The island of Ireland, comprising Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, has an extensive network of tens of thousands of kilometres of public roads, usually surfaced. These roads have been developed and modernised over centuries, from trackways suitable only for walkers and horses, to surfaced roads including modern motorways. Driving is on the left-hand side of the road. The major routes were established before Irish independence and consequently take little cognisance of the border other than a change of identification number and street furniture. Northern Ireland has had motorways since 1962, and has a well-developed network of primary, secondary and local routes. The Republic started work on its motorway network in the early 1980s; and historically, the road network there was once somewhat less well developed. However, the Celtic Tiger economic boom and an influx of European Union structural funding, saw national roads and regional roads in the Republic come up to international standard quite quickly. In the mid-1990s, for example, the Republic went from having only a few short sections of motorway to a network of motorways, dual carriageways and other improvements on most major routes as part of a National Development Plan. Road construction in Northern Ireland now tends to proceed at a slower pace than in the Republic, although a number of important bypasses and upgrades to dual carriageway have recently been completed or are about to begin.
National Development Plan is the title given by the Irish Government to a scheme of organised large-scale expenditure on (mainly) national infrastructure. The first five-year plan ran from 1988 to 1993, the second was a six-year plan from 1994 to 1999 and the third ran as a seven-year plan from 2000 to 2006. A fourth National Development Plan ran from 2007 to 2011. The main elements of the third plan were the development of a national motorway network between the major cities in Ireland. The upgrading of the rail network was a secondary scheme.
Ballincollig is a suburban town within the administrative area of Cork city in Ireland. It is located on the western side of Cork city, beside the River Lee on the R608 regional road. In 2016 it was the largest town in County Cork, at which time the Ballincollig Electoral Division had a population of 18,621 people. It is located beyond the green belt from the suburbs of Bishopstown and Wilton. Historically home to the Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills which is now a Regional Park, the town has seen much growth in recent years as a satellite of Cork City. Ballincollig is within the Cork North-West Dáil constituency.
The N5 road is a national primary road in Ireland, connecting Longford town with Westport. It is the main access route from Dublin to most of County Mayo, including the county's largest towns, Castlebar, Ballina, and Westport.
Farranfore is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. It lies on the N22 road approximately midway between Tralee and Killarney and on the railway line connecting the two towns.
The N18 road is a national primary road in Ireland, connecting the cities of Limerick and Galway. Ennis and Gort are two major towns on the route, and Shannon Airport is reached via the connecting N19. The west coast route continues on to Sligo as the N17. The section from Limerick to the N19 junction forms part of European route E20, and the entire route is part of the proposed Atlantic Corridor. The section of motorway from Shannon to Claregalway is designated the M18 motorway. The tolled Limerick Tunnel forms part of the route.
The N21 road is a national primary road in Ireland. The route runs from the M20 outside Limerick to Tralee with connecting roads to other parts of County Kerry. It is 84.37 km (52.43 mi) in length. It runs through the towns of Abbeyfeale, Newcastle West, Adare and the village of Templeglantine. Prior to October 2010 the N21 also ran through the town of Castleisland. The town has since been bypassed. Rathkeale was also bypassed in 1992.
The N20 road is a national primary road in Ireland, connecting the cities of Cork and Limerick. Buttevant, Croom, Charleville, Mallow and Blarney are major towns along the route. A short section of the route is motorway standard and is designated as the M20 Motorway.
A national secondary road is a category of road in Ireland. These roads form an important part of the national route network but are secondary to the main arterial routes which are classified as national primary roads. National secondary roads are designated with route numbers higher than those used for primary roads, but with the same "N" prefix. Routes N51 and higher are all national secondary roads.
The N25 road is a national primary road in Ireland, forming the route from Cork to Rosslare Europort via Waterford City. The road is part of the E30 European route and a short section is also part of the E01 European route. It forms part of the proposed Atlantic Corridor route.
The N23 road is a national primary road in Ireland, and is located entirely in County Kerry. The route is one of the shorter national primary routes, merely forming a link road between the N21 Limerick – Tralee route at Castleisland to the N22 Tralee – Killarney – Cork route at Farranfore. This facilitates traffic passing in the Limerick – Killarney direction or vice versa, allowing it to avoid detouring into Tralee.
Ballyvourney is a Gaeltacht village in southwest County Cork, Ireland. Ballyvourney is also a civil parish in the barony of Muskerry West, and an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne. The village is part of the Cork North-West Dáil Constituency.
The N71 road is a national secondary road traversing counties Cork and Kerry in Ireland. Towns and villages along the route, westward from Cork city, include Innishannon, Bandon, Clonakilty, Skibbereen, Bantry and Glengarriff in County Cork. Continuing westwards from Glengarriff into County Kerry, the route passes Kenmare and terminates at Killarney.
A national primary road is a road classification in Ireland. National primary roads form the major routes between the major urban centres. There are 2649 km of national primary roads. This category of road has the prefix "N" followed by one or two digits. Motorways are prefixed "M" followed by one or two digits.
The N72 road is a national secondary road in Ireland that runs east-west from its junction with the N25 near Dungarvan in County Waterford to the N70 in Killorglin in County Kerry.
The N70 road is a national secondary road in Ireland. It comprises most of the Ring of Kerry.
The N69 road is a national secondary road in Ireland. It runs from Limerick to Tralee and passes through Mungret, Clarina, Kildimo, Askeaton (bypassed), Foynes, Loghill, Glin, Tarbert, and Listowel.
The M8 motorway is an inter-urban motorway in Ireland, which forms part of the motorway from the capital Dublin to Cork city. The 149 km motorway commences in the townland of Aghaboe, County Laois and runs through the counties of Kilkenny, Tipperary and Limerick, terminating at the Dunkettle interchange in Cork City. First called for in the Road Needs Study (1998), it was later incorporated into the National Development Plan (2000–2006) and later still formed part of the Irish Government's Transport 21 plan for infrastructural development. The majority of the M8 (115 km) was built between 2006 and 2010. On 28 May 2010, the motorway was completed and had replaced almost all of the single-carriageway N8 except for a short section of urban road in Cork City.
In Ireland, the highest category of road is a motorway, indicated by the prefix M followed by a one- or two-digit number. The motorway network consists entirely of motorway-grade dual carriageways and is largely focused upon Dublin. There are also several three-lane motorways, while Ireland's busiest road, the M50, incorporates four-lane, five-lane, and six-lane stretches.
The N40 road is a national primary road in Cork City, Ireland. It is partial ring road skirting the southern suburbs of the city, from the N22 west of Ballincollig, via the Jack Lynch Tunnel under the River Lee, to the Dunkettle Interchange where it meets the N25 and N8/M8. The present N40 designation was created on 23 February 2012 via statutory instrument by renaming parts of the N22 and N25. The N40 serves as both a commuter route and a bypass of the city centre for traffic between parts southwest and east. The National Transport Strategy envisages building a "Cork North Ring Road" to complete the circuit in the 2030s.
N22 Limerick, 
N22 Listowel, 
R875 Tralee 
N70 Killorglin, Dingle (N86) 
N23 Farranfore, Castleisland, Kerry Airport 
N70 Killorglin 
R876 Killarney 
R618 Ballyvourney 
R582 Macroom 
R608 Ballincollig 
N40 Cork South Ring Road 
Kanturk, Blarney 
Cork City Centre
