Driving the Irish roads

I'm now settled in my quite lovely hotel room at Dublin Airport, and will shortly call it a day so that when the alarm wakes me at 4 am, I can answer the call and make my flight. Supper was a lovely bowl of pureed parsnip soup with rosemary seasoning accompanied by the compulsory brown bread on the side. It was more than enough and delicious.

Today was a real Irish winter day - rain either spotty or absolutely lashing down, with plenty of wind to complete the atmosphere. I was a bit afraid, as I set out from Moss Cottage, that the wind might be a factor on the road. However, I'm frankly more worried about how much wind there will be for the morning flight. Turns out - as I should have known - it's quite a small plane for the one hour jaunt.  I'm no fan of turbulence.

As I motored up the motorway I started to think about how different it is from driving at home.  Most of the time here I'm quite well below the posted speed limit. Stop snickering! Those of you who've driven with me at home know that this is a rare occurrence with me on Canadian roads. There, I use the speed limit as a general guideline to a minimum speed. Here - it depends.

I'll work down from the M roads, to the N, to the R and then the exciting Ls. M roads are the true motorways - two lanes or more in each direction with a maximum speed of 120 kph. They are wonderful and compared to Ontario's 400 series roads are in much better repair. Of course the amount of frost and resulting heaving just doesn't really happen in Ireland.

The main difference is that the scenery is spectacular no matter where you look. And soaring along at 120 you can't look too far or you pay the consequences. There really are 40 shades of green - on every hill. The fields are all separated by hedges or stone fences. Almost every where in Wicklow, Wexford and Carlow which is pretty much my territory, the hills beckon. I've had many views of Mt Leinster from different angles and wish I had a dash cam so that I could later enjoy it, other than as a glimpse out of the corner of my eye when traffic is light and the road is straight. Yes, some are straight for as long as a few hundred yards at a time. So, one glides along the motorways usually at a good clip. Slower drivers, and oh yes they exist, do seem to have the good manners to stay on the left.

Today with the bad weather, for some reason it drew the big trucks right out, hauling logs, other heavy equipment and the odd broken down vehicle on a trailer, when I wanted smooth sailing. They don't travel at max and they were all out today, fighting to stay ahead of me. Aha- a challenge. In fact, one tractor hauling a load ambled along in the left lane - where he belonged. In my opinion he should stick to N, R and L roads. Where the motorway widened to three lanes, the challenge was no more - everyone could find the pace they wanted and the tractor had found his exit already.

On most journeys, at least from the country, you encounter the N roads more often than Ms. There are excellent roads, but only two lanes and no median other than the white line. Occasionally there is a passing lane. Much of the time there is a decent paved shoulder. The speed limit on Ns is 100 kph and that is a safe speed. There are curves but you just don't pass then.

Last Saturday, once I got out of Carlow, I was in the N80 heading home. Getting out of Carlow is a book in itself. Anyway, roaring down the N80 took a while to accomplish. A late model Audi, or other similar high end car, was putzing along at 67 kph. He was exceptional at maintaining a constant speed. NOT the appropriate speed. However, my position following him, was soon the second of a long parade. As the smoke began to seep from under my collar, I was determined to find a safe place to pass. Eventually I roared past at 80, leaving him in the dust. Of course it wasn't long before I was testing the limit but actually once I hit 98 there was nobody in the rear view mirror, the pace was good and I could still take in the scenery.

The N80 runs through Bunclody so I'm well located for this type of road, with access to larger centres, and I'm grateful. More often than not though, from here it is R746. Ah the R roads - my personal favourites. The are quite narrow, winding, hilly and have a nice white line down the centre. There is room, mostly, for two cars to pass, one going each direction, without one having to stop or pull over close to the ditch, er hedge or exchange side mirrors on the go. The speed limit here is seldom reached when I'm at the wheel. It's 80 kph. I have roared around corners on the Rs at 60 and felt like I was in a Nascar race. I'm usually much more cautious. Driving at night is easier because, well frankly there are fewer cars, and you can see the lights coming and adjust accordingly.

Between Moss Cottage and Coolross is about 12 clicks. More than once, when driving home, I never encountered another car. Last night there was lots of traffic. In that distance, 9 cars came towards me and one followed the last two kms. I met all of them on curves or narrow bridges. The narrow stone bridge in Clonegal is not where you want this. Surprise!! Access to the bridge from Clonegal is uphill and around a curve and you can't see what's coming. There isn't really room for two cars along the entire bridge. Last night, we crossed paths where it was barely wide enough. I think my mirror feared for its safety but no contact was made.

Then you come to the L roads. As the letters go "up" the alphabet, the numbers accompanying them increase as well - EXCEPT FOR THE Ls. There are M 1 and 2 and M50, The Ns all seem to have 1 or 2 digits. The Rs have three, the Ls have 4 and I can't recall the letter that goes with the 5 digit roads. As the digits increase, the width of the road decreases. Any attempt to paint a centre line on an L road would cover the entire surface. There are some that, in my humble opinion, could be 6 or 7 digit roads. One of them leads the last bit of the way to the Byrnes at Coolross. On that road, my speed hardly registers. It's narrow, winding, has no shoulders and is rather bumpy in spots. Two cars can not pass except in the couple of spots that have been widened for the purpose. Fortunately I've yet to meet a car coming the other way. Whatever the limit on that road, rest assured I'm well below.

On the other had, quite often the more numbers that identify the road, the more beautiful the scenery. These are the roads less traveled - well, by me - and it's usually OK to stop and take a photo without another car coming along and needing its share of the pavement. Perhaps my fondness is because that's how the miracle of Burns finding Byrne happened. No room to pass. That's old news.

I'm quite happy sitting on the right and driving on the left - I like the left in other realms too. I don't know what my rental car will be next week. I've ordered a standard because they are much cheaper, but will probably see if I can get a good rate on an automatic. It is hilly and stopping on a hill is not a rare thing. I feel no desire to be the laughing stock of the area as I try to start on a hill.

Genealogy progress has been made of late, with help from Anne B and John O, and recently the Abrahams of Boley and Mungahullen have been peeking out of their hiding places. I'm hoping the Kehoes lose their shyness and start emerging as well. The Byrnes, well, they have been traced possibly as much as they can be but again, I like to think the family tree is still just half full.

So, the Ford Focus is back in the hands of Hertz and I'm going to be in the hands of Aer Lingus tomorrow. Not sure if there will be an opportunity to update you from Stockport. So, bye for now.