Cork

This article is about the city and destination.
For other uses, see Cork (disambiguation).

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and a major hub of several important routes, including the M8 to Dublin, the N20 to Limerick and the N25 to Waterford and Rosslare.

Southern Ring and the Inner Orbital Route

Traffic flows in and around Cork, once a major bottleneck, have been transformed by the opening of the Cork Southern Ring and Jack Lynch Tunnel (now the N40) in 1999, allowing most major routes to bypass the city entirely on high-quality grade-separated dual carriageways. Within the city itself, there is an urban ring road made up of existing streets, to try and manage traffic flows within the town.

Main Article: Cork City Inner Orbital Route

A road network like this was first proposed in 1965, described as "a network of roads to urban motorway standard".

Cork City Railway

Cork was notable for having both a passenger tram network, as well as heavy rail running in shared space with road users along city streets. The heavy rail operated from 1912 to 1976 - although most of the service had closed by 1961.

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  A CIE 141 class diesel locomotive is at the west end of Alfred Street with a working from Albert Quay to Glanmire Road.

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  184 is between the two branches of the River Lee as it takes its Albert Quay bound freight transfer down Clontarf Street.

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  184 makes its second crossing of the River Lee as it comes off Clontarf Bridge and approaches Albert Quay.

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  CIE diesel locomotive No. 184 brings a return freight to Glanmire Road out of Albert Quay yards.

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  With Clontarf Bridge in the background, locomotive No. 184 hauls her freight train along Clontarf Street.

Ferries and The Port

The Eeborg loading/unloading at the Port of Cork

Car ferries from Cork run from nearby Ringaskiddy; however, a port exists within the east of the city on the River Lee where freight is still loaded and unloaded.

The river forms an important part of the city, bisecting the centre with its north and south channels and many bridges:

Routes

Route	To	Notes
M8	Áth Cliath / DUBLIN · Mainistir Fhear Maí / FERMOY
N8	Gleann Maighir / GLANMIRE · Acomhal Dhún Citil / DUNKETTLE INTERCHANGE
N20	Luimneach / LIMERICK · An Bhlarna / BLARNEY
N22	Trá Lí / TRALEE · Maigh Chromtha / MACROOM
N25	Port Láirge / WATERFORD · Mainistir na Corann / MIDLETON	Cobh via R624, forms southern bypass
N27	Aerfort Chorcaí / CORK AIRPORT · Cionn tSáile / KINSALE	Kinsale via R600
N28	Rinn an Scidígh / RINGASKIDDY · Carraig Uí Leighin / CARRIGALINE
N40	Cuarbhóthar / SOUTH RING
N71	An Sciobairín / SKIBBEREEN · Droichead na Bandan / BANDON
R635		North Ring Road

Links

• RTE Archive: Making Plans for Cork  14.09.1978 (archive.org)

• New Cork bypass opened  27.05.1985 (archive.org)