41 routes around the Dún Laoghaire test centre in Co. Dublin, 26 of them recorded on real driving tests. Drive them with spoken turn-by-turn guidance, and hear the tricky spots before you reach them.
Free to download. A Centre Pass unlocks every Dún Laoghaire route from €9.99: a one-time payment that runs from the day you buy it, so buy it close to your test. Independent app, not run or approved by the RSA.
The places learners who tested here talk about most, and what they advise. Advice sometimes differs: road markings and your instructor have the final word.
The most discussed place for this centre. Learners say the lane markings are unusual: coming from Avondale/Ballinclea Road towards Rochestown Avenue, the left lane is for turning left only, so you need the right lane even though it is the second exit. They also mention traffic lights and a pedestrian crossing just after some exits, and cars arriving fast or squeezing in on the right.
Learners disagree on whether you will be taken on the N11: some say it is avoided at busy school-run times, while others were brought onto it at busy times, once right at the start of the test. One learner picked up faults for staying in the right-hand lane too long on the way back to the centre, and another who failed on a lane change there near the end got replies pointing to mirror checks before moving across.
Learners often name Sallynoggin roundabout alongside the Graduate and advise learning its exits; commenters say not to count the car-park entrance by the Domino's as an exit. One learner warns the nearby estates are very narrow, with parked cars, two-way yields and cycle paths crossing the road.
Learners describe the Cabinteely route as hilly, with mini-roundabouts, parked cars and school traffic. One learner who failed here describes a blind yield junction on a hill, made worse by low sun, and suggests stopping and creeping forward there.
On the way back to the centre, the right turn from Johnstown Road into Pottery Road uses a filter lane separated by a bike lane; one learner who failed says they missed the bike lane and their mirror checks. Learners also mention a filter light that is sometimes for straight ahead only and traffic merging from a slip road. In one thread learners disagree about whether a red light just after the left turn applies to you.
Learners describe this junction as a confusing set of large yellow boxes that is easy to end up partly inside. Their advice is to go past the lights only if there is room to wait short of the box, and to enter the box only when your exit is clear.
Several learners were taken to Granville Road and the estates off it, such as Woodlands, for the reverse around the corner or the turnabout. One learner was marked for progress among the many parked cars in the Granville Road and Auburn Avenue area. Posts disagree on the speed limit: one says the area is a 50, while a reply says Granville Road is a 30 that feels like a 50, so watch for the signs.
Newer road markings at the Deansgrange crossroads guide the right turn towards the test centre around a marked box in the middle of the junction. When one learner asked whether cutting straight across the box is fine when it is empty, nearly all replies said to follow the marked lane round, as cutting the corner can be marked. Another learner describes the crossroads as busy.
One learner practising for this centre found the right turn out of Foxrock Avenue onto Kill Lane confusing. The side road has no lights of its own, but there are pedestrian lights and a yellow box on the main road, and another set of lights comes straight after you join.
Learners describe the Pottery Road centre (by the Lidl) as having a 15 km/h road with zebra crossings, then a STOP sign at the top of a hill where the view is blocked, so they advise stopping at the line and then creeping forward. Since 2024 some tests start from the Rochestown Lodge hotel instead; learners mention a ramp that works like a hill start, a narrow exit with a STOP sign, and a tight underground car park.
How many of the 41 routes use each road. The roads near the top are the ones to know well.
Distinct places across all 41 routes, and what the tester watches for at each.
Scan the footpaths early and be ready to stop.
Filter arrows and yellow boxes: never enter a box you cannot clear.
Testers mark speeding and driving too slowly for the road.
Lane choice by exit, a signal on approach where needed, and a left signal after the exit before yours.
A full stop at the line every time, even when the road is clear.
Slow, look, and go only when it is safe: no rolling guess.
Treat it like a full roundabout: observation, yield to the right, signal.
Check the times on the sign before you use or cross it.
30, 50, 60, 80 km/h. Know the default for each road type in speed limits, and every sign in Irish road signs.
Worked out from the Dún Laoghaire routes themselves.
The Dún Laoghaire routes pass 33 different roundabouts. Know which lane each exit needs before you get there; signs and road markings beat the shape of the roundabout.
Read the guideSome Dún Laoghaire routes reach 80 km/h roads. Build up to a safe speed that suits the road: hesitancy and holding back are marked too.
Read the guideThere are 94 places where the limit changes. Watch for the signs, and settle at the new limit promptly.
147 sets of traffic lights across the routes. Practise right turns at lights and the yellow box rule.
Read the guide27 STOP signs across the routes. Rolling through one is a common fault; stop at the line, then creep and look.
Turas marks the likely spot for each manoeuvre on every route: quiet side roads, straight stretches and hills. Across the Dún Laoghaire routes:
Works with CarPlay. Mount your phone; never hold it while driving.
26 of the 41 Dún Laoghaire routes were recorded on real driving tests; the rest are practice routes on the same roads. Each is matched to the OpenStreetMap road network, and learners' shared drives are checked every week for changes. Last updated 30 October 2026. The tester still chooses the route on the day. How test routes work.
Pass rate: 55.4% in 2022 (national 53.2%). That is the RSA's latest table by centre, so treat it as a rough guide. Most fails come from things you can practise: observation, progress and lane choice. All centres.
Waiting time: about 19 weeks until you are invited to book a test, at the end of September 2026 (national average 11.9 weeks). All centres.
That is one of the longest waits in the country. A Centre Pass counts its days from the moment you buy, so buy it in the weeks before your test, not at the start of the wait.
Addresses from the RSA's list of test centres; waiting time from RSA figures published by the CSO. Your appointment letter has the final word.
With about 19 weeks to wait at Dún Laoghaire, apply on MyRoadSafety as soon as your EDT lessons are uploaded, and use the wait: learn the road signs and Rules of the Road questions the tester asks first, and drive with your accompanying driver.
Turas: Driving Test Routes for iPhone. Spoken turn-by-turn guidance on the routes around your centre, with the tricky spots called out before you reach them.
