Towpath Trails: the Walker's Guide

Introduction | The Barrow Line | The Grand Canal | The Royal Canal | Waterways Map

The Grand Canal

Route 6: The Milltown Feeder: 5 miles, 8km

The smallest of the canals in the Kildare waterway system, the Milltown Feeder also offers what may be regarded as the most pleasant walk of all. It takes the walker into the country away from traffic, offers a variety of scenery, and is the cleanest stretch of all both on the towpath and in its channel where clear water flows from its source springs at Pollardstown fen.

Although strictly speaking the feeder was built as a water supply rather than a navigable canal and therefore had no purpose-built towpath, it was in fact used by some boat traffic over the years and is walkable for all of its five mile course - although the going is a little rough along some stretches.

The walk along the feeder begins on the east bank of the old' Barrow line link from Lowtown beside the old 19 th lock. A bridge ( named both Huband Bridge and Greene's Bridge ) marks the junction of the narrower, shallower feeder with the canal proper. Take the lane along the east bank and continue on an earthen track when the road turns away. The Hill of Allen seems to form an obstacle to the line of the canal towards the east.

Cross the feeder at the ivy-covered Pims bridge to the west bank where an old stone ruin sheltering a lime-kiln furnace is a noteworthy feature. Continue on the west bank to Pluckerstown Bridge where the channel is crossed by the Allen to Rathangan road. At this point the view is all too full of the quarries gouging out the basalt rock of the Hill where, according to legend, the Celtic warriors roamed as they practised their feats of skill and strength. Switch back to the east bank at Pluckerstown bridge and keep on along a gravelled track and later a stock-trodden path as the waterway curves around the foot of the Hill of Allen.

The untouched western slope of the 676 feet high Hill is attractive and combined with the views of the other mid-Kildare hills to the south offers a variety of landscape not normally seen from the canal banks which tend to avoid hilly country.

The feeder goes into a long curve on a high embankment. Watch out for a dry culvert along this stretch where by crouching down it is possible to cross under the waterway to the other side of the canal. However for walking purposes it is better to stick to the east bank. Continue past the mill bridge where the shattered bulk of an ancient mill looms on the far side and keep along the easy path which conveniently delivers the walker alongside the intriguingly named Hanged Man's Arch pub on the Milltown road. The bar-keeper will, no doubt, be glad to give thirsty walkers an explanation for such a ghoulish name.

The feeder channel south of the bridge continues into the dip in the landscape surrounded by low ridges known as Pollardstown Fen. It is a rare habitat for the flora and fauna of the Irish wetlands. It is an embryonic peatland where a rich diversity of plants is nourished by calcium-rich spring water which originates in a vast layer of water-holding rock beneath the Curragh plains. Within the twelve thousand year-old fen are more than thirty springs which supply a vast quantity of water to its habitat. This water was channelled by the canal builders into the Feeder canal which in turn transfers it along its five-miles course into the summit level of the Grand Canal system.

The fen's waters have another claim to fame - they end up via the waterway in the filter beds at Clondalkin from which Arthur Guinness & Company take a supply for the James's Street brewery.

So water from the heart of Kildare is one of the magic ingredients in the world famous brew!

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