The Grand Canal: the leafy southern towpath
Portobello to Baggot Street along the still water — the locks, the willows, and Kavanagh's bench. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Portobello Harbour
Start at the wide basin where the canal opens out by the old hotel, now offices. The water is still enough to hold the sky. Grab a coffee on Portobello Road first; the towpath has none until the far end, so stock up.

2. La Touche Bridge and the first lock
The hump-backed bridge at Portobello and the lock beside it, where you can watch the water drop between the black timber gates if a boat happens through. Cross to the south bank here — it's the leafier side, willows leaning over the water most of the way east.

3. Patrick Kavanagh's bench and the seat poem
By Wilton Terrace sits the bronze of Patrick Kavanagh, slumped on a bench facing the water he asked to be remembered by. His sonnet 'Lines Written on a Seat on the Grand Canal' is the reason there are commemorative seats here at all. Sit beside him a moment; that's the whole point of the statue.

4. Baggot Street Bridge and the lock keeper's cottages
One of the prettiest stretches: the bridge, the old lock and the squat stone cottages where the keepers lived. Pubs cluster on the corners — Larry Murphy's, the old Searsons set-back from the water — if the afternoon wants a pause.

5. Mount Street Bridge and the towpath narrows
Past Baggot Street the canal runs straighter and the Georgian terraces press closer to the water. Mount Street Bridge was the scene of the fiercest fighting in 1916, when a handful of Volunteers held the bridge against advancing troops. Quiet now, just the reflections and the odd swan.

6. Grand Canal Dock
The canal's end: the great rectangular basin where it locks down into the Liffey, ringed now by glass offices and a red-paved square. The contrast with the willow-shaded towpath behind you is the point. The DART back into town is right here.

The Grand Canal: the leafy southern towpath