Going ahead this Saturday
No cancellation listed for Saturday 31 October.
Parkrun
Ardgillan parkrun
A free, fun, and friendly weekly 5k community event. Walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate – it's up to you! Nearby Sunday 2k junior parkrun events for 4 to 14 year olds and their families can be found here.
Meeting point: 53.58609, -6.16115. The interactive map loads with JavaScript. Open the same point in OpenStreetMap.
Coordinates 53.58609, -6.16115.
The course
Course description
The course starts at the back of the castle, does 2 laps of the bottom part of the park and finishes at the front of the castle. Starting on the path beside the terrace at the back of the castle head past the rose garden and take a right turn downhill through the trees past the holistic centre. Follow the path down to the cross roads just before it goes back into the trees, turn right here to start the lap. The lap is anticlockwise going down towards the sea, turning left at the bottom of the hill, following the path through the trees parallel to the road/rail line and left at the end back to the cross roads. After completing the lap twice runner take a right turn up the path to the front of the castle,finishing at the gate.
On the course
The course is 5k long. The course is at Ardgillan Castle and Demesne, Balbriggan. The course is run on a mixture of trail paths and grass. Some sections of the course may accumulate mud, leaves and puddles after rain. Dependent on availability, marshals will be at key sections of the course, or signs will be in place.
Please remember that the parkrun uses shared paths. For the continued success of the event, please give way to other park users. This won't hurt your time, it won't stop you from getting a PB and it will make sure everyone continues to enjoy the event.
Please, wherever possible walk, jog, cycle or use public transport when attending the event. If you do have to drive, please consider car-sharing to reduce our impact on both the environment and other park users. Please also watch out for other park users when arriving and leaving. Parking may be limited so try to arrive early.
Facilities
- Public Toilets beside the Castle
- Tea Rooms
- Free public car park as well as a disabled car park at the lower level of the demesne
- Play ground
More details
Public transport
Bus: Bus No. 33 from Eden Quay in Dublin travels via Rush and Skerries and passes under the “Lady’s Stairs", two miles north of Skerries. “The Lady’s Stairs” is a pedestrian footbridge over the road and railway line, which provides access to the Ardgillan.
Bus No. 33 from Balbriggan travels the Skerries Road and passes under the “Lady’s Stairs”, about two miles south of Balbriggan. “The Lady’s Stairs” is a pedestrian footbridge over the road and railway line, which provides access to the Ardgillan.
Please see the Dublin Bus website for the Balbriggan 33 Bus Timetable.
Train: Please see the Irish Rail website for the Balbriggan Train Timetable.
On foot
The 33 bus from either Skerries or Balbriggan leaves you at the “Lady’s Stairs” this is a pedestrian footbridge over the road and provides access to Ardgillan. You then follow the path up towards Ardgillan Castle. Directions to the starting point will be signposted from there.
By road
Sat. Nav. Co-ordinates
N 53° 35’ 11” W 6° 09’ 36”
The route to Ardgillan Demesne is signposted from the M1.
Travelling north from Dublin exit at Junction 5.
Travelling south exit at Junction 6 (well sign-posted).
Directions from M1 Swords to Ardgillan Castle
Directions from Drogheda to Ardgillan Castle
Coffee
Every week we grab a post-parkrun coffee: the Castle Tea Rooms. Please come and join us!
We're friendly
Every week we grab a post parkrun coffee in the Castle Tea Rooms - please come and join us!
Course safety
Ardgillan parkrun is a fun, free event organised by volunteers for the benefit of everyone. We wish to make the event as safe as possible, so participants, spectators and helpers are asked to take care about the following:
- Please be considerate to the park and other park users at all times.
- Children under the age of eleven must be accompanied (within arm's reach) throughout the event by a parent, guardian or appropriate adult of the parent's choice.
- Please arrive by foot, by pedal-power or by public transport if you can - your efforts help to reduce our impact on the park and the planet.
- We invite everyone to consider volunteering at parkrun. Your support helps your parkrun events remain sustainable and free for all in your community, and it’s also a wonderful way to improve your own health and happiness. Please visit the volunteer page for more information.
- Take care near roads and car parks – some vehicles drive very quickly. Please congregate away from the cars and be careful in particular if you have children. If you’re driving to the event, please drive carefully.
- Take care on uneven surfaces – whether on grass or on tarmac. Watch out for cyclists, other participants, pedestrians, children, dogs, wildlife, park animals, vehicles, park maintenance work, falling branches, bollards, posts and other obstacles around the course.
- Please ensure that you are fit enough to walk, jog, run 5k (3.1 miles) with us.
- If you see someone with a serious problem, please stop to help them out and get help as soon as possible.
- If you’re watching, keep clear of participants on the course, and look after any children and dogs you may have with you.
- It is not permitted to run with a pushchair and a dog at the same time.
- Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection spread to humans by infected ticks. Consider protecting yourself by wearing repellent when at parkrun events in grassy or wooded areas. See lymediseaseuk.com for further details.
- You are welcome to take part with one dog by your side, within reach at all times, on a short, handheld, non-extendable lead. The use of waist harnesses is prohibited. Please also see this Support Site entry for further details about parkrunning with dogs.
- parkrunners pushing buggies are welcome, but please take care of others around you and do your best to start at an appropriate place in the field for your pace.
We hope these tips help to ensure that Ardgillan parkrun is fun and safe for everyone.
Age grading
All parkrun events use Age Grading to help parkrunners compare results.
parkrun events use Age Grading to help parkrunners see progress and compare results.
For more information, please see our Support page.
Volunteering
All parkrun events are organised by volunteers - email ardgillan@parkrun.com to help.
Safeguarding
parkrun is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk. For our full safeguarding processes and policies please see our Safeguarding Hub.
To report a safeguarding concern please email safeguarding@parkrun.com.
Event stats
- 585
- Events
- 6,560
- Finishers
- 47,921
- Finishes
- 683
- Volunteers
- 5,969
- Personal bests
- 394
- Groups
- 00:30:21
- Average finish time
Nearby parkruns
- Balbriggan junior parkrun Bremore Castle Park · 3.8 km
- Forge Field junior parkrun Forge Field juniors · 7.3 km
- Rush junior parkrun Kenure Woods · 8.1 km
- Donabate parkrun Newbridge House · 11 km
- Newbridge House junior parkrun Newbridge House Park · 11 km
- Laytown Beach parkrun Laytown Beach · 11 km
- Broadmeadow Linear parkrun Broadmeadow Linear · 13 km
- Malahide Castle junior parkrun Malahide Castle Park · 15 km
Challenges this parkrun helps with
- Alphabeteer Challenge Starts with A
- Periodic Table Matches symbols: Al, Ar, Ag, Au
Park5K is not affiliated with parkrun. - last updated 26 October 2026
Bushy parkrun