On Trains & Buses

Éire: Regional Services

Reading time: 5 minutes.

Some of what might otherwise be considered as local bus routes in Ireland are too long in length for that. Thus, I have added an intermediate classification and collected them here. Other long distance routes also get confined to one part of the country, so these get included here too. My hope is that they give you ideas for the exploration of Irish countryside by bus, since the network has improved massively in recent years. You might be surprised at what is becoming possible.

228: Cork - Kinsale

229: Cork - Bantry

230: Cork - Skibbereen

While Bus Éireann may be the dominant interurban bus service provider in West Cork (see the next bunch of routes for evidence of that), that had not stopped Dave Long Coach Travel, trading as West Cork Connect, from offering competing services. Route 228 is the most extensive of the lot and avoids Cork Airport to offer shorter journey times. Route 230 then is the only one that I sampled when I felt the benefit of not getting stranded if the last Bus Éireann departure of the day was full. It worked well and alleviated a possible worry. This route is not as frequent as the Kinsale one, so that is something to remember. Route 229 only offers two return journeys a day, and the timings did not work for me when I went on a day trip to Bantry a few years ago. Still, what you get is a good complement to the network operated by the state operator. If it helps to keep prices lower too, that is even better.

228 Timetable

229 Timetable

230 Timetable

236: Cork - Dunmanway - Bantry - Glengarriff - Castletownbere

237: Cork - Clonakilty - Skibbereen - Schull - Goleen

239: Cork - Bandon - Courtmacsherry - Butlerstown

The main reason for bundling together these services is that they all serve Bandon before going their different ways beyond there. When it comes to planning, you need to remember that some places are not served every day of the week. However, Local Link services offer connections that can remedy that. The scenery gets wilder the further west you go, so added effort and journey times will be rewarded, especially if the weather works out for you. There are social delights, too, that complement the coastal and mountain scenery for those desiring such things. West Cork is not without its attractions, that is for sure.

236 Timetable

237 Timetable

239 Timetable

245: Cork - Fermoy - Mitchelstown - Ballyporeen - Clogheen - Ardfinnan - Clonmel

The mainstay of this route is the portion between Cork and Fermoy that enjoys an hourly frequency every day of the week apart from Sunday. There also are Monday to Friday inbound morning extensions to Munster Technological University during that college’s term time, but there is nothing in the opposite direction, so students need to change buses in Cork city centre on their way home.

What particularly interests me are those extensions as far as Clonmel (Mitchelstown is a terminus in some cases) since that is near the northern edge of the Comeragh Mountains. Both Ballyporeen (which has associations with former U.S. President Ronald Reagan) and Clogheen (associated with Roman Catholic martyr Fr. Nicholas Sheehy) are access points for the Knockmealdown Mountains with their selection of long-distance walking routes. The latter of these also is near the scenic vantage point that is The Vee. Weekends see two or three journeys over the whole route while this doubles on other days of the week. Journey times are around two hours so that may limit some day trips but extensive coverage from early morning to late evening on many days of the week may allow early starts and late finishes that compensate for this.

245 Timetable

270: Killarney - Glenflesk - Kilgarvan - Kenmare - Glengarriff - Bantry - Skibbereen

In 2023, this route got a major overhaul. Firstly, there was a major boost in frequency between Killarney and Kenmare, the original and still the main section of the route, to a point where it is nearly hourly. In addition, there was an extension as far as Skibbereen for many of the journeys during the day (in the region of five to six of them).

In this was the case in 2023 when I hiked along the Kerry Way from Kenmare to Killarney, it would have allowed an earlier start for the timetable was much sparser back then. Nevertheless, the later start time did little to throttle my plans and a side trip to the top of Torc Mountain came to fruition. The longer hours of daylight in the summer months had their uses. Speaking of uses, the enhanced timetable and route extension opens up even more possibilities as long as there is no reduction in the service level.

270 Timetable

314: Limerick - Askeaton - Foynes - Tarbert - Listowel - Moyvane - Ballybunion

This is one of the longer local routes in Ireland with the whole route taking in excess of two hours to travel. There are four journeys in each direction seven days a week, while the section between Limerick and Foynes sees additional journeys from Monday to Saturday to bring the frequency to near two-hourly. In fact, the shorter portion once comprised the whole route, with extensions into Kerry only happening during the Irish primary school holiday season. The added service level and newer buses mean that this feels more usable than it ever did, as I found out for myself not so long ago.

314 Timetable