The Royal Canal is the Grand Canal's quieter northern twin — younger, poorer, broke its builders, and for years a derelict ditch — and that history is exactly what makes it the more interesting walk. Restored into a linear park, it now runs as a green corridor past locks, old mills and the back of Croke Park. An afternoon walk on a flat, hard towpath, with the railway for company.
Start at Newcomen Bridge by the North Strand, where the canal, the city and the Connolly rail line all converge. Pick up the towpath at the first lock and follow it north-west. The great wall of Croke Park rises over the water — on a match day the roar carries clean across — and the GAA Museum is a short climb up the bank.
Past Binns Bridge at Drumcondra, the old mills and coal stores mark the working trade the railway eventually killed. Beyond, a flight of locks lifts the canal through a tree-lined stretch that goes nearly rural. End at Cross Guns Bridge and the Drumcondra train — or keep walking; the canal runs to the Shannon.
