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Cycling in Ireland

Traffic and driving

Ireland has speed limits and distance signs in kilometres. The start of Route 1 is in Northern Ireland which uses miles. The signage scheme is different in the two countries, but similar enough to not cause any confusion.

In both countries, motorways have an M prefix and cycles are not allowed on these roads.

In the Republic there are national ‘N’ roads (100km/h limit), regional ‘R’ roads (80km/h) and local roads (also 80km/h). There is a general limit of 50km/h in built-up areas and other limits are signed. Speed limits are widely ignored unless there is a chance of getting caught. N roads are divided into primary and secondary routes, with a figure higher than 50 (eg N87) indicating a secondary route.

Cycling on N roads can be quick, but there is generally too much fast, heavy traffic to make this a comfortable experience. Some of the R roads are just as bad. The few N road sections in this book are either in quiet areas, or are short, unavoidable stretches.