Back in May and June of 2024, Cork County Council carried out a consultation on the concept of a 'West Cork Greenway'. The resultant report can be viewed HERE
The second consultation is now open and submissions will be accepted until the 2nd of June 2025. The corridor options are shown above and as you can see, there are plenty to choose from.
Crossbarry to Bandon: Consultations of the proposed Cork City to Kinsale Greenway are now past the second consultation phase and the report from that is covered in this previous post.
All going well, the Greenway at Crossbarry will connect to the Goggins Hill tunnel and then onto Cork City.
The route choices from Crossbarry to Bandon are shown below...
The BROWN option pretty much follows the R589 road and I'm not sure it has much going for it.
The GREEN option basically just follows more roads and again, pretty boring.
The PINK option closely follows the old railway line and it has a lot going for it.
a) It follows the route of the old railway line so the gradients are gentle.
b) It's a quiet route and stays mostly away from busy roads.
c) The 122-metre long Kilpatrick Tunnel will be a major feature on the Greenway.
A new elevated bridge over the Bandon River would need to be constructed. This again is another scenic feature. Here is a view of what it was like when the train was running...
From this viewpoint, the train would cross over the river and then into the tunnel.
d) The Claire O'Leary Walk is also marked on the map. This is being refurbished at present and a new section connecting it to Bandon is being built. If the Greenway doesn't go along this route then the Claire O'Leary walk effectively connects to nothing. The north-east end of the walk ends on the busy N71 road which is unsuitable for walkers or runners.
Bandon to Clonakilty: The main routes which are the BLUE and PURPLE seem to pretty much track the N71 south the Clonakilty. It probably isn't the nicest route but the gradients are the easiest.
The GREEN route by contrast is quieter but the route is much hillier.
I've also shown the route of the old railway line which went from Ballinascarthy to Timoleague. This is a lovely quiet area and is pretty much flat.
A new walk called the Argideen Valley Trail was developed recently with signage maps and way markers. It's a linear walk and goes from Ballinascarthy to Courtmacsherry with various historic points of interest along the way.
It's supposed to be a walking route but I have my doubts that many people walk it. I've cycled it twice and it really is a nice route.
The photo above shows a footbridge over a small river on what is known locally as Ford's Lane. The old railway was on the far bank.
Monteen Castle is another historical feature just off the old Ballinascarthy to Timoleague railway line.
The options closer to Clonakilty are shown below...
The Joe Walsh Walk is an existing greenway which goes from the hospital entrance to the West Cork Technology Park. It would seem likely that any new greenway route is likely to connect to this rather that going further west via Shannonvale to Clonakilty.
The DARK BLUE route basically follows the R600 from Clonakilty to Timoleague.
The ORANGE route is extremely hilly and just seems to be there for the sake of being an option.
South of Clonakilty, there are options to put in a Greenway to Inchydoney.
In conclusion: Needless to say, a lot of people will have many different opinions on the various routes. It's easy to say such and such a route is best but the landowners especially farmers may have a very different opinion.
Go to the project website, have a closer look at the information and then fill out the survey form.
The website is https://www.wcgbandon.ie/
