Driving in Ireland

The car rental company I used was Enterprise and I would highly recommend them- they were very helpful and let me extend the rental period twice and change the drop off location with no penalty.

It was a steep learning curve to get back behind the wheel of a manual car after more than ten years driving an automatic. Most of the rentals in Ireland are manual and automatic are considerably more expensive. I chose the little Opel Corsa because she had sat.nav and a USB port and could fit into tight parking spaces.  Having to change gears and remember that the indicators were on the other side to what I was used to kept me alert.

The sat.nav got me into trouble on the very first day in Wexford when it directed me down a steep narrow lane in the middle of the city that turned out to be closed off, so I had to back all the way back up the hill with the sensors squawking to warn me that I was too close to the curb. There were a few other experiences of sat.nav taking me places I didn't want to be - even into a parking building in Mallow instead of the airB&B.

Irish drivers are generally very considerate and patient.  Although I did see some risky overtaking of tractors and hay trucks on the back country roads which are often so narrow that cars have to pull over to the side and stop to let oncoming vehicles pass. Trucks etc never pull over to let you pass like they do in NZ. Mostly the road surfaces are in better condition than home with fewer serious potholes. 

 My worst experience was driving through Cork city in the rain, not knowing where I was going and having to navigate through 4-lane roundabouts during rush hour.

.

Nice little Corsa

Parking in Cork city is crazy. Two hours maximum on the street if you are lucky enough to find a space and you are required to buy a disc from a convenience store to leave on the dash. A disc is a scratchy card like scratch and win except you always lose-  2 euros fifty for 2 hours. You are supposed to scratch the time and date you arrive or is it the time and date that you are due to leave? The instructions don't say. It took us a while to work out that it was possible to buy your parking on line but still after 2 hours the car has to be moved to a different street. Forget cark parking buildings -they are very expensive!


The concept and signs seem antiquated




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bartholomew Cooke

Image
Bartholomew Cooke, son of William and Bridget Cooke, was born in Cork in 1818. He had one sister, Eliza. His first marriage was to Eliza Eccles who died June 28 1847 aged 22, when their daughter Anna Christina born August 1, 1847, was just over a year old. We were very fortunate to meet one of her descendants earlier this week; Patricia Sargent who still lives here in Cork. She makes amazing delicious rocky-road style chocolate squares! Bartholomew married Sarah Jane Kiely Connor in 1850 (no children recorded).  She died in 1856 aged 34. When he was 42 years old he married our great grandmother Alice Levingston and they had one son together, William Levingston Cooke born 13 July 1865 in Cork.  Bartholomew was a successful businessman but lost all his savings in the Munster bank crash. However he must have partially recovered financially by the time he died as his will held in the record Office, Dublin gives the value of his estate at 3064 pounds which would be worth about half a millio
Read more

The Hook peninsula , Wexford

Image
For the next week I will be  staying in the Wexford/Wicklow area researching the Levingston ancestors, who descended from the McDougall clan of Scotland.  Today I drove out around the beautiful Hook peninsula.  Ireland is so physically gorgeous and the history so interesting! I can't help but be in awe of the skill and expertise, not to mention the determination and perseverance, that went into the building of structures like Tintern Abbey and the Hook lighthouse in the Middle Ages. And that they were treasured and maintained by generations since.. This medieval lighthouse built in the early thirteenth century to help sailing ships safely navigate the dangerous Wexford coastline, is one of the oldest operational lighthouses in the world. It is 4 stories high and the walls are up to 4 metres thick. It's believed that before it was built the monks of St Dubhan had kept a fire burning to warn ships. The lighthouse was commissioned by William Marshall, Lord of Leinster. (More about
Read more

St Mary's: Blessing the journey

Image
On my first morning in Ross On Wye  I was u p at dawn with no sign of jet lag! I wandered around this beautiful historic town Ross-on Wye which I am exploring  for a few days.While I was admiring the exterior of the 13th century church overlooking town, an elderly well-dressed gentleman who i think was a priest came out to greet me through the rather incongruous self- opening electronic double doors. He pointed excitedly up at the ancient bell tower saying "Look ,what can you see?"  I was able to (thanks to the efforts of my eye surgeon) spot a fluff of feathers high up on the edge of  the belfry which he proudly told me belong to a juvenile harrier which he hopes has come back to stay.  He then invited me to explore the interior of the magnificent church. It was pretty special because he left me to have it all to myself for my own personal  communion, and to receive a blessing for my journey. As the first of the congregation began arriving for 8am mass, I slipped out and awa
Read more