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.
The N4 road is a national primary road in Ireland, running from Dublin to the northwest of Ireland and Sligo town. The M6 to Galway diverges from this route after Kinnegad, while the N5 to Westport diverges at Longford town. Most sections of the N4 that are motorway-standard are designated the M4 motorway.
Ballaghaderreen is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It was part of County Mayo prior to 1898. It is in the north-west of the county, near the borders with counties Mayo and Sligo, just off the N5 road. The population was 1,808 in the 2016 census.
Foxford is a town 16 km south of Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. It stands on the N26 national primary route from Swinford to Ballina and has a railway station served by trains between Manulla Junction and Ballina.
The N17 road is a national primary road in Ireland, and is part of the Atlantic Corridor route. It begins in County Galway and ends in County Sligo. On 27 September 2017 the southern, Tuam–Galway, section was upgraded to motorway status and designated M17.
Bellavary, more widely known as Ballyvary, is a village in County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated on the N5 road between Swinford and Castlebar, close to Foxford and the River Moy. At the 2016 census, Ballyvary had a population of 159. It stands near where the Turlough River, the railway and the N5 converge. It is a townland in the Parish of Keelogues.
A regional road in the Republic of Ireland is a class of road not forming a major route, but nevertheless forming a link in the national route network. There are over 11,600 kilometres of regional roads. Regional roads are numbered with three-digit route numbers, prefixed by "R". The equivalent road category in Northern Ireland are B roads.
The R293 road is a regional road in Ireland linking the N17, via a junction in the townland of Ballinabole near Collooney in County Sligo, to the outskirts of Ballyhaunis in County Mayo. En route it passes through three towns, Ballymote and Gorteen in County Sligo and Ballaghaderreen in County Roscommon. The road is 55 km (34 mi) long.
The N15 road is a national primary road in the north-west of Ireland. It runs from Sligo to Lifford, County Donegal. It forms part of the proposed Atlantic Corridor route. It also goes to the border with Northern Ireland.
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 N59 road is a national secondary road in Ireland. It commences in County Sligo, south of Sligo Town at the Belladrehid interchange with the N4 north of Ballysadare. The route circles around the west of Ireland, passing west from Sligo into County Mayo and through Ballina. The N59 continues around Mayo, proceeding indirectly to Westport. Continuing south through Mayo into County Galway, the road passes through the village of Leenaun. The 182-year-old bridge in the centre of the village, carrying the road across the River Lahill, collapsed in floods on 18 July 2007. Due to the local terrain and road network, the diversionary route for getting from the south of the village to Westport was 110 km long. A temporary bridge was opened eight days after the floods, on 27 July. It has since been replaced by a new bridge.
The N26 road is a national primary road in northeast County Mayo in Ireland connecting the N5 road at Swinford with the N58 at Foxford and then on to the N59 road at Ballina. The road also meets six regional roads along its route, and it is 29.79 kilometres (18.51 mi) long.
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 N60 road is a national secondary road in Ireland, linking Castlebar, County Mayo to Roscommon town via Claremorris, Ballyhaunis and Castlerea. The busiest section of the N60 is between Castlebar and Claremorris, as this is one of the main links from County Mayo to the Irish motorway network at Tuam. This section of the route carries more than 7,000 vehicles daily.
The N58 road is a national secondary road in Ireland. It links the N26 national primary road at Foxford in Co Mayo to the N5 national primary road at Bellavary, 11km to the south. As such it forms part of the main route linking the three largest towns in Co Mayo - Castlebar and Westport on the N5 and Ballina on the N26.
The M9 motorway is a motorway in Ireland linking the M7 between Naas and Newbridge near Kilcullen to Waterford. Opened in sections between 1994 and 2010, the final section opened on 9 September 2010.
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.
The R320 road is a regional road in east County Mayo in Ireland. It connects Swinford to Claremorris via Kiltimagh, and links the N5 and N26 roads near Swinford with the N60 and N17 roads near Claremorris. The R320 connects with six other regional roads along its route. The road is in three discontiguous segments which add up to 27.1 kilometres (16.8 mi) in length.
