N71 road (Ireland)

N71 road
Bóthar N71
Milestone on N71 between Cork and Innishannon
Route information
Length	187.270 km (116.364 mi)
Location
Country	Ireland
Primary destinations	County Cork Cork Innishannon Bandon Clonakilty Rosscarbery Skibbereen Bantry Glengarriff County Kerry Kenmare Killarney (Terminates at N72)
Highway system
Roads in Ireland Motorways Primary Secondary Regional

The N71 road is a national secondary road traversing counties Cork and Kerry in Ireland. Towns and villages along the route, westward from Cork city, include Innishannon, Bandon, Clonakilty, Skibbereen, Bantry and Glengarriff in County Cork. Continuing westwards from Glengarriff into County Kerry, the route passes Kenmare and terminates at Killarney.

Road standard

The road is mostly single carriageway, with wider sections towards the Cork end of the route. There are wide sections with climbing/passing lanes, including a rare configuration with a passing lane on both sides, and a dual carriageway section approaching Cork.

As of the early 21st century, there were plans to construct a dual carriageway along the section of roadway between the existing 1970s dual carriageway and the N40 South Ring Road in Cork.

Improvements

In the mid 1990s, a new section of road was constructed between Ballinhassig and Halfway, by-passing the village of Halfway. The older replaced section of the N71 was redesignated as the part of the R613. Other features of this improvement scheme replaced old sections of the road between Cork City and Ballinhassig, with the old sections now forming parts of the local road network. This new section included an overtaking lane for both sides of the road. A flyover was also constructed for the N71 - R613 junction.

Another mid-1990s improvement was completed between Innishannon and Bandon, where the road was widened and hard-shoulders were added.

In 2003, a bypass section was opened on the N71 at Skibbereen.

Route

From Cork, the N71 diverges from the Bandon Road roundabout (That is junction 3 on the N40). After a few kilometres, it becomes a dual carraigeway for a distance of approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi). It then continues to Innishannon. On the way, there is a 2+1 road section with a junction with the R613 to Carrigaline. After Innishannon, there is another 2+1 road section towards Bandon. From there, after the roundabout with the R586 there's another short 2+1 road section. Then, the N71 goes through Ballinascarthy, passing a statue of a Ford Model T. Next, the N71 goes all the way to Clonakilty, where there is the junction with the R600. After that, the N71 leads to Rosscarberry. There, it bypasses the town centre. Near Connonagh, there is another 2+1 road section. There is also a natural reserve in Connonagh called Dromillhy. After going through Connonagh, the N71 reaches Leap. It does not bypass the town centre. After approximately 9 km, the N71 gets to Skibbereen. There is a roundabout with the R595. Then it goes aside the river Ilen, reaching Ballydehob after approximately 15 km. There is the junction with the R592 which leads to Schull and Goleen. (The R591 leads to Goleen after Toormore.) Next, the N71 leads to Bantry within 17 km. There is a bypass of the town centre. After that, the N71 goes to Ballylickey. There is the junction with the R584. Then the N71 goes to Glengarriff where there is the junction with the R572. Near the other end of Glengarriff is Glengarriff Forest reserve. After Glenglarrif, the N71 crosses the border between County Cork and County Kerry and then it leads to Bonane. After Bonane, the N71 goes further away from the border and leads to Kenmare. And there is the junction with the N70 which leads to Cahersiveen and Tralee. And finally, the N71 goes to Killarney, where it stops. It does not go further unlike the N22 which goes to Tralee to form part of the Tralee Bypass.

See also

• Roads in Ireland
• Motorways in Ireland
• National primary road
• Regional road