Walking the Barrow Way from Carlow to Milford

The Barrow Way is a 113-kilometre towpath from Robertstown in Co. Kildare to St Mullins in the south of Co. Carlow, and Carlow town sits on it a little over halfway down. You do not need to walk all of it. The seven kilometres south from the town to Milford are flat, leave the town behind quickly, and end at the weir and mills at Milford. This is how to do it.

Where it starts

Start at Graiguecullen Bridge, the stone road bridge at the bottom of Castle Hill. Its recorded date is 1569, and it was largely rebuilt and widened in 1815 and named Wellington Bridge after Waterloo. Waterways Ireland's route notes for the Carlow stretch describe the towpath crossing to the right bank here, which heading downstream is the west bank, and setting off south.

Look back across the water in the first few hundred metres. Carlow Castle, the west wall and two drum towers of William Marshal's thirteenth-century keep, stands on the east bank, and from here you see the whole of what is left, towers and wall together, with the river in front.

Carlow Lock to Clogrennan

The towpath passes Carlow Lock and then rejoins the river as the town drops away behind you into farmland. A few kilometres on is Clogrennan Weir and a long side channel, where the Waterways Ireland notes pick out hedgerows of bramble, blackthorn and elder; in late summer that means blackberries. The path goes through the yard of a lock house at Clogrennan Lock, and ahead you will see the ruins of fifteenth-century Clogrennan Castle and, after it, the old Cloydagh church.

One thing worth knowing on this stretch: the Barrow is the county boundary for much of the way, and the towpath at Clogrennan Lock is on the Co. Laois side. You will not notice it on the ground.

Milford

After Cloydagh the towpath leaves the road and follows a green side canal to Milford Lock and Bridge, where the river splits around small islands. Carlow Tourism calls Milford one of the most attractive stretches of the whole river, with three bridges, the mill buildings and a big wooded area, and it is known for herons and kingfishers. Across the water is Milford Mills, destroyed by fire in 1862. In the 1890s a turbine here generated the electricity that powered Carlow's first street lights, and the site still produces hydroelectric power today.

Barrow Brew, a coffee dock that started as a horsebox, works out of the woods at Milford beside the Barrow Way, with coffee, homemade baking, waffles, pizzas and light food. It posts its seasonal opening on social media rather than a website, so check before you rely on it for lunch.

Getting back

There is no loop. Walk it as a there-and-back, about fourteen kilometres in all, and allow three to four hours with a stop at Milford. If you would rather walk one way, arrange a lift or a taxi from Milford before you set out. Waterways Ireland's notes carry on south past the M9 bridge, the Orchard Islands and Rathvinden to Leighlinbridge, eleven kilometres from Carlow in all, if you want to make a longer day of it.

What to bring

• Shoes that cope with grass and mud. It is a towpath beside a working navigation, not a paved path.
• Water and something to eat if Barrow Brew is closed when you get there.
• A phone with a taxi number in it if you might want to stop at Milford.
• Binoculars, if you have them, for the kingfishers.

When to go

A dry spell from late spring to early autumn is ideal; after heavy rain, expect soft ground. Long summer evenings suit it well, since you can start after work and still be at Milford in daylight. In winter, keep to the first stretch as far as Carlow Lock for the castle view and come back before dark.

Other ways onto the river

North, the Barrow Way runs nineteen kilometres from Carlow to Athy, past old lifting bridges and mills. South of Milford it carries on through Leighlinbridge to Bagenalstown, sixteen kilometres from Carlow, and then on to Borris, Graiguenamanagh and St Mullins. Carlow Tourism sets the whole route out stage by stage.