The Grand Canal walk: Bury Quay to Ballycommon

The Grand Canal is the reason Tullamore looks the way it does, and walking out of town along it is the best free thing to do here. It is flat, it is quiet once you are past the houses, and there is coffee at the far end. This is the walk east from Bury Quay to Ballycommon Bridge, about eight and a half kilometres one way.

Why the canal matters here

The canal reached Tullamore from Dublin in 1798. The town was still rebuilding after the fire of May 1785, when a balloon came down on the thatch and burned somewhere between 100 and 130 houses, depending on which account you trust. Offaly History's series on the canal townlands describes how an inspector's report found the town short of accommodation after the fire, and how it was agreed that a harbour and a hotel should be built for the passengers who would arrive by boat. The contract for that work was let in 1801. Warehouses followed along Bury Quay, and one of them became the store for Tullamore Dew.

Barges no longer carry the town's trade, but the canal is still navigable, and boats tie up by Bury Bridge. The towpath is part of the Grand Canal Way, which runs across the county from Edenderry in the east to Shannon Harbour in the west, and the stretch east of Tullamore is part of the Offaly greenway.

The walk

Bury Quay to the edge of town

Start on Bury Quay outside the Old Warehouse. It was the Tullamore Dew heritage centre until 2020 and is now a bar, restaurant and café, so it is a reasonable place for a coffee before you set off. Head east along the water and under Bury Bridge, the stone arch where the boats tie up. The first stretch runs past houses and roads, and Visit Offaly asks for extra care through the urban section because there are road crossings.

Digby Bridge and the lock

After a couple of kilometres the town falls away and the canal runs straight between hedgerows, trees and fields. Digby Bridge, with its lock beside it, is the first real landmark, roughly two and three quarter kilometres from Bury Quay on the line we mapped. A little further on is the old lock-keeper's house. If you only want an hour, this is the place to turn back.

Cappyroe, Campbell Bridge and Ballycommon

Beyond the lock-keeper's house the canal carries on east for several kilometres of open country with very little traffic. Cappyroe Bridge is the next crossing, then Campbell Bridge, and the walk ends at Ballycommon Bridge, about eight and a half kilometres from where you started by the waypoints on our map. Visit Offaly gives the greenway distance from Tullamore to Ballycommon as eight kilometres, and the difference is just the route through town.

At the far end

Ballycommon Bake House sits beside the canal at the bridge. It was opened by Aoife Pilkington and her family as a direct answer to the greenway, and it does home-baked cakes and scones, toasties and barista coffee, with a stove inside and covered seating out. Dogs get a bowl of water and a treat. It posts its opening times on Facebook rather than on a website, so check the day before you go rather than walking eight kilometres to a closed door.

Dick's Bike Hire works from the same place, with e-bikes, hybrids, accessible bikes and mountain bikes. That opens up the obvious plan: walk out, ride back. Otherwise walk the return, which takes about as long again, or arrange a lift; there is parking at the bake house.

Practical points

• Distance: about 8.5 km each way on our mapped line; 8 km by Visit Offaly's greenway figure.
• Time: about two hours each way at an easy walking pace; under an hour by bike.
• Surface: towpath and greenway, flat throughout, with some on-road sections in town.
• Safety: the canal water is deep. Keep children and dogs close, and cyclists should carry a bell.
• Weather: it is exposed once you leave the town, and parts get muddy in winter. Boots between November and March.

The other direction

West of the town the canal carries on towards Srah Bridge and eventually to the Shannon at Shannon Harbour. The Offaly Express has reported council plans for a wider shared route through the town section, between Convent View and Srah Bridge, so the town stretch may change. For now, east to Ballycommon is the walk with a café at the end of it.