Quick driving trip in Ireland..a few auto and other pics
Discussion
I have not been in Western Ireland for decades, and do not get back to Ireland often (left in 1975). However, I went to see a few old mates and decided to rent a car and head West. Obviously. the birth, roar, and death of the Celtic Tiger is very apparent, the impact of the EU on building modern roads is enormous, but I was in search of slower and quieter stuff. Dublin is quite different from when I lived there, but I took the opportunity to visit the Transportation Museum in Howth. THis is very much an amateur effort with unpaid volunteers and very little money, so many vehicles are unrestored. Its purely commercial and public service stuff, so really more of interest to people who like trucks and buses
an AEC bus used by the GNR
a CIE Leyland
Bedford
Morris artillery tug...I think I had a Dinky toy of this when I was a child
Albion Guinness truck
A magnificent wooden tram under restoration
I lift Dublin having rented the worst modern car I have ever driven.
This was something called a Renault Fluence. More like effluence. With the seat as far back as it would go. my knee bashed against the non adjustable steering wheel when I moved from accelerator to brake. The pedals felt a bit offset and it was notably uncomfortable. In any case, I arrived in the West to the normal weather...rain
Coming around a bend at 40 km/h I was confronted with a dual wheeled tractor, and pulled right to allow him through. Drove slightly onto the verge. Big mistake that, as the verge was a two foot side, five foot deep ditch. On the we grass I slid ,dropped a front wheel and then slid quite a long way with nothing to slow me down. Well, not quite, as the steep banking ripped the passenger side to bits. The was no impact, no airbags, no injuries.
It'll buff out easily
Replaced it with a Peugeot 308, a vastly more pleasant little car to drive.
The weather briefly improved:
Speed limits are amazingly high on primitive roads...
You will find animals wandering or being herded on many roads, or behind low stone walls...
Weather on the coast changes by the hour
Kylemore Abbey is beautifully located, now used by the nuns as a girls' school
You can drive across to an island near Clifden when tide is low.....
Remains of old homes litter the area
Clifden and Roundstone are attractive small towns:
and of course, the pubs are great fun,many tiny places with peat fires:
This one is panelled with original panelling from the Mauritania
They don't really do traditional garden gnomes, though
Still, I was quite impressed that there is lot of the countryside that is quite unspoiled and thew small towns are not that different from long ago memory. Well worth a visit.
an AEC bus used by the GNR
a CIE Leyland
Bedford
Morris artillery tug...I think I had a Dinky toy of this when I was a child
Albion Guinness truck
A magnificent wooden tram under restoration
I lift Dublin having rented the worst modern car I have ever driven.
This was something called a Renault Fluence. More like effluence. With the seat as far back as it would go. my knee bashed against the non adjustable steering wheel when I moved from accelerator to brake. The pedals felt a bit offset and it was notably uncomfortable. In any case, I arrived in the West to the normal weather...rain
Coming around a bend at 40 km/h I was confronted with a dual wheeled tractor, and pulled right to allow him through. Drove slightly onto the verge. Big mistake that, as the verge was a two foot side, five foot deep ditch. On the we grass I slid ,dropped a front wheel and then slid quite a long way with nothing to slow me down. Well, not quite, as the steep banking ripped the passenger side to bits. The was no impact, no airbags, no injuries.
It'll buff out easily
Replaced it with a Peugeot 308, a vastly more pleasant little car to drive.
The weather briefly improved:
Speed limits are amazingly high on primitive roads...
You will find animals wandering or being herded on many roads, or behind low stone walls...
Weather on the coast changes by the hour
Kylemore Abbey is beautifully located, now used by the nuns as a girls' school
You can drive across to an island near Clifden when tide is low.....
Remains of old homes litter the area
Clifden and Roundstone are attractive small towns:
and of course, the pubs are great fun,many tiny places with peat fires:
This one is panelled with original panelling from the Mauritania
They don't really do traditional garden gnomes, though
Still, I was quite impressed that there is lot of the countryside that is quite unspoiled and thew small towns are not that different from long ago memory. Well worth a visit.
To be fair, one eurobox looks like any other.Great pics
Ireland has gone even more anti-motorist in the last while, and there is a depressing lack of tasty metal around the place since the boom money evaporated, but we still have some of the best driving roads you'll find around. What's even better now is that the newer EU-funded motorways have taken most of the traffic away from the interesting stretches, so it's still a great place to live for a bit of weekend driving
Ireland has gone even more anti-motorist in the last while, and there is a depressing lack of tasty metal around the place since the boom money evaporated, but we still have some of the best driving roads you'll find around. What's even better now is that the newer EU-funded motorways have taken most of the traffic away from the interesting stretches, so it's still a great place to live for a bit of weekend driving
Leins said:
Great pics
Ireland has gone even more anti-motorist in the last while, and there is a depressing lack of tasty metal around the place since the boom money evaporated, but we still have some of the best driving roads you'll find around. What's even better now is that the newer EU-funded motorways have taken most of the traffic away from the interesting stretches, so it's still a great place to live for a bit of weekend driving
I was expecting to find little of pre-Tiger Ireland, but was pleasantly surprised as to how familiar it became in hours, despite the many years since my prior visit.Ireland has gone even more anti-motorist in the last while, and there is a depressing lack of tasty metal around the place since the boom money evaporated, but we still have some of the best driving roads you'll find around. What's even better now is that the newer EU-funded motorways have taken most of the traffic away from the interesting stretches, so it's still a great place to live for a bit of weekend driving
Leins said:
Great pics
Ireland has gone even more anti-motorist in the last while, and there is a depressing lack of tasty metal around the place since the boom money evaporated, but we still have some of the best driving roads you'll find around. What's even better now is that the newer EU-funded motorways have taken most of the traffic away from the interesting stretches, so it's still a great place to live for a bit of weekend driving
I was expecting to find little of pre-Tiger Ireland, but was pleasantly surprised as to how familiar it became in hours, despite the many years since my prior visit.Ireland has gone even more anti-motorist in the last while, and there is a depressing lack of tasty metal around the place since the boom money evaporated, but we still have some of the best driving roads you'll find around. What's even better now is that the newer EU-funded motorways have taken most of the traffic away from the interesting stretches, so it's still a great place to live for a bit of weekend driving
RDMcG said:
I was expecting to find little of pre-Tiger Ireland, but was pleasantly surprised as to how familiar it became in hours, despite the many years since my prior visit.
Yes, Dublin has changed quite considerably in the last 10-15 years and some towns have grown a lot, especially within the Pale, but the majority of the country is as it wasI travel from Dublin to Waterford quite frequently, and since they put the new motorway in it's brilliant to travel down the old road through Kilcullen, Carlow and Thomastown. Virtually no traffic and lots of interesting sections!
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