Getting To The Dublin City Half Marathon Start Line: Travel Disruption And What You Need To Know

Runners heading into Dublin for the Dublin City Half Marathon this May Bank Holiday weekend are being urged to plan ahead, with significant disruption across DART, rail, Luas, and road networks expected to impact race morning travel.

With the race starting on Upper O’Connell Street, access into the city centre will be anything but straightforward.

DART Disruption

The biggest issue comes from Irish Rail engineering works across the weekend.

There will be no DART services between Connolly and Malahide or Howth from Saturday through Bank Holiday Monday, with multiple northside stations completely closed.

That includes key commuter stops such as:

Clontarf Road
Raheny
Kilbarrack
Howth Junction
Sutton and Bayside

In simple terms, if you’re coming from the northside coast, your usual DART route into the city is gone.

Northern Commuter trains are also affected, with many services cancelled and replaced by limited bus transfers.

Luas Disruption

On race day itself, Luas services are heavily restricted due to the event.

From early morning:

Green Line: No service between St Stephen’s Green and Dominick from 7:00am to 9:30am
Red Line: No service between Smithfield and Connolly/The Point during the same window

This is crucial because it cuts off direct tram access into the city centre right when runners are trying to arrive.

Later in the morning, further Red Line disruption continues between George’s Dock and The Point until early afternoon.

On top of that, broader Luas engineering works across the weekend will already have services reduced and rerouted.

Bus Diversions Across Key Race Routes

Dublin Bus and other operators will also be affected, with widespread diversions in place.

Routes impacted include:

O’Connell Street
Drumcondra
Malahide Road
Howth Road
Clontarf and Coast Road
Gardiner Street

Road Closures Around the Start Area

The race itself brings significant road closures right at the heart of the city.

Key restrictions include:

O’Connell Street southbound closed from 3:00am to 1:00pm
O’Connell Street northbound closed from 6:30am to 10:00am
Closures across Drumcondra, Beaumont, Collins Avenue and surrounding routes during the morning.

Allow Extra Time For Travel

This is one of those race days where everything stacks up at once:

Bank Holiday engineering works
Reduced rail services
Luas restrictions
Bus diversions
City-wide road closures

Individually, you’d manage them. Together, they’ll catch people out.

And if you’re staying in Dublin the night before, you’ve already won half the battle.