Waterway Walks 
Index of Walks by the Royal Canal 

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Walks by the Royal Canal are described in a number of good books and pamphlets. The following is a short guide to a selection of descriptions of walks along and close to the Royal Canal.
The Royal Canal Way * *	Up to 145 km
Murray, Jim. Royal Canal Walk. Inland Waterways News, Vol 32, Number 1, Spring 2005.  A very informative description of walking the length of the Royal Canal. The Royal Canal Walk  is available online (264 kb). Fewer, Michael. 1997. Irish Waterside Walks. Gill & Macmillan   See pages 127 to 133, The Royal Canal. These pages indicate how one might approach walking the canal from Blanchardstown to Richmond Harbour - a distance of 145 km. The walk is divided into nine sections with estimated walking times varying from 1.5 hrs to 6.75 hrs. Other important advice is provided. Walks along two sections are described: Walk 55 Blanchardstown to Maynooth, and Walk 56 Mullingar to Nead's Bridge.
Kenny, Liam; Sinnott, Eamon. Towpath Trails. County Kildare Vocational Education Committee This pocket diary size walker's guide to the canal towpaths of County Kildare includes an attractively presented description of the following section of the Royal Canal Way: - Leixlip to Kilcock (13.5 km, 3.5 hrs)  More information about, and more detailed maps of, the Royal Canal are provided in the Guide to the Royal Canal of Ireland.
Maps: Ordnance Survey of Ireland, Discovery Series 1:50,000 - Map 40, From Richmond Harbour to Foygh - Map 41, From Foygh to east of The Downs - Map 48, About 1 km commencing about 2km west of The Downs - Map 49, From west of McNeads Bridge to east of Kilcock - Map 50, From west of Maynooth to Dublin See also: Guide to the Royal Canal of Ireland. The Guide includes maps showing the roads and towpaths along the canal.   The IWAI Publications page references a number of books that include material about the Royal Canal. These include significantly more information than is contained in the sources cited on this page all of which focus on walking. At a future date it is intended to publish notes about walks by the Royal Canal that are not included in other publications. Of particular interest are walks starting and finishing by the canal. If you are aware of any such walks and would like to see them published on these pages then please contact walker@iwai.ie