GOING FORWARD PHOTONIQUE WILL BE ADVERTISMENT FREE
GOING FORWARD PHOTONIQUE WILL BE ADVERTISMENT FREE
Originally Photographed August 2026
I USED A SONY A7RVI WITH A 12-24MM F4 LENS
At The beginning of the route, Grattan Quay, there is an interesting sculpture which the locals refer to as "The Chain". It is an eight-metre high, chain link piece incorporates a number of different images, including a 17th Century Tall Ship on top.
The sculpture, designed to celebrate the city’s rich maritime and industrial heritage, aims to visually enhance Grattan Quay itself and add to the area’s cultural heritage.
The piece, costing €60,000, was funded under the City Council’s Percent for Art Programme with a contribution from Diageo who are located on Grattan Quay. It was selected following extensive consultation with the artist, Denis O’Connor, who has previously worked on a number of public art pieces in both Ireland and Britain.
The idea of the chain links emerging from the ground and forming a river line suggested a type of renaissance for the city in terms of celebrating its rich maritime history.
Reassessing the Waterford Greenway:
When exploring any urban centre or regional route, covering 20 to 25 kilometres a day on foot is standard practice. The key to making those long days sustainable—especially when laden with substantial camera bodies, high-grade glass, and accessories—is ensuring that transit works efficiently in at least one direction. There is little point in spending valuable energy walking an uninspiring access road only to face the prospect of retracing those exact steps.
During a recent photographic visit to Waterford, the plan was to explore the eastern approach of the renowned Waterford Greenway. Starting at the chain sculpture on Grattan Quay, the route headed west along Bilberry Road.
In hindsight, setting out on foot from that specific point was not the best idea.
For the first two kilometres along Bilberry Road, the experience is entirely transitional. You find yourself navigating standard road pavements, negotiating traffic interfaces, rock cuttings, and peripheral commercial units before reaching the official Bilberry trailhead car park.
Carrying heavy gear along tarmac while waiting for the scenery to open up quickly revealed a logistical flaw: the greenway is strictly linear, stretching some 46 kilometres across the former railway corridor all the way to Dungarvan. It is not a circuit or a loop. Realising that pressing on would mean expending energy on utilitarian road margins—and then having to double back over the exact same terrain to return to the city centre—reversing course was the only logical decision.
A long-distance linear track requires a proper transit strategy rather than an impromptu out-and-back trek from the city quays.
Rather than walking out from the centre of Waterford, the proper approach is to use scheduled regional and local bus services from the Bus Station on The Quay to intercept key architectural, industrial, and landscape nodes along the line. This enables productive, one-way walks without wasting a single kilometre.
Carriganore and Mount Congreve (Riverside Run):
Taking a local bus out towards the SETU West Campus or Killoteran allows direct access to the scenic riverside section along the River Suir, cutting out the Bilberry road approach entirely. From there, a continuous 6 to 8-kilometre walk back towards the city takes in the river bends, historic lime kilns, and tranquil woodland fringes.
Kilmeadan Station:
Accessible via regional bus routes, this stop offers preserved narrow-gauge rolling stock, heritage railway infrastructure, and the nearby Woodstown settlement landscape, providing an ideal base for an eastward walk back towards Carriganore.
Kilmacthomas (The Industrial & Engineering Hub):
Durrow to Dungarvan Bay (Coastal & Tunnel Section):
Walking 25 kilometres a day is immensely rewarding, but carrying serious photographic equipment demands smart logistical planning. Next time in Waterford, the strategy will be clear: bypass the road tarmac at Bilberry, catch the bus out to the viaducts, tunnels, and river bends, and let the route unfold as a continuous, one-way shoot.
The Walls And Towers Of Waterford
* In The Year 2008 * In The Year 2011 * In The Year 2017 * Henrietta Back In 2010
* Clontarf Railway Station * Docklands Railway Station * Malahide Railway Station
Ballybeg Park
Mount Sion Avenue
Stephen Street
Thomas Street
O'Connell Street
Parnell Street
The Forum Hub
Multi-Site & Citywide Installations
O'Connell Cultural Quarter (O'Connell St / George's St / Gladstone St)
The Glen / Ballybricken
The Apple Market / Railway Square
Millers Marsh / Waterside
New Street / Apple Market
O'Connell Street & Cultural Quarter
Stephen Street / Mayor's Walk
The Mall / Waterfront
The Glen & Green Street
Ballybricken
Barrack Street / Mount Sion
City Centre & Quays