The R336 coast road
Spiddal's main street is a regional road with a long reach. The R336 leaves Galway by Salthill and follows the shore of the bay through Barna, Furbo, Spiddal and Inverin to Costelloe, where it turns north past Screeb and Maam Cross and up the Maam Valley between two mountain ranges to Leenaun, 83 kilometres from the city. It is the road of the Gaeltacht, and for the county council it is also a problem.
Checked against the source on 2026-09-19.
Ceardlann - Spiddal Craft Village, An Trá Mhór on the 3D model; tap a pin for its page and directions.
The route
From Leenaun the road runs south through Joyce Country between the Maumturks and the Partry mountains to Maum, where it meets the R345, crosses the N59 at Maam Cross, meets the R340 at Screeb and the R343 at Costelloe, then turns east along the bay through Indreabhán, Spiddal, Furbo, Barna and Salthill to the N6 and N83. The Roads Act order of 2012 defines it. Bus Éireann route 424 uses it as far as Carraroe and Rossaveal.
The upgrade that has not come
The 2014 county development plan for 2015 to 2021 named the 42 km between Barna and Screeb a major obstacle to developing south Connemara and its economy, and called for a major realignment replacing most of the present road. The model on this page pins Spiddal's pier, colleges and beaches; the Spiddal guide describes the village the road runs through.
Questions people ask
How long is the R336?
Which bus runs along the R336?
Written from Wikipedia, "R336 road (Ireland)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), read on 2026-09-19, and from the OpenStreetMap places on the model. Nothing has been added from memory; follow the source for its footnotes.