3.28.26
My husband and I have driven in several countries but nothing quite prepared us for driving through the middle of Ireland in 2019. We knew the basics – our US licenses would work, we’d be driving on the opposite side, and the roads would be smaller. But knowing and experiencing are very different things. So, we set ourselves up for success. We:
- Landed in Shannon (versus Dublin) so we wouldn’t have to drive in heavy traffic right away.
- Rented a small car so we could find and fit into parking during the trip.
Surprise #1 –
Things felt easy at first – lush green landscapes, smooth motorways, and confidence building by the kilometer. Then we left Bunratty Castle and met the real Irish roads. The national primary roads we took were windy and much smaller than we’re used to. My husband stuck to the middle of the road, and we continued to enjoy the scenery, beautiful stone cottages with front gardens and hedgerows or stone walls marking the property lines. When we came upon our first car headed the other way my husband moved to the side of the road to ensure both cars had room. The exterior foliage and branches of the hedgerows smacked violently against my side of the car. I even rolled the window up to be sure I wouldn’t get a whack in the face. Note: there is little to no wiggle room for error!
Surprise #2 –
We continued driving, moving from the primary national roads to secondary national roads. A car came up behind us and let me tell you – Irish people are nice, but man those Feckers tailgate! First chance they got, the car behind us whipped their car around ours and passed. We thought this might be a one-off but soon learned most Irish people drive a bit (or more) above the speed limit. Given that they all grew up driving the tiny roads, they can manage it just fine, but to us, driving 50 kmh through tiny villages felt a little too fast.
Surprise #3 –
Roundabouts are popular in Ireland, but they work differently than in the US. US drivers enter a roundabout from the right and drive left. In Ireland, you enter from the left and continue left. Since several other Irish driving rules were the opposite of what we have in the US, our brains kept making us want to enter from the left and drive right, which would have been disastrous. To avoid this, as we neared all roundabouts going forward, whoever wasn’t driving would yell “left!” to the driver to remind them that they should enter from and drive to the left.
Surprise #4 –
The local roads in Ireland are even smaller than the national secondary roads. So small that, in the US we would label them as tiny one-way roads. Ireland’s solution to this is to riddle their local roads with turnouts, which are parking spaces on the sides of the roads where cars can pull off to let others pass. If you see the car coming you can pull into a turnout, or, more often, you can back up until you’ve reached one you’ve already passed. This might feel normal for the locals, but was a bit nerve-wracking for us tourists unfamiliar with the roads.
Disaster Strikes –
By the time we were a few days into the trip we were in a driving groove, except, we weren’t! We were heading to another destination and my husband was driving. For the first time, we encountered a large delivery truck going the other way just as we’re making our way onto a small stone bridge. My husband and I both cringed and I grabbed my seatbelt for dear life. Fortunately, we weren’t tossed over the bridge into the river below like I feared, but unfortunately, the passenger side of the car scraped against the edge of the bridge. The delivery truck kept driving and we did too, just grateful we made it over in one piece. After we reached our next destination, we inspected the damage. The entire passenger side of the car had visible scrapes on it and because we didn’t get the full insurance, we got socked with a bill for over $700 from the rental company for the repairs!
Final thoughts –
That $700+ lesson still stings more than 5 years later. But every time I think about driving through Ireland, it’s the laughter, scenery, and stories we gained that come to mind first. In my mind, that makes the extra cost worth every penny, and then some!