Death-Defying Driving in Ireland
I’m brave. I asked my daughter Riley, 9, about my driving skills on Irish roads. You can hear her thoughts in the above video.
I asked her sister, Bailey, 12, for her thoughts too, though she politely declined. Something about if you don’t have anything nice to say, then….
Yes, my column for Tuesday is about driving in Ireland, but I hope it’s about something more. My family’s trip across the Atlantic has me thinking about my roots in different ways.
More to the point, it has me thinking about my roots at all, which I haven’t much up until now. Over the next week, I’m writing columns that explore what it is about humans that drive them to embrace home and to seek out where it all began.
I’m also hoping you’ll send me (by email at mcassidy@mercurynews.com or simply post here) your summer vacation epiphanies. Big thoughts, little thoughts, observations that you’d never have the bandwidth to make in the midst of a working week.
I’m starting with my attempts at driving on the “wrong” side of the road, which was an immediate sign that we were in a very different place.
Well at least your daughter is honest…
That was rather funny.
I hope that your column gets a lot of people responding to your “embrace home, seek out where it began”, especially since there are so many immigrants here. I like all your family related stories.
Hi Mike, I am a reader from county Galway in Ireland. Having lived and driven for three years in the Bay Area I was very interested in how you compare the driving experience in both places. When I arrived in California I was surprised when nobody spoke about distances from A to B. Instead they always said how long the trip would take. I think it is like that in Ireland too. The roads can be slow but the distances are short so journey times are never too long. Given your daughter was impressed by the Cliffs of Moher I suggest that the next time you come to Ireland you should visit the Cliffs of Moher from the sea. A slower way to get there but all the more time to enjoy them.
Kind Regards,
Marcus
Coincidentally, I just returned from Ireland myself (although no Irish blood here). We were staying in a resort in the Cork area, and I was hoping my wife wouldn’t need to tour. No such luck. They delivered my car to the hotel, and just left it there for me to “experiment” with. Driving on the “wrong” side wasn’t half of it. The car was a stick, and, of course, had to be shifted with the left hand. It took us a half hour to get the thing into reverse. I like to think of myself as a pretty good driver, but I am now re-assessing this. My wife was in a screaming mode the whole time I was driving (too close on the left, wrong turn on the roundabout, going to fast, . . . ). My only satisfaction came when she tried to drive. She couldn’t make it from one parking spot to another.
Thanks for your wonderful column. I enjoy reading it, this time aloud to the kids. It’s even better than the comics! Glad you all made it back safely.
My sister and I went to Ireland 2 years ago to meet cousins we never met before. We traveled from Dublin to Galway and Cork, and on to County Clare where our family live. Neither of us was brave enough to drive,and I am glad for that. I can imagine being in a small car next to the big tour busses. Before we met up with family we toured by bus and it was absolutely breathtaking to see Ireland. It was scary to be up so high in the bus and see, in parts of Ireland, how close we were to the water because the road was so narrow. I can’t wait to go back again. Maybe I will follow Marcus’ advice above and go by water next time. I would love to see the Cliffs of Moher from the other side.
My summer advanced writing teacher read yesterday’s column to the class - they loved it, he loved it (especially reading parts in a thick Irish accent), and once again I was the only one who had read it earlier that morning.
Hi Mike,
Always enjoy your articles. We have three kids same age as yours except one more my son who is six. We are staying in Santa Cruz for a month. My husband is from here so we too are coming back to his roots but not so historical as Ireland. We are enjoying the beach and this funky two bedroom house. Not watching TV and being unplugged a bit. Except for my husband commuting daily to Sunnyvale. The funniest thing my six year asked me yesterday walking on the beach as we found a whole sand dollar…how much bucks are these worth mom? I said they are not money but worth a lot of good luck. Keep sharing your insights and funny stories it is nice to know we are not alone in this parenting world.
Hi, Mike,
I really enjoy your columns & wish I could say I had been to Ireland, mush less driving there!
Of all the comments left in response to various articles on the Merc website, your gentle readers are, BY FAR, the most intelligent, refined, & thoughtful. Reading their comments was a real pleasure.
I had a similar driving experience when I took my two college age kids on a two week trip to Ireland a few years ago. Driving out of Dublin was a harrowing experience! Getting used to performing all of my familiar driving habits on the opposite side of the car was nerve wracking. It took me two days before I could find the rear view mirror! And my right hand was bruised from all the times that I swung right and hit the door looking for the stick shift. While driving on the narrow country roads, I would dive left into the hedgerows whenever a vehicle approached coming toward me on the right side. I soon learned that there were stonewalls behind all the picturesque greenery along the roads… I was driving so cautiously that I got passed by a tractor pulling farm equipment!
Did you notice how many cars in Ireland have missing side view mirrors? We witnessed an enormous tour bus barreling down a narrow city street knocking off the side mirrors like bowling pins from all the cars parked along the roadway! No wonder they park on the sidewalks in Ireland. Once while visiting a quaint little village we saw all the shopkeepers and locals race out to the narrow, winding main street and jump in their cars and start racing around and driving up on the sidewalks. It looked like a scene from It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” ! A few minutes later we understood what all the commotion was about. A large lorry was passing through the village and they had to clear the streets to make room!
And then there is all the livestock on the roads. We navigated around sheep, ducks, pigs, cattle, and even tinkers leading horses down the roads. After the first day of driving, my 18 year old son made fun of my cautious, hedge diving, driving tactics. So leaving the B & B the next morning, I tossed him the keys and told him he could drive. He lasted 20 minutes before he pulled over and told me to drive, and he never complained about my driving for the rest of the trip.
I found out the first day that driving in Ireland requires a navigator. Leaving Dublin (during rush hour!), the helpful rental agent said, “Just follow the road along the river until you come to a factory and turn left. That will take you to the main highway.” I replied, “ How about if you drive us to the edge of town and we’ll take off from there?” “Very funny, Missus,“ laughed the agent. I wasn’t joking…. Naturally, we never saw the factory, and ended up pulling into a residential area to turn around, almost got hit by a horse drawn tinker’s lorry, had to dodge the rolling garbage cans that fell off the lorry and were heading towards us, before we found our way out of town and onto the Irish expressway. The kids, of course, fell promptly to sleep, lulled by the music plugged into their ears. After maneuvering through two or three “round abouts”, I pulled into a parking lot in an industrial area and turned off the car. The kids woke up and said, “Where are we?” I said, “We’re here.” “What do you mean, we’re here? Where is this?” “Well,” I replied, “we are staying here because I can’t read signs, find the gears, avoid cars, and drive on the wrong side of the road all by myself. So, I’m not driving any farther, and we will just stay here.” That woke them up, and from then on my 20 year old daughter sat in the front seat with the map and kept me on the left side of the road, heading in the right direction. She was a great navigator, and we never got lost even when we often came to an intersection with 20 different road signs pointing to all different destinations!
After the first few days, I really got into the Irish method of driving! It got to be fun traveling down the little lanes, never knowing what to expect around the corner. I even got the courage to pass slow moving farm equipment! We zigzagged all over Ireland enjoying the hospitality, beautiful green hills and breathtaking coastlines before dropping my daughter off in Galway for a semester abroad. It was a wonderful trip that I hope to repeat soon. I would even drive again…
I never drove a car in England when I lived there ,too scary,but drove a scooter and did ok with that .Did you do any driving in England as I believe you visited there too on this trip. ?
your daughter is sweet and cute,my cat is named Riley and he is sweet and cute too!