Heading south from Rathangan Bridge, you can cross the new footbridge and follow the towpath on the right bank to avoid walking on the road here. When you reach Spencer Bridge and the 23rd lock, you can cross back to the left bank.
This bridge is named for a local landowner who was piked to death in his own home during the 1798 rebellion. Beyond here, the canal turns wilder and remoter as it curves through fields and hedgerows.
The Barrow Way stays on the left bank of the canal all the way to Monasterevin. Approaching Ummeras Bridge you will see a fine thatched cottage as the towpath joins a quiet road.
Next you come to Macartney Bridge and a double lock. There is a whitewashed thatched cottage off to the right. Further on you will pass Ballykelly Mill, which dates from 1801, and which is now being turned into a distillery.
Now the canal approaches Monasterevin, which has a maze of waterways and bridges. In its heyday Monasterevin was a thriving centre of distilling and milling, and was a favourite holiday spot for the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.
The town is named for an ancient monastery founded here by St Evin. It is believed to have been on the site now occupied by Moore Abbey, an imposing 18th century gothic mansion, which is beside the River Barrow on Dublin Street. The town is well worth exploring for its fine examples of Georgian architecture.
