The best way to see our beautiful country is to get out and walk it, writes John O'Dwyer. Here he offers a selection of the finest routes still available to walkers
There are 31 of them stretching 3,000km around Ireland. At their best they bisect breathtaking scenery, link our loveliest villages, meander past stately homes and ancient abbeys, accessing landscapes, knee-deep in heritage and loaded with legend.
On the Waymarked Ways of Ireland the going is seldom difficult since the trails rarely rise above 300m, but this does not stop them offering magnificent views of our finest mountain ranges. And there is little danger of getting lost. Each route comes in day-walk segments, is generally well signposted and has its own guidebook, listing convenient accommodation and eateries.
Of course, beauty comes at a price and, perhaps, you are now imagining crowded trails and overbooked guesthouses. In fact, the opposite is the case. Largely due to the growing problem of access to the Irish countryside, the Waymarked Walks of Ireland are mostly deserted. Between 1993 and 2002 general overseas visitors to Ireland doubled, while the number of international hikers and hillwalkers actually fell from 322,000 in 1993 to 202,000 in 2002. In 2003, worsening access finally nudged our walking tourism over a cliff with the number of overseas walkers dropping 23 per cent to 168,000. On many of the waymarked trails, it is now rare to meet another soul, which is great news if you aspire, as Wordsworth, to wander " lonely as a cloud". However, access problems have also reduced the variety and attractiveness of many routes.
Some of our best and most scenic trails, such as the route from Doolin to Hags Head via the Cliffs of Moher and the Seven Sisters on the Dingle Peninsula are now denied to walkers. Similarly, access difficulties have brought an end to maintenance and marketing of the entire 170km Mayo section of the Western Way, which once linked Leenane in Connemara with the Ox Mountains in Sligo. Many of our other Waymarked Ways are tiptoeing timidly around access difficulties by offering extended stretches of road walking on boot-burning bitumen - interspersed with gloomy trails through invading armies of Sitka spruce. It is not surprising then that there is a tendency among both local and international trekkers to write off Ireland's Waymarked Ways as too in love with tarmac and commercial plantations to trouble with.
But this needn't be the case. Plan carefully and you won't have to mine your masochistic tendencies. Few of our ways are, these days, worth completing end to end, so the secret is to be selective. Despite worsening access particularly along the western seaboard, magnificent walks through open countryside are still available, offering Ireland in microcosm for the rambler astute enough to cherry-pick the best routes.
Follow the arrows
The Waymarked Ways of Ireland are marked with yellow directional arrows along with a walker logo. A brief route description of each way is available at www.walkireland.ie by using the interactive map to click on the appropriate walk. If you have the stamina to tackle one of the Ways in its entirety, the best escape from tarmac and carbon monoxide is the relatively short but extremely scenic Sheep's Head Way (88km), which begins and ends in Bantry. Over 80 per cent of this route is off-road through open, unspoilt countryside, where globalised Ireland just never took hold. With magnificent coastal views it is appropriate that "water and ground in their extremity", from Seamus Heaney's poem The Peninsula has been adopted as the motto for this walk.
Apart from Sheep's Head, it is best to be selective in your walking. To help, I have listed five of the best, easy-to-follow segments on some of our other Ways. Since these are all at relatively low levels, all you need is raingear, packed lunch (which most hotels and guesthouses will provide) and, of course, comfortable trekking boots. Just base yourself in the town at the end of the walk and get a taxi out to the start. Then follow the waymarked route back to your base.
The Dingle Way to Tralee
Start this 17km walk in Lower Camp village going left from the Tralee road towards Ocean View Guesthouse. Continue until you reach a green road which joins the Dingle Way. From here the route is straightforward but increasingly rough underfoot with the Slievemish Mountains to the right, the main Tralee road below to the left and several streams to cross. Eventually a minor tarred road is reached and followed to a T-junction where the right option loops along minor roads for about 1½km to Blennerville. Here cross the bridge and follow the left bank of the old ship canal to Tralee, arriving after about five hours trekking time.
The Kerry Way to Killarney
Start at Galwey's Bridge, about 15km from Killarney on the Kenmare road. Follow the Kerry Way south for about 750m. Cross a bridge and turn left towards Derrycunnihy Oakwood. Then simply follow the yellow directional arrows to Torc Waterfall through some of the finest scenery in the Kerry outback. Descend by the waterfall and cross the tunnel into Muckross. Continue through the estate - stopping perhaps for a coffee at the restaurant. Refreshed, proceed by the shores of Lough Leane to rejoin the main road to Killarney, where you should arrive after a great 4½-hour trek
The Burren Way to Ballyvaughan
The southern half of the Burren Way is entirely along roads - some of them very busy - and is, therefore, best enjoyed within the relative safety of your car. True walking terrain starts at Ballynahown, 3km north of Ballinalacken Castle and follows a green road through classic Burren landscape with coastal views to the Aran Islands, before descending into the exquisite Caher Valley. The track then rises steeply and spectacularly past the stone fort of Cathair an Árd Rios before descending and continuing on minor roads to the coast. The final 3km is by main road into Ballyvaughan, but this is easily forgiven after a wonderful six-hour excursion among the best the Burren can offer.
The Sheep's Head Way to Bantry
If you don't have time for a full circuit of Sheep's Head, a rewarding segment can be had by starting at Glanlough about 13km from Bantry and following the walker signs uphill and then continuing along the upland spine of the peninsula with magnificent views on all sides. The terrain you thread is largely as it was when Finn McCool visited the peninsula aeons ago.
Nearing Bantry the route drops left and concedes to tarmac but these are roads for walkers with little traffic and grass where the white line should be. The route makes one more excursion across rough fields before emerging near the Westlodge Hotel, where a footpath leads to Bantry, reached after 4½ hours of a tough but rewarding outing.
The Munster Way to Carrick-on-Suir
Start near Harney's Cross on the road from Rathgormack to Clonmel and follow the walking arrows downhill on a sylvan trail incorporating different woodland types. At Kilsheelan forsake the woods and follow the broad, languid River Suir downstream.
This section of the Munster way has a working history as a towpath, facilitating 19th-century barges serving Clonmel. The area drips of heritage with castles, tower houses and ruined churches casually scattered against the backdrop of the lordly Comeragh Mountains. Finish on the quays in Carrick-on-Suir after about 4½ hours of memorable but extremely civilised walking.
John G O'Dwyer leads walking groups in the Irish mountains