A closer look at the new proposed Greenway from Dungarvan to Ballyduff...

 Back at the end of July 2020, I had a post up about how the Government had granted €80,000 to Cork County Council to investigate the route for a new proposed Greenway from Mallow to Dungarvan.

While Cork County Council will be looking at the route from Mallow to the county border near Ballyduff, Waterford County Council also got a matching €80,000 to investigate the route from Dungarvan to Ballyduff.

In this post, we'll look at the Waterford section...

While the old railway line from Mallow to the county border by Ballyduff is 39.6 kms in length, the section from Dungarvan to Ballyduff is slightly shorter at 35.4 kms.

When I looked at the Cork section of the line, I could see from Google Maps that roughly 44% of the route was still intact. The Waterford section however is in a much worse state and I could only see roughly 18% of the old route remaining. 

On the section between Dungarvan and Cappoquin, the old route has largely disappeared into farmers fields and looking at a satellite view, it's hard in places to see where the old line might have been.

In terms of attractiveness, the western section of the old line is probably the nicest as it passes Cappoquin, Lismore and follows the River Blackwater west.

The remains of the old railway bridge over the Blackwater is still there near Cappoquin and would make for a nice feature on the Greenway.

This is a satellite view near Cappoquin showing the location of the railway bridge and the route of the old line to the west.

It's worth pointing out that the new Greenway that is being developed from Midleton to Youghal is on the old railway line that is still in state ownership. I'm not sure what the status is of the old line from Mallow to Dungarvan but it looks a lot more complicated.

If the overall project gets the go ahead, I suspect the Cork section may well start from the Mallow end as it's a large town and it can be put to immediate use while the remaining sections are completed.

From a Waterford perspective, it probably makes sense to start with the section nearest to Dungarvan first. There are already bike rental companies there and a new section from Dungarvan to Cappoquin would be immediate extension to the existing 46km Greenway to Waterford City.

Government announces €160,000 grant to investigate new Mallow to Dungarvan Greenway

Some good news!! For a long while, we've speculated on the blog about the possibility of a Greenway from Mallow to Dungarvan. It now looks as if that might become a real possibility.

(Updates below)

On Wednesday the 29th of July 2020, Minister Eamon Ryan, T.D. Minister for Climate Change, Communications Networks and Transport, announced funding of €4.5m to 26 Greenway Projects. The funding was allocated under the Carbon Tax Fund 2020 and provides support for feasibility, planning and design for Greenways around the country.

As part of this funding, the Government have allocated €80,000 to Cork County Council to "Scope, Pre- Appraisal, Concept, Feasibility and Options Selection for a 39.15km section from Mallow / Youghal to Ballyduff / on the Waterford border."

The announcement refers to this as the "Mallow to Dungarvan Greenway". In a separate statement, Cork County Council refer to it as the North Cork Greenway and say that it will be.... "running along the former Mallow to Dungarvan Railway line and passing through a number of towns and villages."

The Cork Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Mary Linehan Foley commented, “We recently had a very productive meeting with Minister Eamon Ryan looking specifically at a number of Cork County Council’s active travel measures across the county; urban pedestrianisation, cycle paths, projects such as the Youghal Eco Boardwalk and our grenways, Midleton to Youghal, the Cork Harbour Greenway, the Carrigaline to Crosshaven greenway and now a potential new greenway for North Cork.  This funding is exciting news for the North Cork area. Greenways are a fantastic resource and the examination of options in North Cork has the potential to open up significant opportunities for the broader Cork region.”

The Government is also allocating a matching €80,000 to Waterford County Council to investigate a route from Dungarvan to Ballyduff.

The map above shows the old railway line from Mallow to Dungarvan. This follows stays north of the River Blackwater from Mallow to Fermoy and then south of it from Fermoy to Ballyduff. Considering the cost of building a cross river bridge, it seems likely that it will follow parts of the old railway route.

Looking at Google Maps, fragments of the old railway line from Mallow to Ballyduff still remain including this spectacular viaduct over the River Blackwater near Fermoy.

Update...

Mallow to Ballyduff - I had a closer look at the old railway line from Mallow to the Co.Cork / Co.Waterford border near Ballyduff. I measured it to be 39.6 kms in length.

44% of the old route is still there. An example near Fermoy is shown below...

Other sections of the line have been built on as seen below...

Other sections of the old line have disappeared completely as farmers removed ditches to make larger fields.

With the Waterford Greenway, they put up fencing and screening to protect the privacy of houses where it passes so something similar would probably happen with the new Greenway. Going across open fields might be more of a challenge.

The old railway near Mallow still seems reasonably intact and this would probably the easiest to develop first. This section also includes the Kilcummer Viaduct over the River Awbeg to the south of Castletownroche.

Video showing Kilcummer Viaduct...



A lot of the old rail line around Fermoy has largely disappeared so it may well divert off the old route there.

* * * * *

It was also announced a route from Rosslare port to Waterford was also being investigated. It's not hard to see how at some future date, tourists will get off a ferry in Rosslare and cycle safely from there to Mallow.

It's not hard to see how this Dungarvan to Mallow Greenway could eventually be extended west out along the valley to reach Killarney eventually. In the short term, there is a rail link there to transport the tourists to Killarney to continue their holidays there.

Youghal...As for the Youghal section??? We'll have to wait and see what they come up with. There is the old St.Declan's Way from Ardmore to Cashel so perhaps it might link in with that?

We're still a long way from the first sod being turned but at least we're going in the right direction. If this latest COVID pandemic has taught up anything then it's that there is a huge demand for safe public spaces for walking, running and cycling.