Starting-point of the northbound R213 at Castleshane
The R213 is a short regional road in County Monaghan linking the N12 at Killeef to the N2 at Castleshane. It provides a useful shortcut between the two routes, avoiding the town of Monaghan.
The route starts at a junction on the N12, located less than 500m away from the border with Northern Ireland. Nearly immediately, it reaches the small village of Silverstream, which consists of little more than a petrol station and a couple of warehouses. There are a few slight bends before a junction with the back road from Monaghan to Armagh is reached. The road remains almost completely straight and uneventful for 2.5km, a rare occurrence for a regional road in drumlin-populated County Monaghan. A few more minor bends are encountered just before the road terminates at a T-junction on the N2 at Castleshane, another tiny village.
History
The R213 is not known to have been included in the former Trunk and Link road system. Its number being higher than other nearby regional roads suggests that it was a late addition to the regional road system. Nevertheless, it had gained its number by 1994, when regional roads were written into law.[1]
