The Green
Opposite Kenny’s house on High Street is the usually open-gated entrance to ‘The Green’.
When starting the walk, on your left you will see a bronze plaque displaying 30 heritage sites around town and a ‘temporary’ marble sculpture in memory of Felix Waitkus – see link below – an American/Lithuanian pilot, whose plane crash landed a mile outside Ballinrobe on 22nd Sept 1935 after a solo flight from the US. He was en route to Lithuania and survived his plane crash. He had been seeking the landing strip, then in existence, at the Race Course on the Castlebar Road, but was unable to land because of the grazing cattle. He is perceived as a Nation Hero in Lithuania.
As you go through the gates, on your right, you will see the remains of an outer battered rubble-stone wall of the Infantry Barracks, established c.1670/1698 and now the site of an enormous telecom communications tower. This elevated site would have commanded a superb view of the vast area of the hinterland around Ballinrobe. This site also controlled the fording of the River Robe at this point. It would have been used by the Irish, the Normans and later the British Army as both a defensive and offensive site of power and control .
This large area was once used as training grounds for the Infantry and separate Calvary barracks’ soldiers and horses.
Around the new football pitches, on your right, there is a safe and flat walkway, suitable for all ages and I’m told that two laps are approximately one mile.
One your left, slightly further along the roadway, one will find a very nice children’s playground with parking facilities.
The views of the mountains in the distance are of Partry (west) and to the southwest the Connemara Mountains.
Towards the end of the roadway one can cross the Military Bridge for a closer look at the large ruin which was originally a 13th century MacWilliam tower house, then the manor house for the local landlords, the Cuff family and finally a cavalry barracks. This ruin is on private property. From here there is a nice view of the river below which, for the more adventurous, is accessible down an uneven steep pathway through a picnic area with tables and seating to the lower level Bower’s Walk.
You can see the skyline of Ballinrobe from this walk with its twin towers and steeples. Dogs are allowed on a leash.
See seperately:
‘The Bower’s Walk’ which is a longer walk with two options and link to this walk.
Felix Waitkus – for information click on link below:
http://www.historicalballinrobe.com/page_id__77.aspx
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