First pick
Ros Mor
Park or garden · 160 m outside town
0.6 ha0.2 km of path
2.6 km south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: David Hawgood · CC BY-SA 2.050%near a park
Outdoors in Castletroy · parks, paths & countryside
Castletroy borders Lower River Shannon SAC
Protected sites cover 6.6% of the land within 5 km; the nearest is Lower River Shannon SAC. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 50% of residents. 2 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Castletroy, among them the Lough Derg Way and O'Briensbridge - Old Barge Loop.
Near a park
50%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
2.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
69 km
2.4 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
6.6%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Lower River Shannon SAC
Woodland
1.8%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors neighbourhood is Castletroy?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Protected land nearbyLower River Shannon SAC reaches the edge of Castletroy.Less park per person2.0 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1.
Castletroy’s strongest suit is protected land close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Against other towns
How Castletroy 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 walk50%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
2out of 100
Public green space2.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
23out of 100
Footpaths2.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
53out of 100
Protected for nature6.6%of the land within 5 km
83out of 100
Woodland1.8%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
33out 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
Castletroy has the 12th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (12,816 to 17,508 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Tallaght (8.8 km per km²) to Mallow (0.6 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Castletroy2.4
Towns its size3.7
Co. Limerick towns2.5
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Castletroy2.0
Towns its size4.6
Co. Limerick towns4.7
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Castletroy50%
Towns its size96%
Co. Limerick towns91%
Typical Irish town92%
Castletroy falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 34 of the 39 others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tallaght Dublin | 8.8 | 3.8% | 0.6% | – |
| 2 | Cabra East Dublin | 8 | 2.2% | 0% | – |
| 3 | Deansrath Dublin | 7.9 | 2.2% | 0% | – |
| 4 | Ballyowen Dublin | 7.5 | 6% | 0% | – |
| 5 | Fettercairn Dublin | 7 | 3.5% | 0.4% | – |
| 6 | Ashtown Dublin | 6.3 | 6.9% | 0% | – |
| 7 | Ballinteer Dublin | 6.2 | 7.1% | 2.8% | – |
| 8 | Dundrum Dublin | 6.2 | 4.7% | 1.3% | 6.7% |
| 9 | Clonskeagh Dublin | 6 | 2.7% | 0.1% | 16% |
| 10 | Rathmines East Dublin | 5.9 | 2.3% | 0.1% | 13% |
| 11 | Knocklyon Dublin | 5.8 | 4.7% | 3.2% | – |
| 12 | Whitehall Dublin | 5.6 | 2.6% | 0.3% | – |
| 13 | Rathfarnham Dublin | 5.5 | 4.8% | 0.1% | – |
| 14 | Cabinteely Dublin | 5.1 | 7.6% | 1.1% | 29% |
| 15 | Sallynoggin Dublin | 5 | 2% | 0.3% | 47% |
| 16 | Blackrock Dublin | 4.7 | 1.4% | 0.2% | 30% |
| 17 | Kimmage Dublin | 4.3 | 0.1% | 0% | – |
| 18 | Ongar Dublin | 4.2 | 2.7% | 0.2% | – |
| 19 | East Wall Dublin | 4.1 | 1% | 3.5% | 27% |
| 20 | Belmayne Dublin | 3.8 | 1.9% | 5.2% | 25% |
| 21 | Maynooth Kildare | 3.7 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 22 | Mahon Cork | 3.6 | 6.1% | 5.3% | – |
| 23 | Leixlip Kildare | 3.6 | 7.7% | 0.5% | – |
| 24 | Hollystown Dublin | 3.3 | 2% | 0% | – |
| 25 | Clontarf West Dublin | 3.2 | 2.2% | 3.5% | 17% |
| 26 | Bishopstown Cork | 3.2 | 6% | 0.2% | – |
| 27 | Corbally and King's Island Limerick | 3 | 3.7% | 9.5% | – |
| 28 | Darndale Dublin | 2.7 | 1.9% | 3.7% | 11% |
| 29 | Castletroy Limerick | 2.4 | 1.8% | 6.6% | – |
| 30 | Ashbourne Meath | 1.6 | 0.3% | 0% | – |
| 31 | Midleton Cork | 1.6 | 2.6% | 4.5% | – |
| 32 | Ballybane Galway | 1.5 | 3.9% | 12% | 15% |
| 33 | Killarney Kerry | 1.3 | 14% | 34% | – |
| 34 | Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington-Donacarney Meath | 1.2 | 0.5% | 4.4% | 39% |
| 35 | Wicklow Wicklow | 1.1 | 0.9% | 4.3% | 38% |
| 36 | Castlebar Mayo | 1 | 3.1% | 2.3% | – |
| 37 | Cobh Cork | 0.8 | 3.5% | 13% | 23% |
| 38 | Tullamore Offaly | 0.7 | 10% | 3.8% | – |
| 39 | Arklow Wicklow | 0.7 | 5.7% | 0.3% | 34% |
| 40 | Mallow Cork | 0.6 | 5.1% | 3.2% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Castletroy’s neighbourhood.
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 Castletroy
The biggest is Ros Mor, 0.6 ha (2 acres).
The Park
Park or garden · 310 m outside town
0.3 ha
2.8 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
5 in 10 Castletroy 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 (50%)Further (50%)
Castletroy50%
Co. Limerick towns91%
Typical Irish town92%
About 7,600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
The 2 protected sites within 5 km of Castletroy
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 Castletroy3.9%
Within 5 km6.6%
Co. Limerick towns9.6%
Typical Irish town1.8%
2 protected sites lie within 5 km of Castletroy. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 1.3% 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
Burren National Park is 41 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
Burren National Park
41 km north-west21 km²
National Park
Killarney National Park
91 km south-west104 km²
2 of Ireland’s six National Parks are within 100 km of Castletroy.
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
69 km of footpaths cross Castletroy
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
69 km
over 28.8 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
1.8%
about 0.5 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
2
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
CastletroyCo. Limerick townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths2.4
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
CastletroyCo. Limerick townsTypical Irish town
Woodland1.8%
0%50%100%
Castletroy has more footpath per km² than 53% of Irish towns and less woodland than 67% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
2 waymarked trails start near Castletroy
69 km of footpaths are mapped in Castletroy and the kilometre around it, 2.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Walking trail
Lough Derg Way68.9 km
O'Briensbridge - Old Barge Loop11.6 km
For a shorter walk, the Lough Derg Way is 68.9 km, graded moderate. One cycling or paddling trail also starts within 5 km.
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.
History
One historic park or garden on the record in Castletroy
Parks, gardens, walled gardens and demesne walls in the town on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, each with its record.
Demesne walls/gates/railingsDemesne walls, Plassey Park Road, Castletroyfrom 1880Regional rating (NIAH)
The oldest dated is Demesne walls, Plassey Park Road, Castletroy, from 1880.
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 Castletroy: 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 | 15.7 | 16.8 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 104 | 86 | 77 | 65 | 66 | 75 | 78 | 90 | 80 | 100 | 109 | 114 |
April 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 114 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. The climate in Castletroy →
Things to do
4 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
Playgrounds 4
Plus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
A garden or nature site to visit near Castletroy
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
Shannon Estuary WayNature site · 2.7 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Castletroy
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
AnnacottyGarryowenWestburyGalvoneCorbally and King's IslandRathbaneCastletroy
Under 1%1–10%10–25%25–50%50%+
In Garryowen, 100% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here. Annacotty, Galvone and Rathbane have at least twice Castletroy’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 Castletroy
What is the biggest park in Castletroy?
Ros Mor, 0.6 ha (2 acres), just outside the built-up area. The Park (0.3 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the neighbourhood or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Castletroy?
Yes: 6.6% of the land within 5 km is protected, across 2 sites. Lower River Shannon SAC reaches Castletroy.
What are the best walks near Castletroy?
2 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Lough Derg Way and O'Briensbridge - Old Barge Loop.
How many people in Castletroy live near a park?
50% 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 Castletroy?
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 Castletroy near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Burren National Park, 41 km north-west of the town’s edge; it covers about 21 km². One more is within 100 km.
Which parks in Castletroy are historic?
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage records one historic park, garden or demesne in the town: Demesne walls, Plassey Park Road, Castletroy.
Sources
Where Castletroy’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).