When planning a stay in Kinnitty, hiking, mountain biking and local history go hand in hand. The Slieve Bloom Way can be started and finished in the village; several mountain biking routes also start and end in Kinnitty. At the same time, the neo-Gothic castle and the unusual Kinnitty Pyramid tell different chapters of local history. This means you can plan your trip around active time on the trails or around architectural and local history.
Hiking the Slieve Bloom Way
The Slieve Bloom Way offers clear orientation: Kinnitty is both the starting and finishing point. The route crosses high, heather-covered ridges and passes through deep valleys where streams flow. It includes forest tracks, mostly quiet paved roads, paths alongside streams and open bogland. Parts of the bogland can be wet and muddy; trail conditions and diversions may also change. So check the current conditions before setting out.
Mountain biking routes and distances
There are also clearly measured options for mountain biking. The Mountain Bike Blue Trail starts and ends in the village, is 14.5 kilometres long, has 306 metres of elevation gain and takes 90 to 120 minutes. River Run and Mountain Top also start and end in Kinnitty village. Each is 12 kilometres long; with the full connection, River Run is 22 kilometres and Mountain Top is 30 kilometres. This lets you compare the two routes first by their shared base distance, and then by their connections, which differ in length.
The Kinnitty Trail consists of purpose-built singletrack trails and forest tracks on a signed circular mountain biking route. The Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Trails comprise more than 90 kilometres of singletrack trails and have a starting point in Kinnitty. The figure of more than 90 kilometres refers to the overall trail network, not to a single loop. The Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Centre offers guided tours in Kinnitty and the Slieve Bloom Mountains, bike hire and basic lessons for beginners. As the availability of these services may change, it is worth checking before your trip.
Castle and pyramid: Kinnitty’s architectural history
Kinnitty Castle is a neo-Gothic castle at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, set on 650 acres of private parkland. The first Kinnitty Castle was destroyed in 1209 and rebuilt by the Normans in 1213.
The Kinnitty Pyramid adds a different architectural note. It stands beside the Church of Ireland in Kinnitty, also at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Richard Wellesley-Bernard had it built between 1830 and 1834 as a family burial vault. The pyramid is an exact replica of the Egyptian Pyramid of Cheops. Kinnitty thus brings together medieval castle history and a 19th-century structure with an explicitly Egyptian form.
County Offaly in a wider context
The wider destination of County Offaly also has its own cultural and walking highlights. The ruins of Clonmacnoise include a cathedral, two round towers, three high crosses, nine churches and more than 700 early Christian grave slabs. The Offaly Way is a 32.4-kilometre linear walking route from Cadamstown to Lemanaghan in County Offaly.
Discover more destinations: The Curragh, Killurin, Shannonbridge, Creagh, Clonmacnoise, Toberpatrick, Banagher, Birr
For the wider travel guide: County Offaly.
