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The following map shows our planned route on the day of the Odyssey. Path closures or other conditions on the day may necessitate small detours. However, based on our recces, we expect the majority of the route to be passable as shown.
It's a lovely route with many points of interest, but it should be treated as a guide rather than a required route. The Royal Canal Odyssey is not a race and each participant is free to adapt the route in whatever way they see fit. Most importantly, use your judgement and do not proceed on any section that seems unsafe. We want everyone to get to their chosen destination safe and well.
Click on the map image below to load the interactive map.
To see where you are on the map, click the button with three horizontal lines in the top right corner of the screen to open the menu, and then click "Show your current position". You will be asked for permission to access the device's location.
The following GPX file can be used to load the Royal Canal Odyssey 2025 route into your own GPS watch, smartphone, or other device.
The most frequent public transport between Mullingar and Dublin is the 115 bus (also serving many points along our route):
Mullingar is on the Dublin-Sligo train line. This route serving several other stops along our route, but check the timetable to see which stops each train serves, because it varies.
| symbol | meaning |
|---|---|
| 🚽 | toilet |
| 🚰 | water |
| 🚈 | train |
| 🚌 | bus |
| ☕ | cafe |
| 🍴 | restaurant |
| 🏪 | shop |
The time listed for each location below is the predicted departure time for the main 100k group of runners, based on a planned average pace of 6:00/km (plus a few short planned breaks). We can't guarantee to maintain the planned pace throughout, but we plan not to exceed it. Hence, these are earliest departure times.
Location: 53.288681° -6.113526° Distance from start: 0.0 km
Sandycove's Martello tower is the setting for the opening chapter of Ulysses. It now houses the James Joyce Tower Museum.
Location: 53.287362° -6.116456° Distance from start: 0.3 km
Location: 53.297830° -6.159861° Distance from start: 3.7 km
Seapoint is a popular bathing spot and home to the second of four Martello towers that we encounter on the Odyssey. These sturdy tower forts were constructed by the British at many coastal locations in the early 19th century to depend against the threat of French invasion.
There is a public toilet at Seapoint, but it is likely to be locked at the time we pass it on the day of the Odyssey. A water tap located beside the outdoor shower is available at all times.
Location: 53.300171° -6.179162° Distance from start: 5.2 km
In Blackrock, we detour to visit Leoville, a house at the bottom of Carysfort Ave. For a period in the early 1890s, before moving to the Northside, the Joyce family resided here. Although James Joyce only lived there for a short time, Blackrock features extensively in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Location: 53.302214° -6.181241° Distance from start: 5.5 km
We enter Blackrock Park by the old gate marked "Entrance to the Railway", descending the steps to join the path that skirts along the west boundary of the park then runs parallel to the train line towards Booterstown.
Blackrock Park features in the following running related episode in the second chapter of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:
"When the order list had been booked the two would go on to the park where an old friend of Stephen’s father, Mike Flynn, would be found seated on a bench, waiting for them. Then would begin Stephen’s run round the park. Mike Flynn would stand at the gate near the railway station, watch in hand, while Stephen ran round the track in the style Mike Flynn favoured, his head high lifted, his knees well lifted and his hands held straight down by his sides. When the morning practice was over the trainer would make his comments and sometimes illustrate them by shuffling along for a yard or so comically in an old pair of blue canvas shoes."
More info can be found in this interesting blog post by Barry Sheehan: https://jj21k.wordpress.com/2014/12/31/did-joyce-run-2/
Location: 53.306517° -6.188536° Distance from start: 6.3 km
The Williamstown Martello tower, which was constructed between 1804 and 1806 is the third of four that we encounter on the Odyssey route. Originally, the tower would have been surrounded by the sea at high tide. However, following the construction of the railway and the reclamation of the land behind it to form Blackrock Park, the tower is now surrounded by dry land. The original ground floor level of the tower is now underground.
Location: 53.325399° -6.206960° Distance from start: 9.0 km
This public toilet is coin-operated. The charge is 25c and it accepts 20c, 10c and 5c coins.
Location: 53.334054° -6.212736° Distance from start: 10.0 km
Sandymount Strand is the setting for the Proteus and Nausicaa chapters of Ulysses. Since 1904, the coastline has changed dramatically in this area by land reclamation. Based on the description in Ulysses, the area of Sandymount Strand where Bloom ogles Gerty MacDowell is probably nearer to the point where Leahy's Terrace meets Beach Road, under what is now the green grass of Sean Moore Park.
Location: 53.336473° -6.217766° Distance from start: 10.5 km
The Odyssey route turns left off Beach Rd onto Leahy's Terrace. The junction is easily recognisable by the distinctive pencil bollards outside the school. In 1904, the land where Sean Moore Park is now situated had not yet been reclaimed and Beach Rd wasn't there. Instead, a set of steps at the bottom of Leahy's Terrace led straight down to the strand. Following his visit to 9 Newbridge Ave, it's therefore likely that Leopold Bloom made his way to Sandymount Strand via Leahy's Terrace.
Location: 53.335502° -6.223457° Distance from start: 10.9 km
In Episode 6 of Ulysses (Hades), Leopold Bloom travels in a funeral carriage with Simon Dedalus, Martin Cunningham and Jack Power from the home of the deceased (Paddy Dignam) to Glasnevin Cemetery. Our Odyssey follows a different route to their journey, but our paths coincide again later on. We visited 9 Newbridge Ave on a recent recce and it was surrounded by hoardings due to ongoing construction.
Location: 53.336544° -6.225733° Distance from start: 11.2 km
As we pass down River Walk, alongside the Dodder River, we pass a black metal plaque mounted on the stone wall which reads: 'Swan River outlet opposite From James Joyce's Finnegans Wake (1939) "Shake hands through the thicket loch Sweet Swan water!"' The Swan River, which joins the Dodder here, has become a hidden waterway. Notably, it gives its name to the Swan Shopping Centre in Rathmines, beneath which it still flows.
Location: 53.338610° -6.238747° Distance from start: 12.2 km
Unsurprisingly, most of the Royal Canal Odyssey route is on the Royal Canal. However, at this point we cross the other canal that connect Dublin to the River Shannon. The original main line of the canal ran along what is now the Red Line of the Luas. Our crossing point is on the section known as the Circular Line, which is now the main line of the canal.
Location: 53.340470° -6.245703° Distance from start: 12.8 km
Here we pass right through the arch of the National Maternity Hospital. Bloom calls to the hospital to visit Mina Purefoy, who has been in labour for three days, but instead ends up drinking with Stephen Dedalus and his companions in the waiting room.
Location: 53.341886° -6.250532° Distance from start: 13.2 km
In Episode 5 of Ulysses (Lotus-Eaters) Leopold Bloom visits Sweny's dispensing chemists to have a lotion made up for Molly. While there, he buys lemon soap, which travels with him until he finally returns home in Episode 17 (Ithaca).
Location: 53.343225° -6.249649° Distance from start: 13.3 km
In Episode 5 of Ulysses (Lotus-Eaters), Bloom pays a visit St Andrew's Church, referred to in Ulysses as All Hallows.
Location: 53.343600° -6.249515° Distance from start: 13.4 km
Leopold Bloom visits the post office on Westland Row to collect a letter from Martha Clifford, with whom he has been secretly corresponding under the pseudonym Mr Henry Flower. The post office is no longer there, but it was located at what is now the entrance to Pearse Station.
There are well maintained toilets on Platform 2 of Pearse Station. Note that a ticket is required to access the platform.
Location: 53.345607° -6.248395° Distance from start: 13.6 km
A large inscription on the front wall of the premises quotes Episode 5 (Lotus-Eaters): "And past Nichols’ the undertaker."
Location: 53.346891° -6.241335° Distance from start: 14.2 km
We cross the Liffey at the Samuel Beckett Bridge. Beckett, a literary giant in his own right, figured prominently in Joyce’s life – he served as Joyce’s secretary for a period and entered into a relationship with James’s daughter Lucia, although it was short-lived. Nevertheless, Beckett remained friendly with Joyce and later reminisced about time they spent together in Paris.
Location: 53.347582° -6.240818° Distance from start: 14.3 km
The Scherzer Lifting Bridge (technically a pair of single-span bascule or rolling lift bridges) at North Wall Quay / Spencer Dock marks the point where the Royal Canal meets the River Liffey. It was constructed in 1911-12.
Location: 53.350349° -6.240529° Distance from start: 14.7 km
This striking statue of Luke Kelly by artist Vera Klute was unveiled by President Michael D. Higgins on 30 January 2019 to mark the 35th anniversary of the iconic singer's death. Luke Kelly grew-up on Sheriff Street and the park where his statue stands now also bears his name.
Location: 53.356368° -6.244231° Distance from start: 15.4 km
In Episode 10 of Ulysses (Wandering Rocks), Father Conmee boards a tram at Newcomen Bridge: "On Newcomen bridge the very reverend John Conmee S. J. of saint Francis Xavier’s church, upper Gardiner street, stepped on to an outward bound tram. Off an inward bound tram stepped the reverend Nicholas Dudley C. C. of saint Agatha’s church, north William street, on to Newcomen bridge. At Newcomen bridge Father Conmee stepped into an outward bound tram for he disliked to traverse on foot the dingy way past Mud Island." An artwork on the foot bridge that runs parallel to the road bridge commemorates the fictional event.
Location: 53.354945° -6.246604° Distance from start: 15.6 km
Situated at the meeting point of Amiens Street, Killarney Street, North Strand Road, Portland Row, Seville Place, the Five Lamps is a famous landmark. Its construction in 1880 was made possible by a posthumous bequest from Lieutenant-General Henry Hall, who had hoped that the integrated drinking fountain would encourage sobriety. Sadly, the drinking fountain is no longer functional, but the structure remains and it has given its name to - among other things - a brewery and a long-running arts festival.
Location: 53.354230° -6.249650° Distance from start: 15.9 km
From the age of 11-17, Bram Stoker lived here at the corner of Killarney St and Buckingham St.
Location: 53.353455° -6.250601° Distance from start: 16.0 km
In Episode 15 of Ulysses (Circe), Bloom and Stephen both visit Bella Cohen's brothel, which is situated at 82 Lower Tyrone Street (now Railway Street) in "nighttown" (aka Monto).
Location: 53.352097° -6.251075° Distance from start: 16.2 km
Dublin's historic red light district, Monto, which derived its name from Montgomery Street (now called Foley Street), appears as "nighttown" in the Episode 15 of Ulysses (Circe).
Location: 53.351182° -6.253207° Distance from start: 16.4 km
This street was renamed James Joyce Street in the early 2000s. Prior to that, it was Corporation Street. Before that, it was Mabbot Street, but the City Council renamed it in 1911, presumably because of the association of that name with the Monto red light district.
Location: 53.349924° -6.259783° Distance from start: 16.9 km
The statue of James Joyce on North Earl Street is by sculptor Marjorie Fitzgibbon. It is sometimes referred to affectionately as "The Prick with the Stick." The plaque on the base reads as follows: "James Joyce 1882 - 1941 UNVEILED BY THE RT. HON. THE LORD MAYOR OF DUBLIN ALDERMAN SENATOR SEAN HAUGHEY ON BLOOMSDAY 1990. PRESENTED TO THE CITY BY THE NORT EARL STREET BUSINESS ASSOCIATION AND THE D.C.C.B.A."
Location: 53.349813° -6.260262° Distance from start: 16.9 km
Constructed in 2003 to mark the millennium, The Spire of Dublin stands where Nelson's Pillar once stood. Nelson's Pillar features multiple times in Ulysses, including in the Hades and Aeolus episodes. Various transport options are available in the vicinity of O'Connell St, including Green and Red line Luas services and the E2 bus to Dun Laoghaire.
Location: 53.349397° -6.260392° Distance from start: 16.9 km
In Episode 7 of Ulysses (Aeolus), Joyce describes the GPO as follows: "Under the porch of the general post office shoeblacks called and polished. Parked in North Prince’s street His Majesty’s vermilion mailcars, bearing on their sides the royal initials, E. R., received loudly flung sacks of letters, postcards, lettercards, parcels, insured and paid, for local, provincial, British and overseas delivery."
Location: 53.354146° -6.259987° Distance from start: 17.4 km
Professor Denis J. Maginni, who appears a number of times in Ulysses, ran a Dance academy here in the late 19th century. It now houses the James Joyce Centre.
Location: 53.355146° -6.261805° Distance from start: 17.6 km
The Belvedere Hotel houses a collection of Joyce artefacts. Its toilets will be available to us as we pass during the Odyssey.
Location: 53.355425° -6.261962° Distance from start: 17.6 km
Joyce and his brother Stanislaus were both students here. Joyce had previously been enrolled in Clongowes Wood College, a Jesuit boarding school in Kildare, but his father was unable to afford the fees. He subsequently became a student in the O'Connell School on North Richmond Street, but the Jesuit priest Father Conmee then arranged for Joyce and his brother to be admitted to Belvedere. It features extensively in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Location: 53.357458° -6.264087° Distance from start: 18.0 km
Soon after we first meet Leopold Bloom in Episode 4 of Ulysses (Calypso), his walk to Dlugacz's butchers on Dorset St brings him past Larry O'Rourke's pub (now the Eccles Townhouse). Here, we pass the end of Eccles St, where Leopold Bloom's own house once stood (No. 7). The house, which has since been demolished, is the primary setting for several chapters in Ulysses.
Location: 53.361550° -6.259631° Distance from start: 18.5 km
Location: 53.363247° -6.264651° Distance from start: 18.9 km
James Joyce's father, John Stanislaus Joyce, died in the Whitworth Hospital (now the headquarters of Vision Ireland) in 1931, having been admitted a couple of week's earlier. He had been living in lodgings on nearby Claude Road. James Joyce had requested that a commemorative bench be installed adjacent to the hospital, and offered to pay for it, but permission was refused. In 2018, the bench was finally installed. It was unveiled in a ceremony attended by Harry Crosbie, Gay Byrne, John Banville and John Boorman.
Location: 53.364459° -6.271780° Distance from start: 19.4 km
The E2 bus stops at the bus stop opposite the Brian Boru, approximately 100 metres north of Cross Guns Bridge. It serves the city centre, Stillorgan, Deansgrange and Dun Laoghaire.
Location: 53.365867° -6.276989° Distance from start: 19.8 km
In this section, our route passes close to Glasnevin Cemetery, where Paddy Dignam's funeral takes place in Episode 6 of Ulysses (Hades). From this point, the cemetery tower is visible to the right.
Location: 53.372958° -6.299947° Distance from start: 21.5 km
Adjacent to the bridge are a Green Line Luas station and a rail station. Direct rail services to Connolly and Mullingar are available here.
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/station/broombridge
Location: 53.375412° -6.314311° Distance from start: 22.5 km
Pelletstown Station is mainly served by the Dublin Connolly - Maynooth service. Transport to Mullingar is possible via Broombridge Station.
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/station/pelletstown
Location: 53.375353° -6.332629° Distance from start: 23.8 km
Situated at the 10th Lock of the Royal Canal, Ashtown Station is mainly served by the Dublin Connolly - Maynooth service. Transport to Mullingar is possible via Maynooth or Broombridge.
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/station/ashtown
Unfortunately, according to Google Maps, the Douglas & Kaldi Cafe beside the bridge only opens at 9am on Saturdays, which means we'll probably already have passed it by the time it opens. There is a SuperValu about 100m north of the bridge along the Ashtown Road.
Location: 53.381528° -6.371415° Distance from start: 26.6 km
Castleknock Station is mainly served by the Dublin Connolly - Maynooth service. Transport to Mullingar is possible via Maynooth or Broombridge.
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/station/castleknock
Location: 53.377691° -6.390638° Distance from start: 28.0 km
Coolmine Station is mainly served by the Dublin Connolly - Maynooth service. Transport to Mullingar is possible via Maynooth or Broombridge.
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/station/coolmine
Location: 53.382972° -6.423185° Distance from start: 30.2 km
Clonsilla Station is mainly served by the Dublin Connolly - Maynooth service. Transport to Mullingar is possible via Maynooth or Broombridge.
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/station/clonsilla
Location: 53.374221° -6.485783° Distance from start: 35.2 km
Leixlip Confey Station is mainly served by the Dublin Connolly - Maynooth service. Transport to Mullingar is possible via Maynooth or Leixlip (Louisa Bridge).
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/station/leixlip-confey
Location: 53.370271° -6.506194° Distance from start: 37.0 km
Leixlip Louisa Bridge Station is mainly served by the Dublin Connolly - Maynooth service. Transport to Mullingar is possible either direct or via Maynooth.
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/station/leixlip-louisa-bridge
Location: 53.373873° -6.529152° Distance from start: 38.6 km
Location: 53.377964° -6.556048° Distance from start: 40.5 km
Location: 53.378143° -6.590689° Distance from start: 43.0 km
There is a toilet on Platform 1 in Maynooth train station. A ticket is required to access the platform. A vending machine is also available in the station.
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/station/maynooth
Location: 53.398238° -6.665006° Distance from start: 48.6 km
Location: 53.399386° -6.668770° Distance from start: 48.9 km
Transport is available from Kilcock to Dublin or Mullingar is possible either by direct train or by the 115 bus.
Kilcock also has various cafes, restaurants and shops, including Casey/Nally's SuperValu. Kilcock Harbour, located just below the 16th Lock, is notable for its Canoe Polo pitch. Just after the lock, we also pass the start point of Royal Canal parkrun, Kilcock.
Location: 53.420215° -6.712102° Distance from start: 52.7 km
Location: 53.418635° -6.791755° Distance from start: 58.6 km
Transport is available to Dublin or Mullingar on the 115 bus from Cloncurry Cross - approximately 400 metres south of Cloncurry Bridge.
Location: 53.415467° -6.836044° Distance from start: 61.7 km
Enfield has a train station and various shops and restaurants, including an Applegreen service station (with a toilet) situated only about 100m from the canal.
Transport to Dublin or Mullingar is possible by direct train from Enfield Station or by the 115 bus.
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/station/enfield
Location: 53.413794° -6.840134° Distance from start: 62.1 km
Waterways Ireland information states that there are serviced public toilets at Enfield Harbour, but we have not verified this ourselves.
https://www.waterwaysireland.org/our-waterways/royal-canal/enfield
Location: 53.429395° -6.916286° Distance from start: 68.0 km
Furey's serves tea and coffee and opens at 12:00.
From Moyvalley, transport is available to Dublin or Mullingar from by the 115 bus.
Location: 53.451463° -6.956230° Distance from start: 71.9 km
Location: 53.453315° -6.958794° Distance from start: 72.2 km
Location: 53.467548° -6.978696° Distance from start: 74.3 km
Location: 53.473308° -7.012976° Distance from start: 76.8 km
This is the location of the first Royal Canal Odyssey water station.
Location: 53.478511° -7.032111° Distance from start: 78.2 km
Location: 53.494460° -7.109141° Distance from start: 84.2 km
Location: 53.495707° -7.127123° Distance from start: 85.5 km
A public water tap is available on the quayside across the canal from Nanny Quinn's.
Location: 53.494663° -7.155848° Distance from start: 87.5 km
Located at Killucan, Lock 22. Cunningham's Pub ("The Hideout") is situated approximately 100 metres south along the road from Heatherstown Bridge.
Location: 53.490575° -7.202611° Distance from start: 90.8 km
Mary Lynch's Pub is currently closed. However, the second RCO water station will be located here.
Location: 53.504356° -7.245756° Distance from start: 94.2 km
Location: 53.509863° -7.289871° Distance from start: 97.5 km
Location: 53.525830° -7.339351° Distance from start: 102.2 km
Fagan's appears in Ulysses as Shaw’s photographic business where Milly Bloom (daughter of Leopold) is employed. James Joyce probably stayed in the same building when visiting Mullingar with his father in the summers of 1900 and 1901.
Location: 53.525805° -7.340891° Distance from start: 102.3 km
Our final point of interest before we end the Odyssey is the Greville Arms Hotel, which Milly Bloom mentions in her letter to her father, Leopold, in the Calypso chapter. The hotel’s Ulysses bar houses a life-sized waxwork of James Joyce.
Location: 53.525546° -7.341529° Distance from start: 102.4 km
This statue in Market Square honours the late Joe Dolan, one of Ireland's best loved musicians and a Mullingar native. It marks the end point of the Royal Canal Odyssey.