First pick
Dr. Breen Park
Park or garden
4.2 ha
0.6 km south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Sarah777 at English Wikipedia · Public domain68%near a park
Outdoors in Abbeyleix · parks, paths & countryside
Abbeyleix is more wooded than 9 in 10 Irish towns
Mapped woodland takes up 13% of Abbeyleix and the kilometre around it. 4 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Abbeyleix, among them the Abbeyleix Loops - Killamuck Bog Loop and Abbeyleix Loops - Collins Bog Loop. 7 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 0.5 for every square kilometre.
Near a park
68%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
3.8 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
7 km
0.5 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
4.9%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: River Barrow and River Nore SAC
Woodland
13%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Abbeyleix?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Wooded country13% mapped woodland in and around town, more than 97% of Irish towns.Few mapped footpaths0.5 km of path per km²; the typical Irish town has 2.1.
Abbeyleix’s strongest suit is its woods. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Against other towns
How Abbeyleix 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 walk68%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
17out of 100
Public green space3.8 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
48out of 100
Footpaths0.5 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
13out of 100
Protected for nature4.9%of the land within 5 km
72out of 100
Woodland13%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
98out 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
Abbeyleix has the 15th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (1,897 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
Abbeyleix0.5
Towns its size0.7
Co. Laois towns0.6
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Abbeyleix3.8
Towns its size3.9
Co. Laois towns1.4
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Abbeyleix68%
Towns its size83%
Co. Laois towns71%
Typical Irish town92%
Abbeyleix falls furthest behind on path per km², where 25 of the 39 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 | Bantry Cork | 1 | 4.4% | 0% | 18% |
| 18 | Ballina Tipperary | 0.9 | 1.8% | 4.7% | – |
| 19 | Moate Westmeath | 0.7 | 2.4% | 2.4% | – |
| 20 | Callan Kilkenny | 0.7 | 0.1% | 2.3% | – |
| 21 | Kingscourt Cavan | 0.7 | 12% | 0% | – |
| 22 | Kenmare Kerry | 0.6 | 7.2% | 6.5% | 6.4% |
| 23 | Athboy Meath | 0.6 | 1.1% | 1.5% | – |
| 24 | Bundoran Donegal | 0.5 | 2% | 5.1% | 35% |
| 25 | Muinebeag (Bagenalstown) Carlow | 0.5 | 3.9% | 2.9% | – |
| 26 | Abbeyleix Laois | 0.5 | 13% | 4.9% | – |
| 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 Abbeyleix’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 Abbeyleix
The biggest is Dr. Breen Park, 4.2 ha (10 acres).
Station Wood
Wood or forest
5.1 ha0.4 km of path
1.2 km south-westfrom 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 Abbeyleix 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 (68%)Further (32%)
Abbeyleix68%
Co. Laois towns71%
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
Protected sites cover 4.9% of the land within 5 km of Abbeyleix
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 Abbeyleix0%
Within 5 km4.9%
Co. Laois towns1.6%
Typical Irish town1.8%
3 protected sites lie within 5 km of Abbeyleix. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 3.1% 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.
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 55 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
55 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
7 km of footpaths cross Abbeyleix
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
6.8 km
over 14.1 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
13%
about 1.9 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
4
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
AbbeyleixCo. Laois townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths0.5
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
AbbeyleixCo. Laois townsTypical Irish town
Woodland13%
0%50%100%
Abbeyleix has less footpath per km² than 87% of Irish towns and more woodland than 98% 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 Abbeyleix
7 km of footpaths are mapped in Abbeyleix and the kilometre around it, 0.5 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Walking trail
Abbeyleix Loops - Killamuck Bog Loop7.5 km
Abbeyleix Loops - Collins Bog Loop4.4 km
Durrow Leafy Long Loop20.0 km
Durrow Leafy Loop Short14.3 km
For a shorter walk, the Abbeyleix Loops - Killamuck Bog Loop is 7.5 km, graded moderate.
4 more waymarked walks on OpenStreetMap
NationalLocal
Killamuck Bog Loop6.4 km
Collin's Bog Loop4.5 km
Abbeyleix Bog Walk 13.0 km
Abbeyleix Bog Walk 22.2 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 Abbeyleix: 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 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 87 | 68 | 63 | 60 | 60 | 68 | 70 | 80 | 74 | 98 | 96 | 92 |
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 98 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. The climate in Abbeyleix →
Things to do
1 playground
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
Playgrounds 1
Heritage House Playgroundin town
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
3 gardens and nature sites to visit near Abbeyleix
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
Fruitlawn GardenGarden · 2.5 km from town
Its pageHeywood GardensGarden · 2.6 km from town
Its pageHeywood House GardensGarden · 3.2 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Abbeyleix
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
MountrathBallyraggetPortlaoiseCastlecomerStradballyRathdowneyAbbeyleix
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeyleix | 68% | 3.8 | 0.5 | 4.9% |
| Mountrath 13 km | 57% | 0.9 | 0.1 | 8.2% |
| Ballyragget 14 km | 100% | 4.0 | 0.3 | 3.1% |
| Portlaoise 14 km | 86% | 1.6 | 0.6 | 1.1% |
| Castlecomer 16 km | 74% | 20.3 | 1.2 | 2.8% |
| Stradbally 18 km | 65% | 2.8 | 0.6 | 1.1% |
| Rathdowney 18 km | 81% | 1.6 | 0.2 | 0.4% |
In Ballyragget, 100% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here. Castlecomer has at least twice Abbeyleix’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 Abbeyleix
What is the biggest park in Abbeyleix?
Dr. Breen Park, 4.2 ha (10 acres). Abbey Sense Garden (0.4 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Abbeyleix?
Yes: 4.9% of the land within 5 km is protected, across 3 sites. The nearest is River Barrow and River Nore SAC, 1.3 km from the edge of town.
What are the best walks near Abbeyleix?
4 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Abbeyleix Loops - Killamuck Bog Loop, Abbeyleix Loops - Collins Bog Loop and Durrow Leafy Long Loop.
How many people in Abbeyleix live near a park?
68% 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 Abbeyleix?
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 Abbeyleix near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 55 km east of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
Sources
Where Abbeyleix’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).