Water in this county comes in three shapes. In the north the tide is penned back behind railway embankments: Broadmeadow Estuary, between Swords and Malahide, became a sheltered lagoon after the 1840s viaduct pinched off the river mouth, and the estuary at Baldoyle fills each winter with light-bellied Brent geese. There are no hides or boardwalks at Baldoyle, so you watch from the coast road and the shore.
South and west of the city the rivers carry it. At Firhouse, 10km from the centre, the 13th-century Balrothery Weir marks where Dodder water was sent into the Poddle to supply medieval Dublin, and the greenway now runs from the weir under the M50. The Poddle spends almost all of its 11.6 km underground, surfacing at Tymon Park, Kimmage and Mount Jerome. The Camac, once culverted and polluted, is under a volunteer clean-up, though a 2026 crayfish plague outbreak means anyone entering it must Check, Clean and Dry.
Two entries sit out on the Grand Canal near the Kildare border, well outside the city: Gollierstown Bridge, an arch of about 1780 west of Lucan carrying only a gated farm track, with tow-rope grooves worn into its north pier, and Hazelhatch, where a 5km surfaced greenway from the 12th Lock opened in 2026. Grand Canal Dock and Malahide Marina are the easiest of the thirteen, both free to wander and a short walk from the DART.
13 of 13 shown — tap a pin for the place.
North-east Dublin, dublin
Baldoyle is a residential Dublin suburb wrapped around a protected estuary that matters most in winter, when thousands of light-bellied Brent geese arrive from Arctic Canada. The name comes from the dubh-ghaill, the 'dark foreigners', the Danish Vikings who beached their longboats here. There are no boardwalks or hides: you watch the birds from the coast road and the shore, then find a village pub.
Meath, meath
The Broad Meadow River rises near Dunshaughlin in Meath and runs about 25 km to the sea at Malahide, where an 1800s railway viaduct pens it into a shallow, half-tidal lagoon. That estuary is a protected bird site, best in winter when wildfowl and waders feed on the exposed mudflats. A 6 km greenway along its edge, linking Malahide and Newbridge demesnes, is due to open in 2027.
Swords, dublin
Broadmeadow is a man-made lagoon: the 1840s railway viaduct pinched off the tide and turned the river mouth into a sheltered basin between Swords and Malahide. At low tide the mudflats pull in brent geese, waders and wildfowl, so autumn and winter mornings are the times to come with binoculars. A greenway and a 280-metre bridge across the viaduct are still under construction, due to open around 2027.
South Dublin, dublin
Firhouse sits on the eastern bank of the River Dodder, about 10km south-west of Dublin city centre. Its 13th-century Balrothery Weir diverted Dodder water into the Poddle to supply medieval Dublin, and the greenway now runs from the weir under the M50 into the surrounding estates.
Gollierstown, dublin
Gollierstown Bridge is a single-arch stone bridge of about 1780 on a quiet, remote stretch of the Grand Canal west of Lucan. Listed by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, its detail worth seeking out is the set of deep grooves cut into the north pier by the tow-ropes of canal horses. It now carries only a gated farm track.
Dublin, dublin
Grand Canal Dock opened in 1796 as the largest enclosed harbour in the world, fell derelict, and came back after 1998 as the tech quarter people call the ‘Silicon Docks’. Today a red-glass plaza, glass office towers and a run of waterside restaurants sit where the coal piles and gasworks used to be. The open-air spaces are free and open around the clock.
Hazelhatch, dublin
Hazelhatch straddles the Dublin–Kildare border with no square, no shop, one canal-side pub and a scatter of houses. A new 5km greenway from the 12th Lock to Hazelhatch, opened in 2026, is fully surfaced and wheelchair-accessible, and a short walk away Stacumny Bridge looks straight down a quadruple-track main line.
Malahide, dublin
Malahide Marina has around 350 berths on the sheltered Broadmeadow Estuary, and the boatyard is staffed 24 hours. Ten minutes from Dublin Airport and a five-minute walk from the DART, it's free to wander even if you never set foot on a boat – the promenade runs straight into the village.
Dublin, dublin
The Camac runs 24 km from Mount Seskin to the Liffey at Heuston, a tributary that powered Dublin's western mills and fed the moat at Drimnagh Castle. Once culverted and polluted, it is now the focus of a volunteer clean-up and habitat restoration – though a 2026 crayfish plague outbreak means river users must Check, Clean and Dry.
Dublin, dublin
Dublin's largest Liffey tributary runs 26 km from the slopes of Kippure to the city centre, threading south-side suburbs and keeping a rare ribbon of semi-wild nature. Follow the Dodder for accessible riverside trails, otters and kingfishers in restored habitats, and trout and sea trout fishing in the lower stretches.
Dublin, dublin
The Liffey rises in Liffey Head Bog at around 450m in the Wicklow Mountains and runs roughly 125km through Wicklow, Kildare and Dublin to the sea. About 60% of its flow is taken off for drinking water; the tidal city stretch is crossed by the 1816 Ha'penny Bridge and Calatrava's 2009 Samuel Beckett Bridge.
Dublin, dublin
The River Poddle runs about 11.6 km, almost all of it underground, from Tallaght to the Liffey at Wellington Quay, where the tidal pool it once formed, the dubh linn, gave Dublin its name. It fed the city's first water supply, powered its mills and filled Dublin Castle's moat, and survives today in a few open stretches at Tymon Park, Kimmage and Mount Jerome.
Dublin, dublin
← All things to do in County Dublin
Book tours & tickets
We may earn a commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you.
Book tours, skip-the-line tickets and day trips with GetYourGuide. Free cancellation on most experiences.
See tours & tickets in County Dublin →