The Suck Valley Way is a

long-distance trail A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is a long circular route that begins and ends in

Castlerea Castlerea (; ) is the third largest town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located in the west of the county and had a population of 1,992 at the 2016 Census. Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea is generally thought to mean 'brindled ca ...

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

. It is typically completed in five days. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the National Trails Office of the Irish Sports Council and is managed by Roscommon County Council, Roscommon Integrated Development Company and the Suck Valley Committee. The Way was devised by the River Suck Valley Development Cooperative, which was formed in 1991 to develop tourism in the region. It took three years to develop, at a cost of IEP £80,000, £46,000 of which was grant-aided by Bord Fáilte. It was officially opened in May 1997 by

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition fr ...

, who was at that time

Minister for Tourism and Trade The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media ( ga, An tAire Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Tourism, Cultur ...

. The trail circles the countryside around the valley of the

River Suck The River Suck ( ga, An tSuca ) is a river within the Shannon River Basin in Ireland, 133 km (82.5 mi) in length. It is the main tributary of the River Shannon. It meets the Shannon a kilometre south of the village of Shannonbridge ...

south of Castlerea, which straddles the border between Counties Roscommon and

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city ...

, taking in the "Nine Friendly Villages" of Ballintober, Dunamon,

Castlecoote Castlecoote(otherwise known in ) is a townland within the civil parish of Fuerty on the R366 regional road near the town of Roscommon in County Roscommon, Ireland. Castlecoote is known for Castlecoote house and the ruins of a much older castle. ...

Athleague Athleague () is a village and a parish in the Diocese of Elphin on the River Suck in the west of Ireland in County Roscommon, near the town of Roscommon. Its church was founded sometime around 500 by Maenucan Atha Liacc ('Maonagán of Athle ...

, Mount Talbot,

Ballygar Ballygar () is a village in County Galway, Ireland. It is 19 km from Roscommon town. History Name and origins The name ''Ballygar'', historically ''Beallagarr'', comes from . The settlement has been a meeting point of the McDermott cla ...

Creggs Creggs ( ga, Na Creaga, the rocks) is a small village in County Galway (just on the border with County Roscommon, Ireland, on the R362 regional road between Glenamaddy and Roscommon. With a population of approximately one hundred people, ...

, Glinsk and

Ballymoe Ballymoe (historically ''Bellamoe'', from ) is a village in County Galway, Ireland. Ballymoe is situated on the western side of the River Suck that separates counties Galway and Roscommon. The N60 national secondary road meets the R360 reg ...

. The section of the Suck Valley Way from Ballygar to Ballymoe forms part of the Beara-Breifne Way, a walking and cycling route under development, intended to run from the

Beara Peninsula Beara ( ga, Béarra) or the Beara Peninsula is a peninsula on the south-west coast of Ireland, bounded between the Kenmare "river" (actually a bay) to the north side and Bantry Bay to the south. It contains two mountain ranges running down its ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...

to Breifne,

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority f ...

, following the line of

Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare, Prince of Beare, 1st Count of Berehaven ( ga, Domhnall Cam Ó Súileabháin Bhéara) (1561–1618), was an Irish nobleman and soldier who was the last independent Chief of the Name of the O'Sullivan clan. He was thu ...

's march in the aftermath of the

Battle of Kinsale The siege of Kinsale, or Battle of Kinsale ( ga, Léigear/Cath Chionn tSáile), was the ultimate battle in England's conquest of Gaelic Ireland, commencing in October 1601, near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and at the climax of t ...

in 1603.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Suck Valley Way
a
IrishTrails.ie
{{coord missing, Ireland Long-distance trails in the Republic of Ireland Geography of County Galway Geography of County Roscommon Tourist attractions in County Galway Tourist attractions in County Roscommon