Plans announced for new Greenway at Dunkettle Roundabout - Nov 2025

As the Port of Cork moves its operations from Tivoli to Ringaskiddy, the old docklands area is due to be redeveloped. As part of the project, there is a plan for a new greenway going from Horgans Quay to where the Dunkettle Roundabout is now. This will in turn connect to the greenways going to Glanmire and to Midleton.

The Port of Cork Company have just announced that they will be applying for planning permission in November 2025, to significantly upgrade access to and from its Tivoli Docks site in Cork City.

As part of the plan at the eastern end, the Dunkettle roundabout will be replaced with a new junction which will include a greenway. The image below shows the southern side of the new Dunkettle juntion is shown below.

The key feature of the new junction is that traffic on the N8 going east-west or west-east will pass unimpeded under a new bridge with no traffic lights.

The road above marked A is the new access road from the redeveloped Tivoli site to the new junction.

Traffic from Glanmire will pass over the new N8 bridge which will have traffic lights. They will then turn right onto the down ramp B and will merge with the N8 traffic going into the city. 

Traffic coming out of the city and heading towards Glanmire will take a slip road to the right where there will be traffic lights, very similar to what it is like at the moment.

From a walking / running / cycling point of view, there is going to be a new greenway which is highlighted above in green.

As can be seen from the image, the new greenway will come out of the city and run parallel to the railway line. It will then go under a bridge and do a small loop to gain height to cross over the junction.

The image below shows the northern side of the junction.

Traffic on the N8 flows unimpeded under the new bridge.

Traffic coming out of the city and heading towards Glanmire will use the offramp marked A which will have traffic lights.

Traffic coming from the east that wants to go to Glanmire will use the offramp marked B. The image shows two lanes turning right for Glanmire. There is one lane left for the new redeveloped Tivoli site.

Traffic coming from Glanmire heading towards the city cross over the bridge and turn right. Glanmire traffic heading east take the slip road at C and then merge with the N8 traffic.

Greenway users will have to negotiate two traffic junctions with traffic lights. The good thing here is that these are slip roads which will be no way as busy as the N8.

The image above shows the western end of the Tivoli site near Silversprings and the new greenway is shown in green.

In conclusion... That's the current plan as it stands and if it goes ahead then I'd guess that it might be something like the mid-2030's before it's built. 

Who will use the new greenway? There are plans for some 6,500 new homes in the new Tivoli site which is a town in itself and it's likely those residents will be the biggest users of the greenway.

Going off other greenways, the biggest users will be walkers with the balance split between runners and cyclists.

Planning sought for new pedestrian and cycle path from Dunkettle to Carrigtwohill

Update: Closing date for submissions is Mon 24th Feb. If you would like to see this project go ahead then consider making a submission in favour of it.

Submissions and observations with respect to the proposed development, dealing with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area in which the development would be situated, may be made online at www.yourcouncil.ie, by email to trafficandtransport@corkcoco.ie , using the ‘submissions template’ linked below or in writing to Senior Engineer, Cork County Council, Traffic and Transportation, Floor 11, County Hall, Cork, on or before Monday 24th February 2020. 

On Friday the 10th of January 2020, Cork County Council announced their proposal to build a new pedestrian and cycle path from Bury's Bridge which is near the Gaelscoil near Dunkettle to the railway station in Carrigtwohill.

Race Notice...Rás Bóthair 5 mile race - Sun 29th Apr 2012

This is a new race on the calendar and it's located just off the roundabout by the Jack Lynch Tunnel to the east of the city. The entry fee is €10 and the race starts at 10:30am.

Directions......Registration for this race is at Gaelscoil Uí Drisceoil which many of you may know better as the old Ibis hotel that was located just off the tunnel roundabout. The current Gaelscoil took over the building in mid-2011.

In the photo above, the northern entrance to the Jack Lynch Tunnel is bottom left. The main road to Midleton is bottom right. The road to Glounthaune is upper right. The road on the lower left goes to the Dunkettle Roundabout and the road up top is the M8 motorway to Fermoy/Dublin.

The entrance to the Gaelscoil is from the north, next to the lower orange arrow shown above. If you are coming from the Dunkettle roundabout, the Dublin road or from the tunnel, you will need to take the slip road to the left which is the old road to Glounthaune.....

At the next smaller roundabout, take a left and then the Gaelscoil is just up the road on the left.

The map also shows the start which is just up the road in the direction of Glanmire. The route heads down towards Glounthaune (yellow arrows) and returns downhill from the north (orange arrows) and finishes next to the school.

Course.....This photo shows the course in full. The first two miles are very flat and likely to be very fast. Just before you reach the church in Glounthaune, the road begins to rise. As you turn left, there is a very sharp climb and this is by far the hardest part of the course.

You go under the old bridge, sharp right, right again and then continue the climb. In fact you are climbing from about the 2 mile mark to roughly the 3.7 mile mark. The road then levels out and after the 4 mile mark, you turn off left and start a long downhill section. The finish is near the school.

Overall.....A tough five mile route, especially the section after Glounthaune making it possibly one of the toughest 5 mile races in Cork? The proximity to Cork City and ease of access should make it an attractive option for some runners.

Sponsor.......The main sponsor is the Edge Sports. For more details on the location of their stores, see this previous post or visit their website at http://www.theedge-sports.com/store/

From the organisers....
On Sunday the 29th of April at 10:30am Gaelscoil Ui Drisceoil will host a five mile road race and a two mile fun-run/walk from their new school in Dunkettle. (Formerly the Ibis Hotel)

Registration for the race will take place on Saturday the 28th of April and at the school between 3 p.m. and 5pm or on the morning of the race from 9 a.m.

The race will start at the entrance to Dunkettle House and proceed East along the old Cork-Midleton Road to Glounthaune Church, runners will then take a left up the hill under the Old Bridge where they will turn right and loop around onto the Caherlag road travelling West along the highlands past Eirn’s Own, turning left at the cottages and finishing at the school where water and refreshments will be provided.

There will also be a shorter two mile fun-run or walk for those who not wish to participate in the longer event.

The entry fee will be €10.00 and there will be parking on the morning in the school with overflow of parking in Dunsland Garden Centre.

Running has really taken off in recent years, which is evident by the number of runners on the roads morning, noon and night. This is an excellent opportunity to participate in a local event over a challenging new course.

“Failte Roimh Cach”