Brickens Greenway

Brickens Greenway. We are hoping to develop a greenway in the village from the top of kilnock to the bottom of Lurgan. It can be done in 3 loop walks a short one about 2km, 4km and 6km approx. This makes it suitable for all levels of ability. There is an old pathway and right of way already and a lot of voluntary work has already been carried out during lockdown clearing the pathway of overgrown bramble and it is now passable. It is an area of rich historical interest as the pathway goes right though the old Crean estate and we have a lot of information about this. The old Crean burial ground is also on the loop and the Ballinavilla children’s graveyard and other points of interest along the way. During the recent lockdown there has be phenomenal interest in the route locally as most of it is not open to traffic and it is extremely safe for families and young children. Our project would involve making the path walkable all year round. We are very lucky to have had such dry weather this year which has made the path walkable but gullys need to be put in and a lot of the path would need to be surfaced. We need to put in Maps and signposts showing the loops and the points of interest. The IRD own an old cottage in the village which could be turned into a heritage centre and we could offer guided walks from here and ancestral information from this point. We can start the loop walks from the cottage. While the west of the county has a lot of walks and loops, we here in East Mayo don’t seem to have many greenways like this. Some benches have been donated by members of the community and we would like to make spaces for these as there are some wonderful scenic views along the way. Some of the greenway is also ideal for planting some native flora and fauna, actually there is already a lot to see naturally growing. We really believe we have a great project here that would benefit everyone in the community and also has the potential to create some micro tourism. We really believe we have a great project here that would benefit everyone in the community and also has the potential to create some micro tourism. The benefit to the local community would be immense as it is very accessible to all levels of fitness. As we are at the very beginning of this project nobody was walking this route 3 months ago we would measure the usage the feedback already is very encouraging. We want to improve the quality of life for our whole community from a physical and mental perspective. We know this has the potential to be a great project from the footfall over the last 3 months with just a few volunteers. However we cannot maintain this without an investment and if we get bad weather it will flood and be impassable again. I would impress anyone to consider this as a serious potential project.