Grand Canal Greenway to Adamstown

Who’d’ve thought that you could cycle from the heart of Dublin’s Liberty’s all the way to Adamstown on the western outskirts of County Dublin while barely touching a road of any description? Well, thanks to a Dutch engineer and a small army of workers who, over the course of the latter half of the 18th century, built the grand canal, it is indeed possible!

The original towpath, was of course built to allow the canal barges to be horse-drawn as they carried both passengers and cargo, not least the illustrious Guinness. Today, with the barges out of commission save for an increasingly popular leisure industry, and now generating their own horsepower, the redundant towpaths have happily been converted into a shared-use greenway for pedestrians and cyclists.

While the official greenway commences at Inchicore, I have opted to begin this route at the historic basin near St. James’ Gate. No longer existing and once known as City Basin, it was the original dock from where that the Guinness brewery produce began its journey west to the nooks and crannies in the heart of the country. It is indeed a pleasant surprise to realize you can navigate by bike all the way to Adamstown, some 12km west, and barely a car in sight save for the occasional road crossing.

Some Places of Interest:

Grand Canal Basin

Nocturnal Wildlife Sensitive Lights

Thomas Omer’s Cottage

Corkagh Park

The Red Bridge

Adamstown