The R392 road is a regional road in

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 ...

linking Lanesborough,

County Longford County Longford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the Local government in the Republic ...

on the N63 to

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midland Region, with a population of 22,667 in the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census. The Counties of M ...

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) 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 Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

. Its route takes it in an arch (NW to SE) roughly west of the

Royal Canal The Royal Canal () is a canal originally built for freight and passenger transportation from Dublin to Longford in Ireland. It is one of two canals from Dublin to the River Shannon and was built in direct competition to the Grand Canal. Th ...

, which it crosses three times. The main town en route is

Ballymahon Ballymahon () on the River Inny (Leinster), River Inny is a town in the southern part of County Longford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is 19 km north-east of Athlone, at the junction of the N55 road, N55 and R392 road (Ireland), R392 ro ...

, where it crosses the N55 and the River Inny. The R392 closely follows the route of a portion of an ancient ceremonial route known as the Slighe Assail, from

Rathcroghan Rathcroghan () is a complex of archaeological sites near Tulsk in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is identified as the site of Cruachan, the traditional capital of the Connachta, the prehistoric and early historic rulers of the western territory ...

, in

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

(the ancient capital of the kingdom of Connaught), to the

Hill of Tara The Hill of Tara ( or ) is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath, Ireland. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in Irish mythology. ...

, in county Meath (the ancient capital of Ireland and residence of the

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to leg ...

). As such it formed one of the legendary Five Roads of Tara. This largely accounts for the remarkable straightness of the R392 compared to other Regional roads in Ireland. The route also closely passes the Hill of Uisneach, an even older royal and spiritual site than Tara located between the villages of Moyvore and Loughnavalley and place of origin of the festival of Bealtine. West of

, before crossing the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( or archaic ') is the major river on the island of Ireland, and at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of I ...

, the R392 runs adjacent and parallel to the Corlea Trackway, an ancient wooden trackway across a peat bog found by Bord na Mona workers in the 1980s and excavated fully in 1991. This link with the Corlea Trackway indicates the R392 route to be one of the oldest routes in Ireland, possibly even in Europe. The road is long.

References

Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2006
–

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 ...

{{Roads in Ireland Regional roads in the Republic of Ireland Roads in County Westmeath Roads in County Longford

See also

References