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County Donegal · Ireland (beta)
Ireland has no byway network like England's. What it does have is public local roads that were never tarmacked: green roads, bog roads and old mountain tracks the council still lists as public. We've mapped 391 of them across County Donegal.
*Listed by the council as public local roads and mapped as unsurfaced. Check each one on the day before riding.
Every road here follows a road on Donegal's list of public local roads, the councils' Local Road Network published by the Road Management Office. That list says a road is public but not what it's like, so OpenStreetMap supplies the line and tells us the stretch is unsurfaced.
We only keep a track when most of it runs along a listed road. Anything mapped as private, no access or a footpath is left out, and so are tracks named as walking routes, disused railways or private roads.
A few of them. Each has its own page with a map and where it runs.
A public road is open to a road-legal motorcycle, but check it on the day. The Roads Act 1993 counts footpaths as roads too, so now and then a public road on the council's list is one that's only open on foot. If a road looks like a footpath, a farmyard or a private drive when you get there, turn round.
There's no general right to ride off-road in Ireland. Forestry roads, bogs, beaches and farmland are private unless the council lists them as a public road, and need the owner's permission. Your bike needs to be road legal, taxed and insured, the same as on any other road.
Ireland has no byway network like England's, so there's no green lane designation to look for. What there is: public local roads that were never surfaced, which you can ride on a road-legal, taxed and insured motorcycle like any other public road. Holloway maps the ones in County Donegal the council lists as public roads. Private land, forestry roads and bogs need the owner's permission.
Each one follows a road on Donegal's list of public local roads (the councils' Local Road Network, published by the Road Management Office), and OpenStreetMap maps that stretch as unsurfaced. We leave out anything mapped as private, no access or a footpath, and tracks named as walking routes.
Local roads in Ireland are numbered L-1234 by the council. Most are tarmac lanes; a small number are unsurfaced green roads, and those are the ones on this page. The road number is what the council uses, so it is the best thing to quote if you ask them about one.
Yes, every time. Surfaces and access change, a gate or a closure can appear, and a public road in Ireland can occasionally be one that is only open on foot. If it looks like a footpath or private yard on the day, turn round.
Browse every mapped road, free with a quick email sign-in. Route planning and GPX export are part of Holloway Premium.
Open HollowayRoad list from the councils' Local Road Network (Road Management Office, CC BY 4.0). Lines and surfaces © OpenStreetMap contributors. Reference only: Ireland is in beta on Holloway, check each road on the day before riding.