Funding of €126k for looped walk in Kinnegad

Funding of €126,393 has been approved for provision of a looped walk in Kinnegad. The new route will take pedestrians and cyclists out the Boreen Bradach and back via the Killucan.

The scheme was one of three in Westmeath approved in the latest round of Outdoor Recreation Scheme allocations. The other allocations were of €160,930 for the Tyrrellspass Raised Bog and Village Trail and €85,000 for the upgrading of facilities at Lough Sewdy in Ballymore.

Kinnegad councillor, Denis Leonard, said the Kinnegad project was much-needed.

“It means that now a safe off-road walkway and cycleway along the Killucan road will fully open up that lovely Boreen loop walk and give safe access to the soccer pitch,” Cllr Leonard said.

He added that it also represented the first stage of a connection between Kinnegad and the Royal Canal, thus facilitating a link with the new Killucan to Royal Canal walk and cycleway at Thomastown.

“This will safely connect Killucan and Kinnegad,” Cllr Leonard said.

“I had this loop walk strategy inserted into the county development plans and during Covid we all discovered how important it was to have demarcated loop walks in our areas when our travel limits were restricted,” he said.

“I feel strongly that if our climate change strategy is to mean anything, we need to encourage people to live and work in their own areas, to travel to work and school by non-motorised options where possible, and to commute to their neighbours in nearby towns safely and securely by foot or bike.”

Cllr Leonard said that the route would benefit Kinnegad Juniors soccer club, which caters for hundreds of young people on a weekly basis from U6s up to adult male and female teams. “The only site available to them for a pitch and Astroturf is located outside of Kinnegad on the Killucan Road. Since 2005 young people have been walking and cycling out a busy rural road connecting the third and fifth largest towns in the county. This new walkway cycleway will get them to their superb facility safety.”

Cllr Leonard said the looped walk will be further enhanced over the next two years by a complete resurfacing of the Boreen itself.

“The hundreds of walkers in the Kinnegad area will now have a walkway down a beautiful rural boreen steeped in the history of Kinnegad,” he said, adding that the walkway is exactly 5km in length, weaving around the town and taking in the bog of Kinnegad and an ancient burial ground.

“It gets its name from the ancient tribe of An Bredach, which dates back to pre-Norman times,” he added.