7 GALWAY CASTLES' TRAIL

 Click here to view film of the Carrowbrowne Bog Clean-Up & Resurfacing Project

Cumann na bhFear is actively involved in promoting a major heritage initiative to develop Slí na gCaisleán (The Way of the Castles), an ambitious network of 'Greenways' that will link up seven castles on the east side of Galway city with historical mansions and castles in the north and east of the county.

The first stage of this network is the 7 Galway Castles' Heritage Trail which starts and finishes at Terryland Castle in a 25 km looped cycle route that  include castles at Menlo, Cloonacauneen, Killeen, Ballybrit, Castlegar and Ballindooley. 

This heritage trail route is becoming very popular with over seventy participants taking part in the last guided tour.
Tour guide and route developer is Brendan Smith.

An online map of this trail can be accessed by clicking here
(Note: Click on the top right hand corner of the Map page to get a full screen version of the route).

The initial step in making this unique city-county pedestrian and cycling infrastructure become a reality last year when volunteers re-surfaced and cleaned up a lovely old bog road ('bótharín' in Irish) in Carrowbrowne.
The event was coordinated by Ballinfoile Mór Cumann na bhFhear in association with Conservation Volunteers Terryland Forest, NUIG CKI Alive/Spite and members of Castlegar Connect.

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Members Michael Tiernan and Michael McDonnell supervised the manufacture at Cumann na bhFear  of a series of traditional implements that have probably not been made in Galway for decades. Known as 'drags', they were used in rural Ireland to clear  channels and ditches in bogs of debris and vegetation in order to maintain water flow.

These drags were used by volunteers during the major cleanup of an Old Bog Road in Carrowbrowne  that will form an integral part of a network of a pedestrian and cycling trails known as Slí na gCaislean that will connect castles in Galway city with historical mansions and buildings in county Galway.
Click here for further information on the inaugural Seven Galway Castles Looped Cycle Trail.

Club member Brendan Smith founded the Off the Beaten Track guided cycle heritage tours which cover the beautiful rural landscapes on the eastern side of Galway city.
Click here for information on these interesting tours.