If you only have an hour
Do the Lake Walk. It’s the shortest trail here and loops the lily-covered lake and passes the castle ruins with almost no effort. The longer Aylmer Walk, which passes the 9/11 memorial, and the orienteering courses are for a half-day and drier ground.
Donadea Forest Park occupies part of the former Aylmer estate in north-west County Kildare. Coillte has run it as a public forest park since 1981, and it is worth checking gate times and vehicle charges before you go (see below).
The castle and the church
The Aylmer family took the estate in 1558. Gerald Aylmer began a defensive tower in 1581 and it wasn’t finished until 1624; that keep is the oldest surviving part of Donadea Castle. Two years on, in 1626, the family rebuilt the medieval St Peter’s Church nearby. It hasn’t held services in a long time, but the stonework and the old gravestones around it are visible from several of the paths. Stay outside closed ruins.
The last Aylmer to live here, Caroline, died in 1935, and the Irish Land Commission took the lands in 1936. Coillte turned the demesne into a forest park in 1981, keeping the historic buildings and adding the broadleaf and conifer plantations that make up most of the wood today. The walled garden beside the castle has been replanted to something close to its estate layout.
The lake
A shallow ornamental lake sits at the centre of the wood. It draws dabchicks, coots, waterhens and mallard, and by mid-summer the surface is a spread of white water lilies.
The 9/11 memorial
Along the Aylmer Walk stands a scaled limestone replica of the Twin Towers. It honours Sean Tallon, a New York firefighter killed in the September 2001 attacks whose family had emigrated from Donadea. It catches most people off guard on an otherwise ordinary forest path.
Walking, orienteering and Zipit
The Coillte map shows the waymarked loops from the car park. Use the map and signs at the junctions, and expect paths to be wet in places.
- Lake Walk – 0.8km, about 30 minutes.
- Nature Trail – 1.6km, about an hour, through estate remnants and native woodland.
- Aylmer Walk – 5.7km, about 1.5 hours, a Slí na Sláinte route through broadleaf woodland; the 9/11 memorial is on it.
Permanent orienteering courses are also marked through the trees; maps are on the Coillte website. Zipit is a separate high-ropes and zip-line activity inside the park. Check Zipit for current booking, ages and session times.
Getting there and parking
The Coillte visitor page gives current gate and vehicle charge information. Check the closing time before you start walking, and check the current charge and payment methods before you arrive. Ask the operator about facilities if you need step-free access or are relying on the café.
By car, the park is 8km south of Kilcock and 13km north of Naas on the R407, signposted from the M4. There’s no direct bus; the nearest train is Maynooth. For satnav, the postcode is W91 VK59.
Nearby
Donadea sits well on a wider north-Kildare day out. Within a short drive are the village of Clane, the Bog of Allen and its bog trails, and, a little further, Carton House and the Irish National Stud.