Further Reading
As well as showcasing some of Ireland’s most beautiful landscapes, greenway routes can showcase the heritage of the communities through which they pass whether that be ringforts, medieval castles, an abandoned airship base or a preserved observatory. The routes themselves are often disused railway lines or towpaths which feature station houses, signal boxes, stone overbridges and railway embankments as well as canal locks harbours and stone aqueducts. These routes have been repurposed in the 21st century as routes for cyclists and pedestrians but are remarkable heritage assets of a by-gone era.
Further reading on the heritage aspects is available, with a list provided below. Please note that this list is not exhaustive and should not be regarded as a recommendation of any specific texts. Permission to replicate this list has been kindly provided by the authors of ‘Greenways of Ireland’ (2026, Richard Manton and David Flanagan) – this book is a practical guide containing factual information as well as detailed historical information on waterways and railway lines that have been reimagined as greenways.
- Antonelli, Lenny, ‘East of Ireland walks – on river and canal’
- Bairstow, Martin, ‘Railways in Ireland: Part Three: Dublin & South Eastern, Midland Great Western, Royal Mail Route, Fishguard & Rosslare, Dublin United Tramways’
- Bairstow, Martin, ‘Railways in Ireland Part Four: Great Southern & Western’
- Beaumont, Jonathan, ‘Rails To Achill: A West of Ireland Branch Line’
- Cantwell, Eddie, ‘The towns and villages of the Waterford Greenway’
- Casserly, H.C., ‘Outline of Irish Railway History’
- Christopher, John, ‘Bradshaw’s guide to the railways of Ireland: Volume 8’
- Clarke, Peter, ‘Walking the Royal Canal: History and local history’
- Cumberlidge, Jane, ‘The inland waterways of Ireland’
- Delany, Ruth, ‘Ireland’s inland waterways: Celebrating 300 years’
- Delany, Ruth, ‘The Grand Canal of Ireland’
- Delany, Ruth, and Bath, Ian, ‘Ireland’s Royal Canal 1789-2009’
- Dredge, Tom, ‘Rambling along the Royal Canal: A journey into the heart of Ireland’
- Fryer, Charles, ‘The Waterford & Limerick Railway’
- Galloway, Iris, ‘The Great Western Greenway: A Guide to Walking and Cycling from Westport to Achill the Wildlife, the Flora and History Along the Way’
- Jeffers, Eunice, ‘Ireland’s Grand Canal: People, Peat & Porter’
- Kerrigan, Jo, and Mills, Richard, ‘All the way by the Grand Canal’
- Murray, K.A., and McNeill, D.B., ‘Great Southern and Western Railway’
- O’Connor, Kevin, ‘Ironing the Land: The coming of the railways to Ireland’
- O’Leary, Robert, ‘Wild Waterways: A Celebration of Life on an Irish River’
- Potterton, Gerald, ‘In the wake of giants: Journeys on the Barrow and the Grand Canal’
- Shea, Michael, ‘Along the banks: Cycling Ireland’s Royal Canal’
- Shepherd, Ernest, ‘The Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland: An illustrated history’
- Shepherd, Ernest, ‘Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway’