Healy Pass
R574 · Adrigole → Lauragh · Ireland
- Length
- 8 miles
- Drive time
- 25 min
- Type
- Technical road
- Region
- Ireland & the Isle of Man
Before you go: ⚠ Narrow with tight hairpins — take it slow, meet sheep
The Beara peninsula's zig-zag masterpiece: stacked hairpins over the Caha Mountains between Adrigole and Lauragh, built as famine relief in 1847 and barely changed since.
Adrigole to Lauragh on the R574: stacked hairpins over the Caha Mountains, built as famine relief in 1847 and not much widened since. It is the Beara peninsula's mountain road — tighter and quieter than the Ring of Kerry, with Glanmore Lake appearing on the north side as you come down. Surface is narrow country tarmac. Sheep in the road. Tight enough that a wide car wants the whole hairpin.
O'Sullivans in Glengarriff is the last easy fuel before you commit. The summit is a small pull-off, not a visitor centre; that is the photograph, looking back at the hairpin wall. Take it slow, which the geometry enforces anyway. Summer is still quieter than the Ring; that is the point.
Pair it with the Ring of Beara coastal roads and, if you have the days, Conor Pass and the Ring of Kerry. The Kerry & Beara Great Escape already does that.
This is a famine road that became a driving road. Meet the sheep at walking pace and let the hairpins be numbered in your head, not on the clock. Count the hairpins on the Adrigole side and you will still be surprised by the last one. Lauragh is small; Glengarriff is the fuel and the cream tea if you missed O'Sullivans. The Beara is the quieter peninsula — keep it that way. If you meet a campervan in a hairpin, one of you is reversing a long way; make it the one who can see. Pair with the R572 coast rather than rushing back to the Ring.
Highlights of the Healy Pass
- Stacked hairpin wall
- Glanmore Lake view north
- Utter quiet
Where to stop on the Healy Pass
- O'Sullivans filling station, Glengarriff fuel — Last fuel before Adrigole — nothing over the pass to Lauragh
- Healy Pass summit viewpoint — Pull in at the 334 m crest on the Cork–Kerry border — Glanmore Lake and the hairpins spread out below
Drive the Healy Pass
Open Healy Pass on the map → ⬇ Download GPX
GPX works with Garmin, TomTom, Beeline and most bike sat-navs. Free, no sign-up — these are indicative waypoints, so follow the road signs, not the arrow.
Plot it, add it to a club run with a meeting point and pit stops, then share the whole trip as one link. Free, no account, works offline.
Route research: Club road index
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