Myself and my most trusted walking companions headed for Wicklow on a cloudy weekday morning. Joining me to walk the Blessington Greenway was my Mother and Aunty Noreen.
I don’t think Noreen has forgiven me yet for the torrential rain we encountered when she and I completed the Wicklow Way trail from Marlay Park to Enniskerry. As such, Noreen was looking suspiciously at the clouds overhead as we drove towards Blessington.
Thankfully, we escaped the rain on our 16km hike along the Blessington Greenway Walk (8km out and back). The 8km is made up of 1.5km of road walking from Blessington town to the start of the 6.5km greenway at the lakeshore.
For a more detailed map of the Blessington Greenway – take a look here.
Our 16km route involved a lovely stop along the way at the fantastic Russborough House for lunch – very much recommended.
Getting to the Blessington Greenway
The town of Blessington lies about 25k to the southwest of Dublin. We drove there on an overcast Monday morning. Dublin Bus also operate the number 65 bus route which terminates in Blessington. The bus goes quite regularly – every hour or so – and will set you back around €3 each way.
You can start the walk from either the town of Blessington itself or if you are driving, from the beside the lake at the the Avon Resort.
We started from the town but next time I would make use of the plentiful parking available at the Avon Resort. The 1.5km walk from the town is all along roadway and you wouldn’t miss out on anything by skipping this section.
If you wanted to stay in the area, the Abhainn Rí Farmhouse or Tulfarris Hotel are good options – this part of Wicklow would act as a good base for the many beautiful hiking options throughout County Wicklow.
Blessington Greenway Walk Details
- Distance: 16km – 8km from Blessington to Russborough House and back again.
- Time Required: We spent 4.5 hours which included a quick stop for lunch.
- Elevation Gain: Total ascent over the course of the trail is 172m – this is nice and flat as you would expect from a lakeside walk.
- Difficulty Level: Moderate – the route is flat and well laid out. The distance is the main point of difficulty. You need to have adequate fitness to be continually active for 4 hours or so.
- Starting Point: Either from Blessington or from the Avon Resort.
Starting From Blessington
As noted above, we started from Blessington town – from Peter Finnegan Park, where we were able to find on-street parking. From there we headed south along the road away from the town. We turned left after 650m towards the Avon Resort.
Arriving at The Avon Resort
The Avon Resort is an activity centre beside the lake and offers a variety of food and drink options. We took advantage of The Walkers Cafe and grabbed a coffee. The brightly coloured picnic benches offer amazing views out over the lakes.
The Blessington Greenway
The actual Greenway itself starts from the Avon Resort. With the lake on our left, we walked along a well maintained gravel path under the treeline. We had completed nearly 1.5km of walking at this stage.
Blessington Lakes are also known as the Poulaphouca Reservoir. The damming of the River Liffey at Poulaphouca created this reservoir in the 1940’s. Interestingly, the flooding on the valley resulted in submerging of the small village of Ballinahown – the remains of roads that once led to the village can still be seen entering the lake.
The Greenway extends 6.5km with the entrance to Russborough House towards the end of the journey. We were looking forward to seeing the famous old house but really enjoyed the scenery along the way. The trail alternates between woodland and lakeside walking.
Some of the sites of interest are outlined below.
Burgage Castle
After 2.5km of walking (1km from the start of the Greenway), you have the opportunity to take a short detour to see the ruins of Burgage Castle. The castle sits on the shore of the lake. You have good views of the remains of the castle from the other side of the lake further along the Blessington Greenway also.
Estimates date the castle to around the 12th century. Construction of the castle took place alongside an existing even older church building. During flooding works the graves at the site were exhumed and the bodies transported to the newer cemetery in Blessington (which we passed on the initial road section of the walk).
A 12th century granite high cross from the site – known as St. Mark’s Cross – was also moved to the newer cemetery at that time.
Today, only one side of the castle tower remains.
Continuing Along The Blessington Greenway
Just 100m after the offshoot to Burgage Castle, we followed the well marked signs and took a left turn. The next 700m brought us closer to the lakeshore before we reached the busy N81 roadway.
We turned left on reaching the road and passed over a bridge which provides a lovely view back over the lake.
Just after the bridge we turned left again. This time on to a smaller road. Again we found everything to be well signposted.
After a couple of hundred metres or so, we passed through a barrier at the end of the road and continued along a gravel track.
More of the Lake
The track passed through more woodland before coming out to more views of the lake. From here we could see across to the remnants of Burgage Castle. Again the path alternated between woods and views of the lake as we approached the road crossing after about 5km of walking.
The Journey to Russborough House
We passed through the green gates and cross the road. After that we continued along the Blessington Greenway towards Russborough House. Again the path mostly wound its way through scenic forest. We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a deer grazing in a clearing just after crossing the roadway.
The next gap in the woods brought us to another lovely section of the lake. The Blessington Greenway turns left at the car park and past the boats at the lakeshore for another 400m or so. We decided to only venture up as far as the boats as we wanted to continue on to Russborough House.
Russborough House
We crossed the road at the entrance to the car park and passed through the gates of Russborough House. The gates themselves are impressive. After stopping to admire them for a while, we followed the avenue and up to the front of Russborough House.
Dating back to the mid 1700’s, Russborough House is open to the public and stands out in the area as a really impressive tourist attraction. I probably expected a bit more as we reached the front of the house. The dull grey stone of the house is matched by even duller gravel leading up to the front door. The views from the front of the house also don’t showcase as much of the lakes as you might expect.
However, while my initial reaction was a little underwhelmed, my mind was changed on further investigation.
We probably could have spent the whole day in itself at Russborough. Alongside 5 separate marked walks within the grounds are various other points of interest such as tours of the House itself, an outdoor maze, a hippodrome and an obelisk. The site even boasts a bird of prey centre and an outdoor adventure area.
We only had the briefest of looks around after grabbing (a very tasty lunch) but our overall feeling was that we needed to return to Russborough and give it the time it deserves.
I cannot talk about Russborough without mentioning the art collections stored at the house. Again, I would love to go back and explore not only the current collection but also the history of the many robberies of previous collections stored here. This really is an interesting place to visit!
Retracing Our Steps on The Blessington Greenway
Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to fully immerse ourselves in this historic location. Instead, we started back on the return 8km walk to Blessington.
We found it easy to return along the path we had followed earlier in the morning. Again, I would recommend finishing at the Avon Resort – the extra 1.5km between there and Blessington itself didn’t really add much to the walk.
Overall though, I think the three of us enjoyed the Blessington Greenway. We found the walk nice and leisurely with plenty of points of interest and amenities for walkers along the way. The combination of scenic greenway and lovely company along the way made this a really fantastic trip to Blessington.