Deep in the valley of the River Suir there exists a captivating premiership walk that doesn't require premiership fitness, writes JOHN G O'DWYER
YOU HAVE a couch-committed friend you’d love to introduce to the outdoors, but you know it’s all about the right walk. Too long, too demanding or too monotonous and the dismissive conclusion will be: “I knew it – trail walking is just a mugs game for masochists.”
Fear not, however, for deep in the valley of the River Suir there exists a captivating premiership walk that doesn't require inconvenient premiership fitness. Likely to enchant even the most steadfast couch potato, this outing offers moorlands and woodlands with sublime views and benign underfoot conditions. Finally, an evocative riverbank ramble comes as your piece de resistanceto finish.
So for a memorable but unchallenging outdoor experience coax your friend to Carrick-on-Suir and take a taxi to Glenpatrick. Then strike out northwest, initially on tarmac, but then on a track crossing open mountainside. Above, the serrated eminence of the Knockanaffrin Ridge – referred to locally as the Seven Sisters – immediately adds a dramatic backdrop.
Now you can show your erudition by explaining that this narrow upland trail was once a significant 19th-century highway. Known as the Drover Road, it was an important trade route linking Kilmeadan to Clonmel and, on market days, would be awash with carts, pedestrians and animals.
It’s plain trailing now to Harney’s Cross and then directly across the road to enter Coolishal Wood. Soon after, a well-surfaced forest roadway goes left about 200m and then right to follow the yellow arrows for the East Munster Way.
There is, of course, such a thing as too much information and so now may not be opportune to mention that some time ago stories abounded of a malevolent panther lurking within this wood. Much to the disappointment of the local media, the mysterious animal never provided a photo op and so it is now probably best to let sleeping panthers lie.
So permitting yourself just an occasional furtive glance backwards, allow your companion untroubled enjoyment of the sylvan trail with relaxed downhill walking and intermittent spectacular views. At a T-junction, go left and then briefly abandon the East Munster Way by taking a right at the first junction and a left at the next. On reaching a metalled road, resume tagging the walking arrows downhill to serene Kilsheelan.
After crossing Suir Bridge, go immediately right at a Norman motte and follow the towpath along the meandering sweep of the great river. Today, the Suir is a playground for anglers, walkers and boat lovers, but once this was the busy liquid highway that carried produce from the rich agricultural heartlands of south Tipperary.
You can now impress further by asking your friend to imagine huge sweating, horses pulling great loads up river that they could otherwise never accommodate on rutted pre-tarmac roads. Indeed, Maurice Davin, who in the 19th century was a world famous athlete and later first president of the GAA, came from a prosperous local family that owed its affluence to a profitable trading business plying these waters.
Now just let slow-motion time drift indolently by as you both exit the dreary cares of the 21st century and retune to the quite ways and ageless sounds of the waterside. In the dancing river light, imperious swans glide by, impertinent moorhens break the stillness, statuesque herons stand sentinel and ripples spread where languorous trout rise.
These lush, well-watered lands have attracted settlers and planters for countless generations and so churches, castles and tower houses slip silently by until the huge MSD industrial complex appears to break the magic spell of the river. But, of course, this pharmaceutical giant is a major employer and no more out of place in the 21st century then the 19th century factory buildings and warehouses that these days carry preservation orders.
Now continue along the riverbank with the number of ramblers thickening as you approach Carrick-on-Suir. Eventually, the towpath becomes a paved walkway and soon after you finish at the agreeably situated Healy Park on the outskirts of the town. Here sculptor Tony O’Malley has represented daily life in Carrick-on-Suir and the town’s longstanding affinity with the river on great sculpted standing stones.
And at this point, if your friend is not prepared to concede that today represented a worthwhile and invigorating excursion, you must sadly conclude that here is someone for whom genuine fulfilment will remain a tantalising mirage.
Route Suir Valley
Start pointThe walk begins where the R678 swings sharply left on the road from Clonmel to Rathgormuck, about 5km west of Rathgormuck.
SuitabilityAn undemanding outing requiring almost no route finding skills.
TimeAllow about four and a half hours to complete the full route, but this can be reduced by starting at Harney's Cross or Kilsheelan Bridge.
MapOrdnance Survey Ireland Discovery Series, sheet 75.
Further informationClonmel Tourist office at tel: 052-6122960.