N74

Approaching the Tipperary Road Roundabout from the south. The road to the right is in fact the R932.

Located entirely within County Tipperary, the N74 connects the town of Tipperary with Cashel and junction 9 of the M8.

Route

The N74 begins at a mini-roundabout with the important N24, at the eastern end of Tipperary's Main Street. The N24 TOTSOs here, meaning that traffic travelling straight through the roundabout will pick up our route. The road is initially quite narrow and busy, although it widens as it passes out through Tipperary's suburbs. The houses are mostly mid-20th century, and there are long rows of mostly single-storey dwelling lining the route as we pass along Cashel Road. The road surface is quite poor, and in places it lacks markings.

As we leave the town behind, we pass the cemetery to the left, before climbing gently across what is otherwise a very flat landscape. The speed limit is 80km/h, although the road is of decent width with only the subtlest of curves. There is a section where it narrows in, and the hedgerows rise above us, but for the most part we have unimpeded views of the surrounding farmland. Our course is therefore quite direct as we pass through the eastern reaches of the county.

There is only one noticeable climb on this section, where the road gains a partial hard shoulder which is presumably intended to allow agricultural vehicles to comply with the Irish convention of pulling over onto the shoulder to allow faster traffic to pass freely. Sure enough, as the road levels out, the shoulder disappears again. Some 7 kilometres out from Tipperary we descend to cross a small stream and climb again - although this time without a hard shoulder - to pass through the hamlet of Kilfeakle. This settlement is characterised by little more than a sportsfield, a small housing development, and a cemetery to the left of the road, and a cluster of farm buildings and a church to the right. The road gains hard shoulders on both sides as we pass the church, and a number of single-storey houses line the route as we return to the open countryside.

Dublin is signposted (172km) as approach Thomastown, and the road narrows again to pass through a hedge-lined straight. Thomastown appears to consist of little more than a selection of modern houses, which are scattered over quite an area, a village hall and a stud. Although out of view from the road itself, there is also a castle. The speed limit drops to 60km/h as we pass through this settlement, but we never really feel that we have left the countryside.

History
Lesson

The remains of Golden Castle feature a medieval tower believed to have been constructed during the 14th century. It stands on an island River Suir, presumably because the river provided it with a natural moat. A statue by the roadside in front of the ruin commemorates Thomas MacDonagh, who fought in the Easter Rising of 1916.

After another kilometre or two, we reach the River Suir. A couple of local roads connect to surrounding hamlets and villages as we draw into the optimistically named village of Golden. This settlement is rather more built-up, featuring the Bridge House Inn housed in what looks like a former coaching house, and a convenience store. This village also boasts a castle, the ruin of which is located right next to the road on the left-hand side, on an island which the road crosses thanks to the presence of two old stone bridges. This section of the road is very characterful, and the walls on either side of each bridge have been painted with yellow and black stripes to highlight the fact that the road narrows slightly as it passes over them. Beyond the island, the houses are lined up close to the roadside, and a traditional butcher's shop catches the eye. There is also a church and a GAA ground, although both are well hidden from the road. As we leave the village, a Spar and an abandoned filling station reduce the character somewhat, and we pass a primary school and some well-maintained housing before leaving Golden behind.

Approaching the Tipperary Road Roundabout from the west.

The speed limit returns to 80km/h as the road meanders more than before, straightening out only as we enter the final stretch towards Cashel. At the Tipperary Road Roundabout on the western edge of the town, the N74 departs from its original route. Instead of heading on into the town centre, it now follows a modern bypass with hard shoulders, that arcs around the south-western fringe of the town. Part of this section is elevated above the surrounding fields. At the Cashel Road Roundabout, we turn right again, onto the route of the former N8. This serves to take us, within a mere 300 metres, to meet the M8 at a dumbbell interchange which features a third roundabout. The N74 crosses the motorway between the two conventional roundabouts, and then runs parallel with it for about 200 metres to the third roundabout, from which we have the option of joining the motorway southbound for Cork, or continuing along the old N8 (now number R639). This is where the N74 ends.

History

Prior to the opening of the M8, whereupon the N74 was rerouted around the new Cashel bypass, the road ran straight into the town centre along Golden Road. That stretch is now numbered R932. It seems likely that the road then featured a TOTSO where it met the R505, turning right at the STOP sign to meet the former route of the N8 at the triangle in Lower Gate Square, just a few car lengths away, where it would have terminated.