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Who knows Ireland?
- Thread starter Subway
- Start date
We had a great time in Ireland, visited my grand parents farms, lots of pubs, really fun.
It will be different for you with GPS telling you which way to go but when we went to Ireland in 2008 I had driven left side in Saint Thomas and thought I was ready but Ireland was harder - higher speeds on the highway. You tend to stay too left in your lane - you can tell the Americans on the road with the rental bar code in the window and the car too far left. Put the double yellow line in the lower right corner of the windshield where the NY State inspection sticker is - like you drive here. Once I figured that out it was easy to stay in lane.
Dublin getting from airport to hotel - I had my 13 year old son reading the map and navigating - but the street signs are on the buildings and random designs and colors so they are really hard to spot. Roundabouts on the highway - you are basically going left, right or straight at each one which was all the data besides just trying to get through them that my brain could handle at once. My wife would be map navigating talking about what town, etc. I would be like "Left, Right or Straight?". She learned to quiet down and just say the one word. At that time there were really only manual transmission rental cars. And the Irish are spirited drivers - more so than Americas I think. I had a cousin leading me somewhere on dark back roads one night - high speeds and no mercy
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It took longer to get everywhere than I thought it would when looking at their maps - 50% to 100% longer - the speeds were a bit slower and the roads smaller than here. And the driving tired me out - I had to take a day off after 5 days or so and just stay at the hotel for a day - I was beat.
My wife had a Volvo wagon reserved for 2 weeks for $1,200 about 3 months out. Two weeks out she sees it advertised with the same company for 1/2 the price but none available. She took the risk, cancelled our car and suddenly there was one available at the lower cost which she then booked.
It will be different for you with GPS telling you which way to go but when we went to Ireland in 2008 I had driven left side in Saint Thomas and thought I was ready but Ireland was harder - higher speeds on the highway. You tend to stay too left in your lane - you can tell the Americans on the road with the rental bar code in the window and the car too far left. Put the double yellow line in the lower right corner of the windshield where the NY State inspection sticker is - like you drive here. Once I figured that out it was easy to stay in lane.
Dublin getting from airport to hotel - I had my 13 year old son reading the map and navigating - but the street signs are on the buildings and random designs and colors so they are really hard to spot. Roundabouts on the highway - you are basically going left, right or straight at each one which was all the data besides just trying to get through them that my brain could handle at once. My wife would be map navigating talking about what town, etc. I would be like "Left, Right or Straight?". She learned to quiet down and just say the one word. At that time there were really only manual transmission rental cars. And the Irish are spirited drivers - more so than Americas I think. I had a cousin leading me somewhere on dark back roads one night - high speeds and no mercy
.It took longer to get everywhere than I thought it would when looking at their maps - 50% to 100% longer - the speeds were a bit slower and the roads smaller than here. And the driving tired me out - I had to take a day off after 5 days or so and just stay at the hotel for a day - I was beat.
My wife had a Volvo wagon reserved for 2 weeks for $1,200 about 3 months out. Two weeks out she sees it advertised with the same company for 1/2 the price but none available. She took the risk, cancelled our car and suddenly there was one available at the lower cost which she then booked.
Limestone reefs… Boat in or hike in… A long way from help if you need it… Over land there are a lot of stone walls to cross and they ain’t small…
Watch this before you go…
Wife and I just got back from a 2 week road trip around the island.
Place is amazing! Didn't bring a board but got a couple of days of guided fishing in.
Stayed at 5 places 3 nights each. Ballynahinch Castle was my favorite, had a world-class salmon/trout river running right in front of our room. Sheen Falls Lodge was pretty sweet too.
We did see some pretty sweet setups for surf. Good luck getting the cottage.
If you end up in Dublin at some point hit this place up, mighty fine Irish Coffee!
Place is amazing! Didn't bring a board but got a couple of days of guided fishing in.
Stayed at 5 places 3 nights each. Ballynahinch Castle was my favorite, had a world-class salmon/trout river running right in front of our room. Sheen Falls Lodge was pretty sweet too.
We did see some pretty sweet setups for surf. Good luck getting the cottage.
If you end up in Dublin at some point hit this place up, mighty fine Irish Coffee!
so, we're going to stay at Ard Einne House on Inis Mor for 3 nights- I HAVE to hire a horse drawn buggy to take us to the limestone reefs. If i don't get a photo of me and my bro, and our boards (and our wenches too i suppose) being driven in a hackney to some barely ridden limestone reef off some unpronounceable Irish beach, then my trip will not be complete
sounds amazing!
i did indeed win the cottage. 6 nights in a 3 bedroom cottage, built in the 1800's and recently renovated, right on a cliff above the ocean down the road from Doonbeg, for $800 (the $800 all goes to a cool little whaling museum that i help support occasionally)
I'm thinking the first 2 nights in Dublin, then 3 nights on Inis Mor, then 6 nights in the cottage near Doonbeg, and wrap it up with another 3 nights in another region TBD
You're going to love the place, too much green to believe.
If you have time in Dublin check out the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) lots of history about the 1913 uprising and others, I didn't think I'd like it but it's really interesting. Also, the EPIC Museum as well as the Titanic Museum in Dublin was great.
Blarney Castle is really cool, too, (don't kiss the stone though - gross!)
Unfortunately, the salmon hasn't started their run up the rivers from the sea.
I did however manage 1/2 dozen brown trout on the fly.
Yes - the jail is worth seeing - much more modern construction in the main jail than you would think for the late 1700's I think it was - iron structure inside. We picked up our car the last day in Dublin - we walked and took the bus for the first few days - you can see everything that way, Trinity College, the pubs, etc. there's a bus that gets about 1/2 mile from the jail and a bus that gets close to the airport where the rental car places are. Across the street from the post office which they were barricaded in during the uprising which has bullet marks on it from the uprising there's a bronze statue of a woman - there's a bullet hole in her chest - I randomly found that.
Should we go to Belfast? Can you just do a day trip up there and see the sights and visit the museum? Or is there a whole border crossing hassle or whatever? I know it’s not the gritty nearly-civil war Belfast of the 70s and early 80s, but, is it just all normal now?
Belfast was just ok… I would prefer to do the Dingle peninsula and/or the Ring of Kerry… Be sure to see the Giants Causeway… Sound like you’ll have an awesome adventure… Oh yeah, buy a sweater or two…