The N11 road is a

national primary road A national primary road () is a road classification in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. National primary roads form the major routes between the major urban centres. There are 2649 km of national primary roads. This category of road has the pr ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, running for along the east side of Ireland from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

. It passes close to

Bray Bray may refer to: Places France * Bray, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' * Bray, Saône-et-Loire, in the Saône-et-Loire ''département'' * Bray-Dunes, in the Nord ''département'' * Bray-en-Val, in the Loiret ''département'' * Bray-et-Lû ...

Greystones Greystones () is a coastal town and seaside resort in County Wicklow, Ireland. It lies on Ireland's east coast, south of Bray and south of Dublin city centre and has a population of 22,009, according to the 2022 census. The town is border ...

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...

Arklow Arklow ( ; ; ) is a town in County Wicklow on the southeast coast of Ireland. The town is overlooked by Ballymoyle Hill. It was founded by the Vikings in the ninth century. Arklow was the site of one of the Battle of Arklow, bloodiest battles ...

Gorey Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is bypassed by the main N11 road (Ireland), M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the Gorey railway station, railway network along the same route. Local newspape ...

, and

Enniscorthy Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the Blackstairs Mountains and Ireland's longest beach, Curracloe. The Plac ...

. Beyond Wexford, the route continues to Rosslare as the N25. The road forms part of

European route E01 European route E1 is a series of roads in Europe, part of the United Nations International E-road network, running from Larne, United Kingdom to Seville, Spain. There is a sea crossing between Rosslare Harbour in Ireland, and Ferrol, Spain, bu ...

. As of July 2019 the N11/M11 is of dual carriageway or

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

standard from

as far as

Oilgate Oilgate is a South African political scandal in which the petrol company Imvume Holdings was accused of paying R11 millions of state money to the ruling African National Congress shortly before the 2004 General Election. The money had been recei ...

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

. The road is a busy commuter route, being the only dual carriageway passing through the south eastern suburbs of Dublin, as well as close to the many

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

s along the east coast as far south as Gorey. Summer Friday and Sunday evenings also see very heavy traffic as Dubliners decamp to and return from their many holiday home locations along the County Wicklow and County Wexford coastlines.

Original route out of and into Dublin

The N11 commenced where it met the N4 on the south end of '' O'Connell Bridge'' in Dublin city centre. The route proceeded along '' D'Olier Street'', ''College Street'' (and in the opposite direction, '' Westmoreland Street''). The route continued around '' College Green'' and '' Grafton Street'' (and in the other direction, ''Suffolk Street'', ''Church Lane'' and ''

Dame Street Dame Street (; ) is a large thoroughfare in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. History The street takes its name from a dam built across the River Poddle to provide water power for milling. First appears in records under this name around 1 ...

''). From here, the route continued out of the city via '' Nassau Street'', '' Kildare Street'', North side of ''

St. Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by Ar ...

'', ''Merrion Row'', '' Baggot Street Lower'', ''Pembroke Street Lower'', '' Fitzwilliam Square West'' and ''Pembroke Street Upper''. This route section in the other direction (into the city centre) ran via '' Leeson Street Lower'', East and North sides of ''St. Stephen's Green'' and ''

Dawson Street Dawson Street (; ) is a street on the southern side of central Dublin, running from St Stephen's Green to the walls of Trinity College Dublin. It is the site of the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Mansion House, Dublin, Mansion House. ...

''. The N11 ran in both directions along ''Leeson Street Lower'' after the junction with ''Pembroke Street''. Having crossed the Grand Canal the route divided again for a portion of ''Leeson Street Upper'', with outbound traffic proceeding via ''Sussex Road''. The route continued via Morehampton Road and ''Donnybrook Road'', through Donnybrook. Eventually converting from single carriageway (including bus lanes either side) to dual carriageway at Donnybrook Church, which marks the beginning of what is known as the ''Stillorgan Road''. The ''Stillorgan Road'' brought the road past Belfield, where

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

is located (and accessed from a grade-separated interchange on the dual carriageway - the first full interchange built in Ireland) and onwards to its junction with Mount Merrion Avenue. This former section of the N11 is now the R138.

Current starting point

Heading south, the N11 currently starts in

Mount Merrion Mount Merrion () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is roughly 7 kilometres (5 mi) south of Dublin city centre and is situated on and around the hill of the same name. Location and access Mount Merrion is 3 kilometres (2 mi) southw ...

at the junction with the N31 to

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

harbour. From this junction it heads south to Stillorgan village. Stillorgan village is bypassed to the east by the N11 dual carriageway, which proceeds southeast through Galloping Green, bypassing

Leopardstown Leopardstown (), historically called Ballinlore, is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains. With institutional lands and a large racecourse, it is divided by the M50 motorway (Ireland), M50 motorw ...

and

Foxrock Foxrock () is an affluent suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland. It is within the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, in the postal district of Dublin 18 and in the Catholic parish of Foxrock. History The suburb of Foxrock was developed ...

to the east also. Then the ''Cabinteely Bypass'' and part of the ''Bray Road'' bring the N11 via Loughlinstown to north of Shankill, where the M11 motorway commences as the ''Bray/Shankill Bypass''. The entire length of the N11, from Mount Merrion to the Loughlinstown roundabout, is provided with a Quality Bus Corridor (QBC) bus lane. Dublin Bus Route 46A operates over this stretch of road as far as the junction with Kill Lane in

. The 145 links

to various parts of the city centre as far as Heuston Train Station

Link with M50

Along the ''Shankill Bypass'', the M11 is joined by the Dublin's M50 motorway partial ring road, which terminates at a major junction along the M11, which opened in June 2005. This link allows motorists to drive on continuous motorway and dual carriageway from Oilgate, County Wexford to various destinations via the M50 and the national roads it serves. These roads include the N7, the N4, the N3, the N2 and the M1. Traffic proceeding north on the M11 is given a choice to stay on the main carriageway (which becomes the M50), or take the exit at what is junction 17 on the M50, in order to stay on the M11, following the N11 and the R138 into the city centre.

Route through Wicklow and Wexford

West of

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

, the motorway ends, with the N11 continuing south as dual carriageway through the ''

Glen of the Downs The Glen of the Downs () is a 2 km long wooded glacial valley with steep sides rising to almost 250m on the east coast of Ireland. It contains a designated Nature Reserve comprising 59 ha, and is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Loca ...

''. The upgrading of the road to dual carriageway through the ''Glen of the Downs'' was controversial, as the valley is a wooded area. Expanding the road resulted in the removal of some

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

. A campaign of protests, mainly by environmental activists, led to long delays in the construction of this section of road, but the work was eventually completed with a minimal disruption to the woodland. After ''Glen of the Downs'' the N11 continues south to bypass Kilpedder and

Newtownmountkennedy Newtownmountkennedy () is a small town in County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It developed within the historic townland of Ballygarny () (now Mount Kennedy Demesne), although all that remains is a motte where a church, graveyard and a ...

. The road becomes the M11 again at Junction 14 and bypasses Ashford,

Rathnew Rathnew () is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. Located south of the capital Dublin along the N11 road (Ireland), M11 between Dublin and Wexford, it is close to the county town of Wicklow, which is situated to the east. The village is in a ...

and Arklow (which was bypassed by a dual-carriageway route opened in January 1999 and re-designated as motorway in August 2009). N11 road south of Newtownmountkennedy

Just north of

Inch The inch (symbol: in or prime (symbol), ) is a Units of measurement, unit of length in the imperial units, British Imperial and the United States customary units, United States customary System of measurement, systems of measurement. It is eq ...

, the M11 enters

. The route continues South, bypassing

and Clogh. This section was also re-designated as motorway from 28 August 2009. The former N11 road between Newtownmountkennedy and Gorey is now signposted as the R772 regional road. The M11 then bypasses Camolin,

Ferns The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

and

. At Ballydawmore, about 4.25 km east-northeast of Enniscorthy, the N30 from

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the River Barrow on the border with County Kilkenny, northeast of Waterford. In 2022, it had a population of 8,610, making it the fourth-largest t ...

, which also connects to the N80 from

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midlands Reg ...

at Clavass about 5 km north of Enniscorthy, meets the M11 at a junction, which also connects to R744 road. At the end of the Enniscorthy Bypass the motorway section ends at the Scurlocksbush roundabout. The N11 then continues as a single carriageway. South of here, the N11 passes through Oilegate, County Wexford, continuing south through Ferrycarrig, and crossing the

River Slaney The River Slaney (; ) is a large river in the southeast of Ireland. It rises on Lugnaquilla Mountain in the western Wicklow Mountains and flows west and then south through counties Wicklow, Carlow and Wexford for 117.5 km (73 mi), ...

to terminate on a bypass west of

where it meets the N25 from Waterford at the Ballindinas roundabout.

Upgrades

The N11 has been gradually upgraded from single to dual carriageway standard from the 1950s to the present, with improvements taking place at an accelerated pace in recent years. The first short stretch of dual carriageway on the road, and the first stretch of dual carriageway in

, was built in the 1950s between the Stillorgan Road/Newtownpark Avenue junction (''White's Cross'') and Foxrock Church (this stretch was substantially widened around the turn of the millennium). Subsequent short stretches of dual carriageway, at Loughlinstown, between Bray and Kilpedder, and from Donnybrook to Stillorgan were constructed during the early to mid-1970s, this phase ending with the opening of the Stillorgan bypass in October 1977. Since that time, these sections have been joined up through further improvements.

Timeline (from 1970)

* 1970: Kilcroney dual carriageway (with at grade junctions) from Fassaroe to Kilmacanogue, west of Bray. 3 km. * 1972: Kilpedder bypass; dual carriageway (with at grade junctions) but including one road underpass, the first "flyover" in Ireland. 2 km. * 1974: Belfield flyover; a stretch of six-lane dual carriageway with a GSJ at the entrance to UCD, Belfield. 2 km (now part of the R138 regional road) * 1976: Extensions of the Belfield section in both directions with six-lane dc, at grade, with multiple residential access points. 2 km. (now part of the R138 regional road) * 1977: Stillorgan bypass. At grade 4 lane dual carriageway with hard shoulder from Fosters Avenue to White's Cross, replacing earlier 1950s dual carriageway at Galloping Green. 3 km. * 1984: Cabinteely and Cornelscourt bypass. At grade 4 lane dual carriageway with hard shoulder. 2 km. * 1986: Old 1950s dual carriageway replaced by at grade 4 lane dual carriageway with hard shoulder between White's Cross and the Cabinteely bypass. 1 km. * 1990: Newtownmountkennedy bypass. Four lane dual carriageway with hard shoulders and GSJ. 5 km. * 1991: M11 Bray-Shankill bypass. Motorway from the 1960s Loughlinstown dual carriageway to the Kilcroney (1970) dual carriageway. 5 km. * 1993: Fassaroe Bridge; grade separated junction created at the end of the M11/start of Kilcroney dual carriageway. * 1995: Ram Bridge; grade separated junction created linking the N11 to the southern end of Bray. * 1999: Arklow bypass; fully grade separated dual carriageway (re-classified as motorway in 2009). 10 km. * 2003: Glen of the Downs dual carriageway joining the dual carriageway north of Kilmacanogue to the 1972 Kilpedder bypass. 5 km. * 2004: New dual carriageway replaced the 1960s ''Loughlinstown dual carriageway'' and included a grade separated junction with the R118. 3 km. * 2004: Ashford/Rathnew bypass; fully grade separated dual carriageway (partially re-classified as motorway in 2009). 14 km. * 2007: Gorey bypass; fully grade separated dual carriageway (re-classified as motorway in 2009). 22 km. * 2008: Grade separated junction created on the Kilpedder bypass (1972) to link with the new R774 dual carriageway to Greystones. * 2015: Arklow-Rathnew; motorway from Rathnew to Arklow. Officially opened to traffic on 13 July 2015. 14 km * 2019: Enniscorthy bypass; motorway from Clogh to Scurlocksbush, also connecting the M11 to the N30 and the N80. Officially opened to traffic on 18 July 2019. 27 km Since it was completed in 2019, dual carriageway or motorway extends from Donnybrook near central Dublin (R138) to north of Oilgate in County Wexford. Initial planning is underway to bypass Oilgate by building a new dual carriageway N11 from the end of the current M11 Enniscorthy bypass to the N25 near Wexford Town. A new section of N25 will complete the up-grade of Euroroute 01 between the M50 and

Rosslare Harbour The village of Rosslare Harbour (), also known as Ballygeary, grew up to serve the needs of the harbour of the same name (now called Rosslare Europort), first developed in 1906 by the Great Western Railway and the Great Southern and Western Rai ...

. If this project was completed as planned, there would be no single carriageway sections of the N11 left. On 30 September 2008, the

Department of 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 a ...

proposed that the dual carriageway sections from Ashford to south of

, and from north of

to south of

, be reclassified as motorway under the Roads Act 2007. The Statutory Instrument for these reclassifications was passed on 2 July 2009 and came into effect on 28 August 2009. There are two sections of M11 motorway forming part of the N11 route.

Junctions

{, class="plainrowheaders wikitable" , - !scope=col, County !scope=col, km !scope=col, mi !scope=col, Junction !scope=col, Destinations !scope=col, Notes , - , rowspan=2,

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

, , , bgcolor="dff9f9", 4 , bgcolor="dff9f9", – Dublin Airport,

Dublin Port Dublin Port () is the seaport of Dublin, Ireland, of both historical and contemporary economic importance. Approximately two-thirds of Ireland's port traffic travels via the port, which is by far the busiest on the island of Ireland. Locatio ...

, bgcolor="dff9f9", Motorway ends at following roundabout, continues as N11 towards Dublin city centre. , - , , , 5 , –

(North), Glencullen, Enniskerry
– Bray (North) (southbound) , , - , rowspan=23,

, , , bgcolor="dff9f9", 6 , bgcolor="dff9f9", ‒ Bray, Fassaroe , bgcolor="dff9f9", Continues as N11 dual carriageway , - , , , bgcolor="ffdddd", , bgcolor="ffdddd", – Dargle Lane , bgcolor="ffdddd", LILO junction. Residential

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet. Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...

. Southbound entrance and exit only. , - , , , bgcolor="ffdddd", 6a , bgcolor="ffdddd", – Enniskerry , bgcolor="ffdddd", LILO junction. Northbound entrance and exit only. , - , , , bgcolor="ffdddd", , bgcolor="ffdddd", – Herbert Road , bgcolor="ffdddd", LILO junction. Leads to Bray. Southbound entrance and exit only. , - , , , 7 , ‒ Bray (South),

(North) , Enniskerry , - , , , 8 , ‒

Roundwood Roundwood, historically known as Tóchar ( , meaning 'the causeway'), is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. As of the 2022 census, Roundwood had a population of 907 people. Geography Roundwood is located where the R755 road joins the ...

, Kilmacanogue , , - , , , bgcolor="ffdddd", , bgcolor="ffdddd", – Moorepark , bgcolor="ffdddd", Residential lane. Northbound entrance and exit only. , - , , , bgcolor="ffdddd", , bgcolor="ffdddd", – Quill Road , bgcolor="ffdddd", LILO junction. Leads to Kilmacanogue. Northbound entrance and exit only. , - , , , 9 , (northbound) / (southbound) ‒ Glenview , , - , , , bgcolor="ffdddd", , bgcolor="ffdddd", Drummin Lane , bgcolor="ffdddd", Exit is not signposted. Northbound entrance only. , - , , , 10 , ‒ Delgany, Drummin , , - , , , bgcolor="ffdddd", , bgcolor="ffdddd", , bgcolor="ffdddd", LILO junction. Leads back to junction 10. Southbound entrance and exit only. , - , , , 11 , – Greystones (South), Kilpedder, Kilcoole , , - , , , 12 , –

(North), Roundwood , , - , , , 13 , ‒ Newtownmountkennedy (South)
‒

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, , - , , , bgcolor="dff9f9", 14 , bgcolor="dff9f9", ‒ Coynes Cross , bgcolor="dff9f9", Continues as M11 motorway. , - , , , bgcolor="ffdddd", 15 , bgcolor="ffdddd", ‒ Ashford , bgcolor="ffdddd", Northbound entrance and southbound exit only. , - , , , 16 , ‒ Ashford,

, Roundwood (northbound)

(North), Rathnew (southbound) , , - , , , 17 , ‒ Wicklow, Rathdrum, Rathnew , , - , , , 18 , ‒ Wicklow (South), Redcross , , - , , , 19 , ‒ Brittas Bay , , - , , , 20 , ‒

(North), Redcross , , - , , , 21 , ‒ Arklow (South),

, , - , rowspan="6",

, , , colspan="3" align="center", Motorway Services Ireland

Gorey Service Area , - , , , 22 , ‒

(North), Inch , , - , , , 23 , ‒ Gorey, Ballycanew
– Courtown , , - , , , 24 , ‒

, Camolin , , - , , , 25 , ‒

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

( N80),

( R772)
– Blackwater , Ferns , - , , , bgcolor="dff9f9", , bgcolor="dff9f9", – Enniscorthy , bgcolor="dff9f9", Motorway ends at roundabout. Continues as N11 single carriageway towards Wexford and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:N11 Road (Ireland) 11 Roads in County Dublin Roads in County Wicklow Roads in County Wexford