Hi. My wife and I will be making a 10-day tour of the west of Ireland in May. I'm still planning the itinerary, but planning on flying into/out of Shannon and seeing Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Kinsale, etc. I have driven a lot in England and Scotland. The narrow/one-lane roads don't bother me and driving on the left doesn't bother me. Will we encounter many high mountainous roads with sheer drop-offs? In other words, should I expect many 'white-knuckle' days of driving? Thanks for any help. Jazzman

Hi Jazzman:

If the roads in England and Scotland don't bother you, you should be OK in Ireland. The backroads of Devon and Cornwall with their 10 foot hedges are much more harrowing than those in Ireland.

That said, as far as cliffs are concerned, Connor Pass on the Dingle Peninsula is narrow with some serious drop offs, but it is lined by a rock wall most of the way. It sounds like you are headed south so Slieve League in Donegal is not a question, but that road has a couple of scary spots.

Bill

Bill, thanks for the info. Is Donegal a place we should consider visiting? I'm still planning the trip. And you're right about the 10-foot hedges in Cornwall. Actually I kind of enjoyed driving there -- for the challenge.

Jazzman

Donegal is always worth a visit. The Inishowen Penisula is spectacular--one of my most favorite places in Ireland.

But if you are planning to head south from the Galway/Connemara area, then Donegal would be tough to do if you only have 10 days.

There definitely aren't as many guard rails and such in the mountains here, but I find it much more terrifying to come around a corner at 60 mph and see an oil truck barreling along toward me in my lane,.

Jazzman,

we just returned from a one week stay in Ireland (trip report to follow once I get through the mounds of paperwork upon my return). Also, I have driven in Scotland.

I thought the single-track roads in Scotland were scarier than the cliffside drop-offs in Ireland. However, my better half vehemently disagrees. She was very uncomfortable with the very serious drop-offs at Connor Pass, as Bill mentioned. Also, there are similar drop-offs near Moll's Gap between Killarney and Kenmare, on the N-71 between Kenmare and Glengariff, and at Healy Pass.

I just went slower and tried to remind her that everyone else seemed to be surviving these cliff drives, and we would too. I found the driving very easy--I had only one truck in 6 days cross over the center line into my lane. Otherwise, trucks & buses generally kept to their side.

I'm a white knuckled passenger for sure. Maybe because it was at the end of our trip last month, but the Connor Pass didn't faze me at all. The N71 between Glengariff and Kenmare was the worst for me, and some inland mountain road my husband found that landed us in Allihies was equally bad. Healy Pass was just so amazing to me that I forgot to be scared! The areas around the Cliffs, Galway, and Kinsale are not generally high roads, just your typical narrow, hedge-lined, winding roads. (We went to Slieve League last year, and I will never forget the woman who got out of the car at the parking area at the top, threw herself on a nearby rock and refused to budge because she was so terrified of the height. And no, it wasn't me!)

One thing you can always count on when driving in the Republic is encountering cars, and trucks unfortunately, passing dangerously, and therefore in your lane long after they should be. And I've been driving in the north and south for the past 500 days, and on and off for 15 years.

The thing is that you just need to pay attention and be ready for anything. Not like the US or Canada where you can basically drive on autopilot. But since you've driven in England and Scotland that's something you would already be aware of.

Got to agree with allisonm about the Slieve League drive. It would be a very challenging walk, but I'd never drive it again! I still have bad dreams about passing cars while driving as close to an 800 foot drop-off as possible! Most roads are fine, albeit narrow. We have had more problems with hedgerows along the road, and making sure we don't hit them while trying to avoid oncoming cars.

The road up Slieve League must be more crowded than Sept 01 when we drove it! We didn't encounter any white-knuckle roads in Ireland although we didn't go over the high pass on the Dingle Penn. I agree that those stone walls encroaching over the roads in Cornwall are much scarier. However, our 3 weeks were the year of the hoof and mouth scare and I think we only met 3 tour buses the entire trip. We saw one tractor pulling a hay wagon and he promptly pulled over. I don't remember the Glengarrif to Kenmare section being scary at all. It was so beautiful it's a section of the country I would like to return to.

hi jazzman - agree with others, if you've driven in scotland and ireland you'll have no problem here. slieve league is a wee bit scary but take it slowly and not too bad - and this is from someone with vertigo! the atlantic drive in downings also in the north west has parts that are quite high up and near the edge but again, slow driving is best. and all these places are highly recommended!

i have a section on my website which covers driving in ireland including legal aspects, etc. which you might find helpfull. site: www.welovedonegal.com
i've also some money saving tips, clothes to bring, safety in ireland, etc.

also i recently found a brilliant site which tells you how to get from a to b in ireland, it gives you exact routes to take, miles, length of time. i have checked it with routes with which i am familiar and it works perfectly. site: wwwlaaroadwatch.ie/routes/

if you have ten days and intending to travel to the west then you could easily do galway, sligo, leitrim, donegal (the best! ) and also lots of northern ireland too where there is also some magnificent scenery.

may is a great month to come to ireland as that and september are the two months that usually have the best weather.

good luck on your travels! catherine

I haven't driven in Ireland yet, but the same conditions exist in the US. My mom was describing driving along narrow, mountainious county roads in the Sedona area in Arizona, with no guardrails. Everybody on that trip survived.

This may or may not make you feel better, but a guardrail is just a thin strip of metal. Not exactly guaranteed to keep your car from plunging over the mountain side. But I'm sure you'll be fine.