Road nostalgia

mysterious wrote:

Does many remember going through Newmarket on Fergus, I'm sure?

The infamous S bend was a nightmare, traffic on that road was horrendous, considering it was a bog road. The road passes the Clare inn and Dromoland, which has great views. To be honest I'm even forgetting New market on Fergus even exists. the Bus eireann fleet don't stop there anymore for some strange reason, unlike other routes such as the N8 and N7 where most buses still go through the towns that were bypassed.

Patrickswell in Limerick is almost forgotten aswell. This village used to be crazy in the summer. The bypass is opened a good few years btw, hard to imagine. funny I even nearly forgot about Croom, I haven't been through there since the bypass either, it was treacherous going through from what I can remember.

Callan is also another famous bypassed town, and it's old as far as I can remember back. Would anyone know why Callan got a bypass specially, I mean surely a secondary road didn't take that much traffic 10 15 years ago? was it because it took Cork Dublin traffic funneled through at the time?. I was on that road when I was very young. The Callan bypass must of being there a good few years.


I think of this generation, the most infamous town to go through would have being Kildare town, Christ the traffic was dreadful, especially during the holiday season. At one time tailbacks streched all the way from Monasterevin on a Bank holiday when we travelled the other direction thank god:eek:

Newmarket on Fergus.... Last time through it for me was September 2001, just before the bypass opened. Great ham and cheese sambo on batch in the garage on your left as you head towards Ennis! (Im sorry, but this is life on the road, which is why I understand the importance of railways so much.)

I was in Patrickswell last year and its become very "localized" since the bypass. You can now cross the road at a leisurely pace. It has gone back to its "village" ways since the bypass. Development here would be very beneficial.

Callan bypass is from the early 90s around the time the Kilkenny ring road was built. Its reason? In all fairness, I would suggest that it was a "political" thing.

As for Kildare town, its history now and the town itself has returned to the way I remember it back in the 80s. A few years ago, it was chronic, but I was lucky enough to know the "shortcut" around the traffic.

Lets remember that the current Inter Urban road schemes, whether we agree or disagree, give real living standards, back to the many communities bypassed, rather than "kill" the commercial/retail potential.

Naas, Newbridge, Kildare and Kilcullen are still booming, despite the doom and gloom predictions from retailers. They seemed to think that passing trade was important, but they forgot the important principle of giving the town back to the community and the community having an incentive to visit/socialize/shop in the town without 1000s of cars choking it up. Now all we have is a few hundred cars choking them up as locals drive, in this car culture/badly planned country of ours. But it could've been worse.

Im OT. But "nostalgia" takes many forms.

DerekP11 wrote:

When he brought a friend of his one year, we were dropped at a pub on the old N25, very near Little Island, on the left hand side as you head towards Midleton. Anyone know the name of it? Had some great Turkey and Ham there in the run up to a long since passed Christmas.

Probobly the pub next to Fitzpatricks shop, or maybe The Island Gate or the truck stop next to The Island Gate

mike65 wrote:

Callan by-pass was vital as if you ever drove though it you'd know the pinch-point was a street not wide enough for two large vans, in an age of an ever greater number of heavy good vehicles its nothing political just practical. Dublin Cork traffic would be nowhere near Callan unless very lost.

Mike.

Agreed about the narrow street in Callan. But Thomastown on the busier N9 is still a narrow street problem on a route linking two cities. Thats why I suggested Callan was political. N9 should have been first. Its a national primary route and one of the worst in the country.

Barnesmore Gap is beautiful even with the road improvements. I remember you could see the route of the old Donegal narrow guage following the road.

As for the Conor Pass. No need for us to get nostalgic. It'll never change and always be stunning.

Took the old N6 out of Galway city a few weeks back. Lovely views out onto the bay. Hardly a car in sight. Oranmore has come on a fair bit in recent years too.

. When he brought a friend of his one year, we were dropped at a pub on the old N25, very near Little Island, on the left hand side as you head towards Midleton.

Definitely the Island Gate. Had Turkey there again this December, while along for a spin with one of the last loads of beet going to Mallow, reliving a youth misspent driving tractors. I used drive that road while going to college in the early 1990s, before the 'East Cork Parkway -ECP' (N25) was opened. Used take 75-80mins from Midleton to UCC. When the Tunnel and ECP opened that fell to just over 25mins. Now its back up again to similar times, I hear.

The narrow street in Callan is another one, got stuck there in August 1994 with a big square baler. Met a low loader. Not fun :eek:

A more recent one would be the narrow winding section of the N9 through Moone and Timolin, a road that doesn't look like it has changed much since the early 19th C. I had my one moment of fame on that road while they were finishing the Bolton Hill realignment. Lorraine Keane of AA Roadwatch referred to me as a "slow moving vehicle (Ford TW-15 actually love) holding up traffic on the N9". Firstly, the road looked clear, there was no traffic ahead of me anyways , and if she was going to talk about me the least she could have done was say hi!