First pick
Castlecomer Discovery Park
Park or garden
24 ha2.5 km of path
35 minto walk all 2.5 km of path
1.3 km north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Sarah777 · CC BY-SA 2.074%near a park
Outdoors in Castlecomer · parks, paths & countryside
Castlecomer has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 Irish towns
There are 20.3 ha of parks and playing fields for every 1,000 people in Castlecomer, against 4.1 in the typical Irish town. 5 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Castlecomer, among them the Castlecomer - Ardra Loop and Castlecomer - Captains Loop. Footpaths add up to 12 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 1.2 for every square kilometre.
Near a park
74%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
20.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
12 km
1.2 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
2.8%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: River Barrow and River Nore SAC
Woodland
7.3%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Castlecomer?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam20.3 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 94% of Irish towns.Protected land nearbyRiver Barrow and River Nore SAC reaches the edge of Castlecomer.
Castlecomer’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by protected land close by.
Against other towns
How Castlecomer 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 walk74%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
25out of 100
Public green space20.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
95out of 100
Footpaths1.2 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
35out of 100
Protected for nature2.8%of the land within 5 km
56out of 100
Woodland7.3%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
87out 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
Castlecomer has the 17th most footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (1,496 to 3,141 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Ballybrack (8.6 km per km²) to Sixmilebridge (0 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Castlecomer1.2
Towns its size0.7
Co. Kilkenny towns0.8
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Castlecomer20.3
Towns its size4.1
Co. Kilkenny towns3.5
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Castlecomer74%
Towns its size83%
Co. Kilkenny towns96%
Typical Irish town92%
Against towns its size, Castlecomer stands out most for park space per resident: none of the other 39 has more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 26 of the others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballybrack Dublin | 8.6 | 8% | 0.2% | 36% |
| 2 | Sunday's Well Cork | 7.3 | 2.7% | 0.4% | – |
| 3 | Blackpool Cork | 6.6 | 3% | 1.4% | – |
| 4 | Carna Dublin | 5.4 | 1.7% | 0% | – |
| 5 | Taylor's Hill Galway | 5.1 | 1.2% | 15% | 37% |
| 6 | Togher Cork | 5 | 1.5% | 0.5% | – |
| 7 | Decies Dublin | 4.8 | 7.2% | 0% | – |
| 8 | Mayfield Cork | 4.7 | 5.3% | 3.3% | – |
| 9 | Kylemore Dublin | 4 | 3% | 0% | – |
| 10 | Edenmore Dublin | 2.8 | 3.6% | 5.9% | 24% |
| 11 | Ballynanty Limerick | 2.5 | 5.7% | 12% | – |
| 12 | Claddagh Galway | 2.4 | 0.2% | 17% | 46% |
| 13 | Murrough Galway | 2.3 | 5.1% | 10% | 26% |
| 14 | Grange Upper Waterford | 1.4 | 1.5% | 6.6% | – |
| 15 | Blarney Cork | 1.4 | 14% | 0% | – |
| 16 | Kilbarry Waterford | 1.3 | 1.6% | 5.1% | – |
| 17 | Castlecomer Kilkenny | 1.2 | 7.3% | 2.8% | – |
| 18 | Bantry Cork | 1 | 4.4% | 0% | 18% |
| 19 | Ballina Tipperary | 0.9 | 1.8% | 4.7% | – |
| 20 | Moate Westmeath | 0.7 | 2.4% | 2.4% | – |
| 21 | Callan Kilkenny | 0.7 | 0.1% | 2.3% | – |
| 22 | Kingscourt Cavan | 0.7 | 12% | 0% | – |
| 23 | Kenmare Kerry | 0.6 | 7.2% | 6.5% | 6.4% |
| 24 | Athboy Meath | 0.6 | 1.1% | 1.5% | – |
| 25 | Bundoran Donegal | 0.5 | 2% | 5.1% | 35% |
| 26 | Muinebeag (Bagenalstown) Carlow | 0.5 | 3.9% | 2.9% | – |
| 27 | Skibbereen Cork | 0.5 | 1.7% | 1.6% | – |
| 28 | Kinnegad Westmeath | 0.3 | 4.5% | 4.5% | – |
| 29 | Donegal Donegal | 0.3 | 4% | 4.1% | 12% |
| 30 | Boyle Roscommon | 0.3 | 3.2% | 0% | – |
| 31 | Bailieborough Cavan | 0.3 | 10% | 0% | – |
| 32 | Castleisland Kerry | 0.3 | 1.7% | 12% | – |
| 33 | Kanturk Cork | 0.3 | 0% | 5.1% | – |
| 34 | Baltinglass Wicklow | 0.2 | 4.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 35 | Ballyhaunis Mayo | 0.2 | 2.8% | 3.4% | – |
| 36 | Kilrush Clare | 0.2 | 9.8% | 37% | – |
| 37 | Ballyjamesduff Cavan | 0.2 | 7.6% | 0% | – |
| 38 | Gort Galway | 0.2 | 4.3% | 24% | – |
| 39 | Carndonagh Donegal | 0.1 | 4.9% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| 40 | Sixmilebridge Clare | 0 | 0.7% | 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 Castlecomer’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 Castlecomer
The biggest is Castlecomer Discovery Park, 24 ha (59 acres).
Sawney's Wood
Wood or forest · 120 m outside town
29 ha0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
1.1 km south-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Rockafoil Wood
Wood or forest · 110 m outside town
6.3 ha
1.5 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
7 in 10 Castlecomer 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 (74%)Further (27%)
Castlecomer74%
Co. Kilkenny towns96%
Typical Irish town92%
About 400 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 2.8% of the land within 5 km of Castlecomer
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 Castlecomer6.4%
Within 5 km2.8%
Co. Kilkenny towns2.4%
Typical Irish town1.8%
2 protected sites lie within 5 km of Castlecomer. Ireland’s National Parks have a block of their own on this page; much of their land also lies inside these sites.
Protected 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 52 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
52 km north-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
12 km of footpaths cross Castlecomer
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
12 km
over 10.4 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
7.3%
about 0.8 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
5
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
CastlecomerCo. Kilkenny townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths1.2
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
CastlecomerCo. Kilkenny townsTypical Irish town
Woodland7.3%
0%50%100%
Castlecomer has less footpath per km² than 65% of Irish towns and more woodland than 87% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
5 waymarked trails start near Castlecomer
12 km of footpaths are mapped in Castlecomer and the kilometre around it, 1.2 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Walking trail
Castlecomer - Ardra Loop4.3 km
Castlecomer - Captains Loop2.2 km
Castlecomer - Arboretum loop1.9 km
Castlecomer - Ladies Loop1.5 km
Muckalee Loop0.0 km
One cycling or paddling trail also starts within 5 km.
2 more waymarked walks on OpenStreetMap
LocalOther waymarked
Ardra Loop4.0 km
Captains Loop2.2 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 Castlecomer: 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 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 92 | 75 | 70 | 67 | 65 | 74 | 75 | 87 | 83 | 106 | 105 | 102 |
May is the driest month (65 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.6 hours of daylight in December, and 106 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. The climate in Castlecomer →
Things to do
1 viewpoint and 1 waterfall
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: Castlecomer has 1.5× as many as the typical Irish town.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Waterfalls 1
Rock of Foyle0.5 km from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 7
Plus 7 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Next door
Next to Castlecomer
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
BallyraggetAbbeyleixKilkennyCastlecomer
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castlecomer | 74% | 20.3 | 1.2 | 2.8% |
| Ballyragget 8.1 km | 100% | 4.0 | 0.3 | 3.1% |
| Abbeyleix 16 km | 68% | 3.8 | 0.5 | 4.9% |
| Kilkenny 16 km | 96% | 3.3 | 3.1 | 2.4% |
In Ballyragget, 100% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here.
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 Castlecomer
What is the biggest park in Castlecomer?
Castlecomer Discovery Park, 24 ha (59 acres), just outside the built-up area. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Castlecomer?
Yes: 2.8% of the land within 5 km is protected, across 2 sites. River Barrow and River Nore SAC reaches Castlecomer.
What are the best walks near Castlecomer?
5 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Castlecomer - Ardra Loop, Castlecomer - Captains Loop and Castlecomer - Arboretum loop.
How many people in Castlecomer live near a park?
74% 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 Castlecomer?
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 Castlecomer near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 52 km north-east of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Castlecomer?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 1 viewpoint, 1 waterfall and 7 picnic sites; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Castlecomer’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).