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, equestrianism or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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

Castlerea Castlerea ( ; ) is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located in the west of the county and had a population of 2,348 at the 2022 census. Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea is generally thought to mean 'brindled castle' (''Caisl ...

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

. 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 Sport Ireland (), formerly the Irish Sports Council, is a statutory authority that oversees, and partly funds, the development of sport within Ireland. It is located at the National Sports Campus in the townland of Sheephill near Abbotstown Hou ...

and is managed by

Roscommon County Council Roscommon County Council () is the local authority of County Roscommon, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban plannin ...

, 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 Cucerdea (, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Bord (''Bord''), Cucerdea, and Șeulia de Mureș (''Oláhsályi''). The commune is located in the southwestern part of ...

. 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 (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

, who was at that time Minister for Tourism and Trade. The trail circles the countryside around the valley of the

River Suck The River Suck ( ) 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. Name The riv ...

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

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, 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. The village is in a townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of the same name. ...

, 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 clan ...

Creggs Creggs () is a small village and townland in County Galway, Ireland. It is on the border with County Roscommon, on the R362 regional road between Glenamaddy and Roscommon town. With a population of approximately one hundred people, the vil ...

, 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 County Galway, Galway and County Roscommon, Roscommon. The N60 road (Irela ...

. The section of the Suck Valley Way from Ballygar to Ballymoe forms part of the

Beara-Breifne Way The Beara-Breifne Way is a long-distance walking and cycling trail being developed from the Beara Peninsula in County Cork, Ireland, to Blacklion in the area of Breifne in County Cavan. The trail follows closely the line of the historical march ...

, a walking and cycling route under development, intended to run from the

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

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

Breifne The Kingdom of Breifne or Bréifne (), anglicized as Breffny, was a medieval overkingdom in Gaelic Ireland. It comprised what is now County Leitrim, County Cavan and parts of neighbouring counties, and corresponds roughly to the Roman Catho ...

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...

, following the line of

Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare, Prince of Beare, 1st Count of Berehaven (; 1560 – 16 July 1618) was an Irish nobleman and soldier who was the last independent Chief of the Name of Clan O'Sullivan. He was thus the last ''O'Sullivan Beare'', a title ...

's march in the aftermath of the

Battle of Kinsale The siege of Kinsale (), also known as the battle of Kinsale, 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 the Nine Years' War� ...

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