Monaghan Way

Excellent hike, Inniskeen to Castlebleblayney is the one stretch that has been reopened. Really well signposted, yes there are bits on busy roads, yes there’s cattle in fields and yes the sun also rises in Monaghan! There are great little maps of the route on line and available from Monaghan co council. Give it a try carry water and food take it handy, have to slow down to catch up with the fleeting world. Daniel.

I walked the section from Inniskeen to Castleblayney in Jan 2017. This section initially follows the path of the old railway line and is a fantastic walk. You pass by old redundant railway bridges and stations and there is a real historical feel to the route. Later on you walk on quiet lanes and through fields, passing Lough Ross and then on to the large Lough Muckno, all scenic and very worthwhile walking.

The section from Lough Muckno into Blayney is a different matter being along a very busy, fast and noisey main road. This road section is long and tedious. Looking at the map there appears to be a possible off road alternative through Concra wood along the shores of the lake but I can only presume permission was not granted to trail organisers. All in all a brilliant walk which I will do again but I'd finish/start the walk at Lough Muckno if I could get transport.

Walking the route in Jan has a plus: the fields and narrow ditch lined sections weren't in full Summer growth and no nettle gauntlets. On the other hand some railway sections were very wet but decent boots takes care of that.

I walked the remainder of the Way in June 2017.

I started in Clontibret and walked to Blayney.

Practically all the walking is on tarmac lanes or through fields. There are a few trail or forested sections but not enough to impress and being June I often had to beat my way through chest high undergrowth. Nearing Blayney I encountered a couple of fields of long uncut silage which made progress difficult. All in all the section from Clontibret to Blayney was less interesting than the Inniskeen to Blayney section. I dont think I'd bother with this section again but if I did I would do it in Winter to avoid plant/nettle growth.



In summary:

1: The section from Inniskeen to Lough Muckno is a must do walk.

2: Do the walk before or after The Summer bloom.

3: Wear strong waterproof boots.

4: Be self sufficient. There are no shops along the way.

5: Bring a stout stick for beating through bushes.

We walked this trail from inniskeen to Castleblaney. It was a lovely walk and would totally recommend it. Took 7 hours with a few breaks. Pity that golf course would not let the trail pass through its grounds. Was dangerous walking along side cars doing 100km per hour especially when your remember that fatal accident happened very near by on a 100km road. Would recommend starting or finishing in the car park on lough Muckno 54.097152,-6.693603. We were unable to find a detailed map on line and got lost in a few places but managed to find our way. A lovely hick through monaghan countryside

The trail is great; it is well signposted and very well laid out with a good variety of terrain. I took 15 children from near Carrickmacross to Castleblaney yesterday, a 21km hike. There was one place where the steps and the little yeller feller had been bulldozed and left pointing in the wrong direction. This was at a spot along the railway line before Lake Ross, apparently a sort of quarry or a building site. Also is it thanks to our friend the golfers that the walk must finish up on the racetrack of a main road entering Castleblaney? If so could they re-think this exclusion. Walkers do little harm and blocking off scenic routes harms local tourism.

I walked from outside Inniskeen (Moyles) to Castleblaney in early June and it took 4 hours, but I was traveling fairly fast. The route was fantastic. It starts through fields beside the Fane river and gives great views of the river. Then the walk moves onto a disused railway line. These sections are slightly wild really secluded in a way I have only experienced while hill walking on more difficult mountain trails. The walk alternates now from parts of the railway to fields or small country roads until it reaches the N53. One of the most interesting sections was Crossing over the R179 on the railway bridge, then walking through the abandoned Cullaville station.

There where two major disappointing parts of the walk. I had to skip the entire Lough Ross section because of a Bull in the field beside the lake. There were plenty of fields with overly curious bullocks, those I can deal with. But a bull, ring in nose, snorting and stamping its front foot is another mater. I've included a link showing the field. (http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,687456,815371,7,0)

The second was the long walk along the N53 into Castleblaney. There is a hard shoulder, but the traffic on this road moves very fast and it was the most boring section of the route. Its a real pity that a route along the west shore of Lough Muckno couldn't have been used.

I really enjoyed the route which was well marked and interesting for the most part. I'd advise people you will encounter curious cattle and I'd skip the last 4km along the N53.

Happy walking!

Hi :-).I've just walked part of the Monaghan Way trail from Inniskeen to Cullaville. I've been interested this last while in walking the full route but never got round to it..After googling reviews on the walk I came across Christopher Somerville's 'walk of the week' - Inniskeen to Cullaville, Irish Independent 06-08-2011, so I thought since it was only a few miles from me I'd give that part of it a go.I think Mr. Somerville gives a good account of the first stage of this trail so I can only add a couple of small details. For the less observant walkers like myself go clockwise around the pheasant pen (only a few minutes into the walk) - the markings are there but I didnt see them. (I headed left and ended up looking 4 bullocks in the eye. They ran off, which is what I knew they would do, after all I am a farmer's son.)

The walk in general is a nice easy pace with only 1 small hill at the start and the way is marked well to Cullaville. To be honest because theres not much left of the rail line remnants to walk apart from a short walk from the start to a nice long walk at the end with a few intermittent lengths in between, it leaves you to use your imagination as to to which part of this field did it run through,who might have been on this train, why was he/she on this train..well thats what i wondered anyway :-)