First pick
Oughaval Wood
Wood or forest · 260 m outside town
199 ha11.4 km of path
2 h 30 minto walk all 11.4 km of path
1.8 km south-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Sarah777 at en.wikipedia · Public domain65%near a park
Outdoors in Stradbally · parks, paths & countryside
Stradbally is more wooded than 9 in 10 Irish towns
Mapped woodland takes up 14% of Stradbally and the kilometre around it. 7 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Stradbally, among them the Oughaval Woods - Cobbler's Castle Walk and Oughaval Woods - Beech Way Walk. 65% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field.
Near a park
65%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
2.8 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
7 km
0.6 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
1.1%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: River Barrow and River Nore SAC
Woodland
14%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Stradbally?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Wooded country14% mapped woodland in and around town, more than 98% of Irish towns.Protected land nearbyRiver Barrow and River Nore SAC reaches the edge of Stradbally.Few mapped footpaths0.6 km of path per km²; the typical Irish town has 2.1.
Stradbally’s strongest suit is its woods, followed by protected land close by. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Against other towns
How Stradbally 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)
15out of 100
Public green space2.8 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
37out of 100
Footpaths0.6 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
17out of 100
Protected for nature1.1%of the land within 5 km
43out of 100
Woodland14%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
Stradbally has the 18th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (1,404 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
Stradbally0.6
Towns its size0.7
Co. Laois towns0.6
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Stradbally2.8
Towns its size3.8
Co. Laois towns1.4
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Stradbally65%
Towns its size83%
Co. Laois towns71%
Typical Irish town92%
Stradbally falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 24 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 | Stradbally Laois | 0.6 | 14% | 1.1% | – |
| 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 Stradbally’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 Stradbally
The biggest is Oughaval Wood, 199 ha (491 acres).
Knockphilip Wood
Wood or forest · 280 m outside town
4.0 ha
1.2 km north-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
7 in 10 Stradbally 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%)
Stradbally65%
Co. Laois towns71%
Typical Irish town92%
About 500 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 1.1% of the land within 5 km of Stradbally
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 Stradbally1.1%
Within 5 km1.1%
Co. Laois towns1.6%
Typical Irish town1.8%
2 protected sites lie within 5 km of Stradbally. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 2.2% 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 40 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
40 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 Stradbally
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
6.5 km
over 10.6 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
14%
about 1.5 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
7
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
StradballyCo. Laois townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths0.6
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
StradballyCo. Laois townsTypical Irish town
Woodland14%
0%50%100%
Stradbally has less footpath per km² than 83% 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
7 waymarked trails start near Stradbally
7 km of footpaths are mapped in Stradbally and the kilometre around it, 0.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Walking trailLong-distance way
Oughaval Woods - Cobbler's Castle Walk6.0 km
Oughaval Woods - Beech Way Walk2.0 km
Oughaval Woods - Mass Rock Walk2.8 km
Barrow Way116.9 km
Carrigmeal Woodlands Loops - Milo's Circuit0.6 km
Carrigmeal Woodlands Loops - Sheep's Walk Trail0.4 km
Carrigmeal Woodlands Loops - Tir na nÓg0.9 km
For a shorter walk, the Oughaval Woods - Cobbler's Castle Walk is 6.0 km, graded moderate.
3 more waymarked walks on OpenStreetMap
Local
Cobbler's Castle Walk4.2 km
Mass Rock Walk2.9 km
Beech Way Walk2.2 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 Stradbally: 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 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 87 | 70 | 64 | 62 | 62 | 68 | 65 | 77 | 72 | 98 | 96 | 95 |
May is the driest month (62 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 Stradbally →
Things to do
1 viewpoint and 2 hills and peaks
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
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 2
Knocknambraher Hill0.4 km from town
DirectionsCarrig Hill1.3 km from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 3
Plus 3 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 1
Stradbally Playgroundin town
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
A garden or nature site to visit near Stradbally
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
Ballintubbert Gardens & HouseGarden · 4.4 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Stradbally
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
BallylinanPortlaoiseAthyMonasterevinPortarlingtonMountmellickStradbally
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stradbally | 65% | 2.8 | 0.6 | 1.1% |
| Ballylinan 10 km | 72% | 4.7 | 0.0 | 0.6% |
| Portlaoise 11 km | 86% | 1.6 | 0.6 | 1.1% |
| Athy 11 km | 65% | 1.5 | 0.9 | 1.6% |
| Monasterevin 15 km | 78% | 1.7 | 0.6 | 2% |
| Portarlington 16 km | 65% | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.6% |
| Mountmellick 17 km | 71% | 1.4 | 0.3 | 3.4% |
In Portlaoise, 86% 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 Stradbally
Is there protected countryside near Stradbally?
Yes: 1.1% of the land within 5 km is protected, across 2 sites. River Barrow and River Nore SAC reaches Stradbally.
What are the best walks near Stradbally?
7 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Oughaval Woods - Cobbler's Castle Walk, Oughaval Woods - Beech Way Walk and Oughaval Woods - Mass Rock Walk.
How many people in Stradbally 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 Stradbally?
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 Stradbally near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 40 km east of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Stradbally?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 1 viewpoint, 2 hills and peaks and 3 picnic sites; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Stradbally’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).