Castlemorris Wood Walk, Ireland

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Difficulty: Easy
Length: 3.7 miles / 6.0 km
Duration: 1-3 hours

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Overview: Follow the pathway of the forest, which leads you to two colour-coded looped walks (a red and a green) offering an excellent display of the various flora and fauna changing with each season. This developing coniferous woodland also offers samples of broadleaf trees including oak, beech, birch, larch and ash. The trail starts/finishes at the Grand Gates entrance to Castlemorris Wood, Aghaviller, Newmarket, Co.Kilkenny.

Entering through the Grand gates of Castlemorris, you will pass the Gate Lodge on the right hand side. Climb over the stile on the left-hand side and walk straight along path for red loop. Continue walking for approx 15 mins, until you come to an open space where there is a picnic table. Old out buildings are visible at the back entrance to what was Castlemorris house Courtyard. At this point the loops diverge. This trail continues right around the estate with views of the old out buildings. The Trail does not include passing through the old courtyard outbuildings. Walk along a narrow path at the side of the forest, at the end of this path, turn right. Continue to follow the signs until you exit the forest onto a minor public road. Turn left and continue to walk down the hill. Enter back into the forest at the end of the hill by turning left. Follow the signs to the area where you join with green route and follow the trail back to the Grand gates.

Tips: Flora:
With the changing of the season so too the variety of flora change –see which of the following you can spot.
Bramble, fern, bracken, great woodrush, honeysuckle, holly, ivy, moss, bilberry, gorse, bluebell, cherry laurel, wood sedge, speedwell, foxglove, willow herb and raspberry.

Fauna:
The forest is the chosen habitat of a number of wildlife, including: the fox, badger, hare, rabbit, woodmouse, brown rat, grey squirrel, hedgehog and birds including the woodpidgeon, crow, magpie, blackbird, thrush, coal tit, willow warbler, wren, robin and goldcrest.

Tree Species:
The forest at Castlemorris contain broadleaf species including: beech, oak, hazel, ash, sycamore, Spanish chestnut, birch, elm, poplar, rowan and hazel. Conifers include: the Sitka and Norway spruce, Japanese and European Larch, Scots pine and lodgepole pine, Douglas and silver fir, western hemlock, Lawson cypress.

Points of Interest

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Illustration of Castlemorris Red Loop

As part of a newspaper series we had the attached illustration drawn of the Castlemorris loop.

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Castlemorris Lodge

The trail starts/finishes at the Grand Gates entrance to Castlemorris Wood, Aghaviller, Newmarket, Co.Kilkenny. Entering through the Grand gates of Castlemorris, you will pass the Gate Lodge on the right hand side. Climb over the stile on the left hand side and walk straight along path following the red arrows.

Castlemorris gates (John Duggan).jpg Photo

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Castlemorris House

Castlemorris Estate (also known as Castle Morres). Harvey Morres received a grant of land here in the late 17th century. Francis Morres, the first Viscount Mountmorris and Harvey’s eldest son commissioned Castle Morres and as one of the largest stately homes in the country, and it was built in approx 1751. Francis Blunden, who also designed such notable houses as Bessborough House and Woodstock House in Co Kilkenny, designed the house.

Based in the parish of Aghaviller, the Castlemorris Estate was previously known as “Diore Lia” – a grey wood. Formerly home to the Morres and De Montmorency families, the family vault can still be seen in the local church yard. The church yard also contains the remains of an ancient round tower. Built to protect the occupants and valuables of monastic settlements from Viking raids, these towers dot the Nore valley.

In 1924 the house was sold to the Land Commission. In the early 1930’s it was unroofed and a demolition sale took place. Many parts of the house can be found in houses around the country. The house was finally demolished in 1978. The grounds now merge with other Coillte woods totalling approximately 2,000 acres.

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The Castlemorris Driveway

Walkers travel along the original Castlemorris driveway on the first section of the walk. The original paving stones can be seen on the sides of the road.

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Aghaviller Church and Round Tower

As the trail leaves the road to re-enter the forest, if you keep on this road and walk for 200 metres you will see the Aghaviller Church and Round Tower. The site contains the family vault of the Morres and De Montmorency family who owned Castlemorris House.