The N81 road is a

national secondary road A national secondary road ( ga, Bóthar Náisiúnta den Dara Grád) 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 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, from the M50 motorway to

Tullow Tullow (; , formerly ''Tulach Ó bhFéidhlim/ Tullowphelim'') is a market town in County Carlow, Ireland. It is located on the River Slaney where the N81 road intersects with the R725. , the population was 4,673. History There is a statue of ...

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by ...

, north to south. The N81 continues past

for another 8 km to terminate at the village of Closh,

, where it intersects the N80. The N81 is long
route map
. The road is a

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

between M50 motorway and west of Tallaght, known as the Tallaght Bypass or Blessington Road. It intersects with the M50 motorway at Junction 11. There are plans to extend the dual carriageway by to the urban boundary. The N81 is the only major national road emanating from Dublin that is a national secondary rather than

national primary road A national primary road ( ga, Bóthar príomha náisiúnta) 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 ro ...

. The official definition of the N81 from the ''Roads Act, 1993 (Declaration of National Roads) Order, 2012'' Statutory Instrument 53 of 2012 Roads Act 1993 ((Declaration of National Roads) Order, 2012
, ''

Irish Statute Book The Irish Statute Book, also known as the electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB), is a database produced by the Office of the Attorney General of Ireland. It contains copies of Acts of the Oireachtas and statutory instruments.

'' (irishstatutebook.ie). (HTML file), 2012-02-28. states: :N81: Dublin — Closh Cross, County Carlow :Between its junction with M50 at Templeogue in the county of South Dublin and its junction with N80 at Closh Cross in the county of Carlow via Tallaght Bypass, Blessington Road, Jobstown, Gibbons, Corbally, Crooksling and Brittas in the county of South Dublin: Moanaspick, Tinode; Main Street at Blessington; and Burgage More in the county of Wicklow: Glebe East in the county of Kildare: Burgage Moyle and Russborough in the county of Wicklow; Bishopslane and Horsepasstown in the county of Kildare: Poulaphoca Bridge at the boundary between the county of Kildare and the county of Wicklow: Hollywood Lower, Hollywood Cross, Whitestown, Castleruddery; Mill Street and Edward Street at Baltinglass; and Holdenstown Lower in the county of Wicklow: Bough, Rathvilly, Kilmagarvoge; Dublin Road, Church Street, Market Square, Bridge Street and Abbey Street in the town of Tullow; and Castlegrace in the county of Carlow.

History

The Dublin and

Blessington Blessington, historically known as Ballycomeen (, from the Irish surname ''Ó Coimín''), is a town on the River Liffey in County Wicklow, Ireland, near the border with County Kildare. It is around 25 km south-west of Dublin, and is sit ...

Steam Tramway once took this route from Terenure to Blessington before it was closed in 1932 due to falling passenger numbers. In the 1990s when it was proposed to reestablish a tram system in Dublin due to chronic traffic congestion (see

Luas Luas (pronounced ; Irish for "speed") is a tram/ light rail system in Dublin, Ireland. There are two main lines: the Green Line, which began operating on 30 June 2004, and the Red Line which opened on 26 September 2004. Since then, both li ...

), the old tram route from the city centre via Terenure to Tallaght was proposed. This route was later ruled out as a result of space constraints and the pipes under the N81 route seemingly being too old in the Terenure area, thus proving to be a great deal more expensive for utility diversion. The

instead was made to follow a less direct route from the City to Tallaght, following the Southern Canal ring and then moving south to Tallaght alongside the M50 Motorway.

Planned upgrade

In a Dáil Éireann debate dated 2 July 2019 it was mentioned that the N81 is one of the most dangerous roads in the State with twice the national average for single vehicle collisions and seven times the national average of head-on collisions. In 2021

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

Eamon Ryan mentioned that the N81 Tallaght to

Hollywood Cross The Hollywood Cross (also known as the Hollywood Pilgrimage Memorial Monument) is a 32-foot high, steel cross and historic-cultural monument (#617) in Hollywood, California. Located just above the Ford Amphitheatre and overlooking the Cahuenga P ...

road improvement scheme was not included in the projects to be developed during the current NDP period of 2018–2027, in effect pausing any work on the project until after this date.

References

External links

Map of N81 route
{{Roads in Ireland National secondary roads in the Republic of Ireland Roads in County Dublin Roads in County Wicklow Roads in County Carlow Templeogue

History

Planned upgrade

See also

References

External links