On your bike ! Trail linking Castletown to Greenway opens

The Castletown Trail, which links the village of Castletown with the Boyne Valley to Lakelands Greenway was officially opened by outgoing Cathaoirleach of Kells Municipal District, Cllr Eugene Cassidy and Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee.

The looped trail secured grant funding of €200,000 under the 2019 Outdoor Recreational Infrastructure scheme (ORIS) and saw the construction of a footpath from the graveyard to the existing railway crossing to link the village to the Castletown end of the Greenway. Another section of footpath was constructed at the northern end of the greenway to connect back to the village, completing the loop of the Castletown trail.

A further allocation of €19,811 under the 2021 Outdoor Recreational Infrastructure scheme allowed development of amenity areas including planting, fencing, seating and the installation of a footfall counter to measure usage.

Members of the public can now use the existing car park at Castletown as the start and end point of their walk, run or cycle journey.

Cllr Cassidy said: "Infrastructure such as this is very necessary, and the investment has already realised a dividend. This trail and what will be the Boyne Valley to Kingscourt Greenway as a whole, has the potential to transform towns and villages along its route and opened up the entire county to a whole new market of tourists’"

Meath County Council Chief Executive Fiona Lawless said: "The Greenway begins in Blackwater Park, Navan and passes through the villages of Wilkinstown, Castletown Kilpatrick, Nobber and Kilmainhamwood before eventually ending in Kingscourt. The 30km project includes the 1.5km looped section at Nobber and another 1.4km section here at Castletown. We currently have 14km of Greenway open to the public with the remaining 16km currently under construction. We hope by the end of this year to have the full 30km open to the public, allowing greenway users to travel from Navan to Kingscourt."