Speed limits in Ireland
Speed limits in Ireland apply on all public roads in the state. These are regulated in the Road Traffic Act 2004, and are signposted and legislated for in kilometres per hour.
Speed limits are demarcated by regulatory road signs. These consist of white circular signs with a red outline. Speed limits are marked in black with "km/h" below the speed limit. Smaller "repeater" speed limit signs are used along stretches of road where there is no change in speed limit, in order to remind motorists currently on the road and to inform traffic merging from junctions that a certain speed limit applies.
History
The first speed limits in Ireland were introduced prior to independence, by regulations made in 1876 under the Dublin Traffic Act 1875, which prescribed speed limits of for certain vehicles. The Light Locomotives on Highways Order 1896 then set a maximum national speed limit of with a speed limit of for traffic in villages, towns and the Dublin Metropolitan Police District. Vehicles weighing more than 2 tons were restricted to in these areas. This situation was updated in 1933 with Road Traffic Act 1933 prescribing an ordinary speed limit of 25 mph for light motor vehicles or heavy motor vehicles fitted with pneumatic tyres. Lower speed limits were applied for heavy motor vehicles without some pneumatic tyres, or used for pulling another vehicle. Road signage was established by the Traffic Signs Regulations, 1956.However, the main piece of legislation responsible for the introduction of speed limits in Ireland was Part IV of the Road Traffic Act, 1961. This repealed the 1933 Act and allowed the Minister for the Environment to prescribe a general speed limit through regulations made under this Act. It also allowed local authorities to specify special speed limits through regulations made under this Act. The first regulations made were the Road Traffic Regulations, 1963 which set down a speed limit of for all roads except those subject to a built up area speed limit of or special speed limit of. Throughout the mid to late 1960s local authorities studied roads in their areas and had regulations drafted specifically for their county which prescribed speed limits of and along specifically named roads in their administrative area.
On 1 April 1969 the Minister for the Environment through the Road Traffic Regulations, 1969 finally prescribed a general national speed limit of on all roads except those subject to special and built up area speed limits of and. This replaced the speed limit in all but a few cases where regulations had been drafted specifically to impose a limit. While the built up area and special speed limits were clearly indicated to motorists by the number 30, 40 or 50 in black numbers on a white circular background with a red outline, there was no such signage for the general speed limit. This was indicated to motorists by a "general speed limit" applies sign which consisted of a circular white sign with a black diagonal line bisecting it. The general limit was reduced to in 1979 as an energy conservation measure during the 1979 energy crisis. Some drivers remained unaware of this change. A review of speed limits from 1990 to 1992 restored the 60 mph limit.
It was not until 1992 that a 70 mph speed limit was authorised on the State's motorways. This occurred through the Road Traffic Regulations, 1992 and the similar Road Traffic Regulations, 1992. This authorised traffic on the M1, M7, M11 and M50 to travel at 70 mph where signposted. This was extended to motorways in general by the Road Traffic Act, 1994. A minimum speed limit of had previously been set in 1974.
On 20 January 2005, Ireland adopted metric speed limits. Around 35,000 existing signs were replaced and a further 23,000 new signs erected bearing the speed limit in kilometres per hour. To avoid confusion with the old signs, each speed limit sign now has "km/h" beneath the numerals.
In February 2012 Leo Varadkar, then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, tasked a working group with reviewing speed-limit policy and implementation. Its report, published in 2013, identified two key issues: inconsistency of limits between similar roads, and inappropriateness of limits on some roads. It found the default limits were unsafely high on many minor roads where they applied. It recommended the introduction of a "rural speed limit" sign, to emphasise that the statutory maximum speed was not necessarily a safe speed.
Rural speed limit sign
The rural speed limit sign consists of a 450mm diameter white disk with a black border and oblique parallel black bars. The design was chosen in order to remove the "visual target"; nevertheless, the sign still indicates a legal speed limit of . The sign, in combination with a supplementary plate, was introduced in 2015 with the publication of the Guidelines for Setting and Managing Speed Limits in Ireland. It can only be used on single-lane local tertiary roads and selected single-lane local secondary roads and not on national, regional, or local primary roads.Signs
Historic signs
Ordinary speed limits
Different default speed limits apply to particular categories of roads. Default speed limits are termed as "ordinary speed limits" by the Road Traffic Act 2004. There are also speed restrictions for certain classes of vehicles. Speed limits for national secondary roads and in built-up areas are due to decrease later in 2025. As of February 2025, following the enactment of the Road Traffic Act 2024, the ordinary speed limits are as follows:- for motorways
- for national routes that are not motorway status.
- for regional roads.
- for local roads.
- in built up areas.
Special speed limits