.7 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Kildare
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
Curragh CampNewbridgeAthgarvanRathanganMonasterevinKilmeageKildare
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kildare | 54% | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.8% |
| Curragh Camp 4.9 km | 0% | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1% |
| Newbridge 6.9 km | 66% | 1.1 | 0.6 | 4.9% |
| Athgarvan 8.3 km | 24% | 1.4 | 0.1 | 0.4% |
| Rathangan 9.2 km | 85% | 3.6 | 0.5 | 0% |
| Monasterevin 10 km | 78% | 1.7 | 0.6 | 2% |
| Kilmeage 11 km | 0% | 0.9 | 0.1 | 5.6% |
In Rathangan, 85% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here. Rathangan has at least twice Kildare’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 Kildare
What is the biggest park in Kildare?
Cherry Avenue Park, 5.8 ha (14 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Kildare?
Yes: 1.8% of the land within 5 km is protected, in one site. The nearest is Pollardstown Fen SAC, 3.2 km from the edge of town.
How many people in Kildare live near a park?
54% 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 Kildare?
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 Kildare near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 26 km east of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
Sources
Where Kildare’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).