Towpath Trails: the Walker's Guide

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The Barrow Line

Route 3: Monasterevan to Athy via Vicarstown: 14 miles, 22.5 km

The walk from Monasterevin to Athy is long and, in terms of scenery, hardly spectacular. But the route is important as it parallels the canal channel which linked two of the busiest ports on the Barrow Canal. Keep to east bank over the Aqueduct bridge. Look out for the abandoned Mountmellick Branch which diverges to the west immediately after the aqueduct. Cross to the west bank at the next bank at the next bridge known as Moores Bridge. Continue under the modernised Portlaoise road bridge taking care as you emerge because of vegetation which makes the path precarious.

On regaining the track there is a gravel surface for a short distance followed by a grassy stretch prone to becoming soggy after rain.

The canal runs parallel to main road for some distance before curving to the south and following a course through flat and intensively farmed land. A neat farmstead marked by a line of beautiful cherry blossom trees on the canal bank signals the return to a tarmac road.

Cross the timber - decked bridge to the east bank at this point and continue on the east track which alternates between gravel, grass and quiet road past Fisherstown bridge and from there past intensive farming units on past Courtwood bridge. The tarmac road gives way to easy grass track taking you to the Grattan Aqueduct which as the plaque records was built under supervision of Richard Evans, engineer, in 1790.

The path resumes a metalled surface again in the run-up to Vicarstown, a picturesque canalside village which is a welcome visual relief after the unvaryingly plain appearance of the landscape over the previous seven miles. The village also has the added benefit of having two attractively presented pubs waiting to slake the thirst of hot and bothered walkers.

Continue on the east bank from Vicarstown crossing a substantial aqueduct over the short Stradbally river. An unusual enterprise - a mink farm - is responsible for the complex of compounds and sheds on the west bank at Ballymanus Bridge. The road is metalled all the way and follows the canal as it curves eastward. The north Laois outcrops break the flat terrain to the west but as the canal nears Athy these drop away and the channel passes between the large tillage fields of South Kildare. Bert House in its bright colour scheme of white-and-gold is a fine landmark; the river Barrow is invisible in the valley between the canal bank and the house.

Passing Milltown bridge the road diverges slightly from the canal. Make your way on to the towpath which narrows again to a small margin as the road regains the canalside.

The flat terrain makes Athy seem closer than in fact it is and some perseverance is needed to reach Cardington lock and bridge on the outskirts of the town. Cross to the west bank of the canal. It's origins as a Famine era workhouse (1844) are evident in the austere design of its older parts. There is another reminder on the west bank where the forgotten workhouse cemetery is a forlorn reminder of the thousands who died in anonymous misery.

As you near Athy's harbour its prosperity in the days of canal cargo is well-represented by the extensive warehouses and canopy-covered loading bays. Keep to the west bank and thread your way among the warehouses on the approach to the harbour. The maltings on the west bank is one of the largest in the region even if motor lorry rather than canal barge is now the means of transporting its barley from the rich tillage fields of south Leinster.

On the opposite side you will see a large dry-dock feature while nearer the bridge stands a fine canal house with a crane positioned in front. Note the array of mooring rings fixed to the warehouse walls- how they must have clanked as the mooring ropes strained against the gale on a winter's night!

Cross to the east bank over the busy Augustus bridge and follow the track-past the old Athy gasworks - to the last lock on the Barrow branch where the canal merges with the river. The impressive horse bridge was built to take horses towing barges to the towpath on the east bank of the river. Today it affords the walker a route across the river and return it to the town by a riverside path towards Athy's town centre with its striking ensemble of Town Hall, Victorian Courthouse, and Geraldine castle guarding the approach to the old bridge across the river. You finish your walk in the long - disappeared hoofmarks of the towing horses of bygone days when boats made their way from the canal exit back up against the river's current to dock at the Barrow Quay in the town centre just below the bridge.

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