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Beyond its economic promise, the greenway offers walkers a path through history — passing 19th-century railway bridges, famine-era stone walls, and the haunting silence of the Lagan Valley bogs. Interpretive signs along the route will tell stories of local emigration, the railway’s heyday, and the Troubles, when the borderlands were among the most heavily militarised in Europe.
“You’ll be walking where smugglers once walked, and later, where soldiers stood guard,” said local historian Éamonn Ó Dochartaigh. “But now it’s just a path. That’s the quiet miracle of it.”
The greenway opens to the public on June 10th. Cycling and walking are free, with bike hire available in Letterkenny and Derry. A shuttle bus will run along parallel roads for those wishing to complete one-way journeys. irischronicle
Local businesses along the route have already begun preparing for an influx of cyclists and walkers. In the village of Newtowncunningham, café owner Siobhán McGinty told The Irish Chronicle : “For years, people just passed through. Now, they’ll stop. This is the first real investment here in a generation.”
€18 million project aims to boost rural economies and promote sustainable travel along the Wild Atlantic Way. Beyond its economic promise, the greenway offers walkers
LETTERKENNY – In a move hailed as a “bridge not just over rivers, but between communities,” the long-awaited North West Greenway is set to open to the public next month, connecting the rugged landscapes of County Donegal with the historic walls of Derry.
For more on this story, including an interactive map of the route and a Q&A with the project’s lead architect, see page 4 of this week’s print edition or visit our special feature at irischronicle.com/greenway. “But now it’s just a path
The 27-kilometre off-road route, funded jointly by the Irish Government’s Rural Regeneration Fund and the Peace IV programme, will follow the disused railway line from Letterkenny to the border, then continue along the River Foyle into Derry city centre.