The Rock of Dunamase or it can also be called Dunamase Castle is situated between Carlow and Portlaoise on the N80 road or between Dublin and Limerick on the M7 road. If you find yourself on the either of these roads and you have time to kill, the Rock of Dunmase is perfectly situated to give you an opportunity to stop and stretch the legs.

We were driving down to walk the Glenbarrow Loop and waterfall in the Slieve Bloom mountains and we drove past the Rock of Dunamase. We both looked up at the ruins of the castle as we were passing and instantaneously decided that we were also going to visit one of the ancient easts historical sites. We quickly did a U-turn and drove down the side road off the N-80 and parked the car beside the small church opposite the Castle.

Admission and parking at the Rock of Dunamase

Admission to the Rock of Dunamase is free but car parking is limited and the car park space is more of a roadside than carpark. We arrived early on a Sunday morning and we were the only car there but after exploring for 1 hour, we came back and there were only a few car parking spaces left, so come early.

Our initial view while driving up the small lane to the castle was of this dominating hilltop Castle, which dates back to the 12th century. At the start of the Dunamase Rock walk, there was an information board with a plan of the castle in its former glory and loads information about the castle’s history.

Paths and walks around Dunamase

The ruins of the castle have a gravel path leading up through the middle of the external walled entrance gate. The path leads up toward the main castle which has loads of small alcoves and windows to explore. The Castle was built on top of a hill so there are 360-degree views when you reach the top (if the weather is good that is).

The Rock of Dunamase was a welcome distraction from our road trip to our weekend hiking destination. Try to get to the Dunamase castle early, we arrived at 10 am on a Sunday morning and we were the only people visiting the castle at the time.

Rock of Dunamase how to get there

Ireland uses an Eircode system to identify houses or buildings, there is a church beside the rock of Dunamase and its Eircode is R32E170. If you put the 6 digit code into google maps it will bring you straight to the church that sits right beside Dunamase Castle.

The Rock of Dunamase walk

If your looking for a long hike this is not the place for it. There is a nice casual looped walk around the ground of Dunamase Castle which could easily be done in 15-20 minutes. The walk around the rock does provide some great opportunities for some pictures and views of the Midlands landscape.

Would we recommend The rock of Dunamase?

We would highly recommend visiting the rock of Dunamase if you are passing, as it is steeped in history and is a very nice place off the beaten track.

Fun fact of Dunamase Castle

Also, here is a fun fact about the castle: Parts of Darby O Gill and the little people and Leap Year were filmed here.

Our visit to the castle ruins gave us a great start to our day of hiking around County Laois.

Other hikes and walks in Laois

The Glenbarrow Waterfall hike

Abbeyleix Bog Walk

Monicknew Forest Walk

Arderin Slieve Blooms

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Gina found Monicknew forest hike on the Coillte website, so we set off early on Sunday morning. The hike is a little over 1 hour away from our house but we got to visit the lovely Slieve Bloom mountains in Laois/Offaly again. We hiked the Slieve Blooms last year with Ourlittlehiker when we summited Arderin.

Driving down to Monicknew carpark the first thing that you spot is the narrow bridge which is just big enough for 1 car to pass. After the narrow bridge, we can see the carpark and the start of the hike on an elevated platform.

We are only looking for a nice gentle hike as Gina is 7 months pregnant and Ourlittlehiker loves to hike sections of all our walks now, so we were on the hunt for an easy Sunday hike.

Starting Monicknew Forest hike loop walk Laois

We got to Monicknew carpark nice and early, the sun was still very low and the area was still very quiet. When we were in the middle of the 32 peak challenge we became experts at getting out of the car and loading a baby into her hiking bag in minutes but we’ve become rusty and it took us considerably longer to pack our bags plus we forgot our spare hiking bag that carries Ourlittlehikers Toys and Snacks, We have become amateur baby hikers again, but luckily we didn’t forget the snacks, so that’s the most important thing, as it keeps both mammy and toddler happy on the hikes.

After we loaded our bags, we went to the information sign which is located at the rear of the carpark. We decided to hike the green loop walk which was only 3.5km long. The walk starts beside the sign and cuts up through the wood between a passage of mature pine trees. The trail then leads its way through smaller wood trails until we reached a larger lorry road leading upward.

Ourlittlehiker wanted to walk for the first section until we reached the larger forest road. Luckily for us, she still wants to be in her hiking bag and can now even ask to be put back into it. We loaded her into her hiking bag and started walking up the hill toward the top of the forest road. Experience has taught us as hiking parents, that when your child is happy in her hiking bag we need to cover ground quickly so we both increased our pace and made hay while the sun shines.

When we reached the top of the forest road it was the top of our hike, the hike now cuts through a very scenic little walking trail that passes over streams and provides nice views down the valley. After about 200m of small forest tails, we cut back out onto a large forest road. We got slightly lost here as there were no signs for the green loop, only a sign for the Slieve Bloom Way and it was pointing up the hill. We walked up the hill towards the Slieve Bloom way to get some nice views and pictures and then we continued back down the hill as we knew we were meant to be following the river back towards the carpark.

Unfortunately, halfway back down the road we encountered a sign saying that the road was closed, now at this point, we are 3/4 of the way around the loop, are we expected to turn around here? We could see that the road was closed because they were cutting down the forest but seeing as it was a Sunday we kept on walking as all the machines were parked up and everything looked safe to pass.

In future, it would be nice to have a sign on the information board stating that the road is closed or it is unsafe to hike in the area.

We walked back down to the Bridge and walked up the road toward the carpark. We decided to do a small section of the Yellow Looped walk before we went home. The Yellow walk brought us down underneath the road bridge which had a large arch and an amazing little green area underneath all the trees. We walked down the river until we reached a lovely little footbridge. We crossed the footbridge and walked over to the other side of the river and had a small picnic before we drove home. It was a great area for a picnic as there were loads of picnic tables scattered around the area.

Monicknew Forest Hike Conclusion

Monicknew Forest Hike started off a very nice walk because it cut through a nice forest footpath for a short period but it quickly turned into walking up a forest lorry road. At the top of the hike, there is a very pretty little area that is very scenic and provides lovely views of the Slieve blooms overhead and the valley below. The deforestation really put a downer on this walk for us but the Yellow loop is an amazing little family hike and ideal for kids. Ourlittlehiker was amazed by the river noise beside her little toddler feet and the sounds made by the cars passing overhead as we walked underneath the large arched bridge.

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How to get to Glenbarrow Loop walk

The hike carpark/start point is really well signposted and provides a breakpoint if you’re driving the N7 motorway from Dublin to Limerick. We got off the motorway in Portlaoise and drove to Rosenallis and then followed all the signposts for Glenbarrow waterfall, it took us 30 minutes to drive from Portlaoise.

There is a really good size carpark at the start of the trailhead that could easily accommodate 50 vehicles, so parking should not be an issue. At the start of the walk, there is an information board detailing 3 looped walk options. We walked the blue looped walk which was called the “Glenbarrow Eco Walk” this was 7km long and we walked past the lovely Glenbarrow waterfall.

Starting the Glenbarrow Loop Walk

The Glenbarrow walk starts by walking down a small lane that is sandwiched between two moss-covered stone walls. The small lane leads down to the start of the eco trail into the pine forest.

Most of this section of the trail is walked parallel to the river, while also walking slightly uphill towards the Glenbarrow waterfall. The trail is surrounded by mature woodland that’s covered in a blanket of green moss that has even started to creep up every tree, it felt very lord of the rings here.

Most of the trail has a good hardcore surface or railway sleepers but there is mud covering some sections. We have just had a large amount of snow here so every trail that we hike lately is like this. The forest section has lots of small streams and alcoves to explore while walking towards the waterfall. After walking for about 200m the trail elevation started to rise uphill slightly and we enter Glenbarrow woods via wooden railings.

We passed a wooden hut on our left and continued along the well-worn path up the river. We started to walk on small paths cut into rocks that lead up toward the top of the beautiful 3-tiered Clamp Hole waterfall.

There was a wooden barrier/handrail alongside the waterfall with some steep rocks to climb. There are two options here, you can climb the rocks beside the waterfall (about 1.2m high) or take the path on the left-hand side which will meet at the top of the waterfall. We chose the one beside the waterfall as it looked like fun. We love climbing as its all part of the adventure.

After we admired the beautiful waterfall we continued our hike, this time on wooden railway sleepers. The sleepers cut through the woodland area and we climbed up until we reached a foresty road. We took a left here and continued along the road until we reached a 3-way junction, we veered right here and continued uphill until we reached another forestry road that had an option to enter a woodland footpath, we took a left here downhill on a lovely boardwalk.

We followed the boardwalk through a mixture of natural woodland and coniferous trees. Near the end of the walk, there was a plastic box full of leaflets on the Slieve bloom walks. We taught this was a great idea.

This path leads us back to a little lane straight to the car park. We had our lunch and enjoyed looking at the horses in the field beside the carpark.

 Conclusion on the Glenbarrow Loop Walk

The Glenbarrow Loop walk offers everything for a good Sunday adventure with the family. There are forests, rivers and waterfalls all crammed into an area filled with natural wildlife. You will need good hiking boots in winter months but there are also sections with boardwalks that has a very good surface.

The walk is extremely well signposted and there is very little chance of getting lost, trust us were experts at taking the wrong turn.

It would not be possible to hike the Glenbarrow loop walk with a toddler if you did not have a baby backpack as a buggy would not work on the railway sleepers.

The Glenbarrow is a lovely walk and a true credit to the people that maintain and operate it. This is one of the best walks in Ireland, that we have done this year. We had great fun on this trail and cannot wait to come back and explore more.

More information and maps can be found on the Slieve Bloom website here.

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