Jamie Thingelstad

Visiting the Kilmainham Gaol Museum was one of the hardest tickets to get on our trip. Tammy had to be online at the exact right time before they sold out for each session. Kilmainham Gaol was a prison that opened in 1796 and held thousands of inmates over the history. The most notable part of the tour is the political prisoners that were held here during its last phase of operation in the early 1900’s. It was an interesting and sobering tour — you are standing in the very spots where many people were executed over the years. During the famine the prison held over 5 times the capacity of people it was supposed to.

Today, day 15 of our Ireland 2024 trip, we returned the SEAT Leon that we rented (hired?) from New Way for our trip. All in over those 15 days I drove the car 1,907 kilometers, or 1,185 miles. I’m happy to report that I returned the car free of scratches, with all mirrors still on the car, and no worse for the couple weeks.

We chose to use Google Maps for navigation. And Tammy was my vigilant copilot. She was always looking and helping navigate round abouts and a variety of traffic scenarios!

So, how was driving in Ireland?

Everything is Opposite

I had never driven a right-hand drive car so that was all new. I decided to opt for a manual transmission and I’m glad I did. Driving a manual made me always connected to what the car was doing and frankly there were some roads where the manual just did a much better job. Happily the gear box layout is the same, and the pedals are the same too. Clutch on the left foot just like you would hope.

When we were in Turks & Caicos I had to drive on the left hand side of the road, however, it was in a left-hand drive car. So here in Ireland I was on the left-hand side of the road, but I was also in a right-hand drive car. Having everything be opposite was much better. Just like at home the driver is closer to oncoming traffic. Just on the other side.

After a few days of driving I got a bit more comfortable with the opposites, but it required constant vigilance. I needed to think through every turn and be much more aware of where I was looking. Again everything was opposite and you could never enter that habitual autopilot like we do when we drive. Taking a right turn always felt odd since that is a risk-free turn at home, but here is where you are crossing oncoming traffic.

Again, just all opposite world but I adapted good enough.

Crazy Small Roads

In addition to everything being opposite the roads are often just tiny. Like really tiny. Often times you cannot fit two cars on the road and have to watch for turnouts on the road and stop to let the other cars go through. Additionally, there are no shoulders as the roads are most often fenced in or lower than grade. So let’s say you had to get out the way of oncoming traffic? At home you could decide to leave the road and go into the ditch. There is no ditch. In fact, there is no way you could leave the road. You are in a slot care lane and there is no where to go.

The big highways were fine. The M designated roads were fast and divided highways. But in the smaller towns and rural areas the R roads required a lot of vigilance. I found it surprising that the speed limit on these roads would be 80 km/h, or even 100 km/h. You’re driving at those speeds right in front of houses and businesses. There are driveways that exit right onto a 100 km/h road which I’m still confused how that works.

Feedback

So, I think I did good but I figured I’d ask the family for feedback.

Tammy: ★★★★★ (for American driving in Ireland)
“He did a great job!”

Mazie: ★★★★★
“Balances safety and assertiveness very well. I sometimes felt like I was on a rollercoaster ride as we zoomed around the corners but I always knew he was one step ahead looking out for any danger.”

Tyler: 🤷‍♂️
“I mostly slept.”

The Samuel Beckett Bridge over the River Liffey from the Sean O’Casey Pedestrian Bridge.

On the Sean O’Casey Pedestrian Bridge crossing the River Liffey.

This evening we made our way to EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin to learn about the history of emigration in Ireland. EPIC is a newer museum just opened in 2016. It tells the story of how Irish people have emigrated throughout the world and the impact made by them. It also covers much of the history of Ireland itself. I thought it did an amazing job using multimedia experiences. The best I’d ever seen for that.

The Temple Bar, in the Temple Bar District, in Dublin.

This morning after arriving in Dublin we went to Experience Gaelic Games to learn and play some Hurling, Gaelic Football, and Handball. In our time in Ireland we’ve come across Hurling frequently. On day 3 when we were on the lawn at Muckross House we saw a family with these odd stick/bat things hitting a ball around. The Hurley Stick is a pretty common thing. On day 8 when we were hiking with Pat Sweeney he pointed out the County Clare flags that were flying in support of their team taking on Limerick the next day. County Clare was the underdog, and sadly they did not prevail. Sorry Pat!

But Hurling is just one of the Gaelic games. Gaelic Football is another popular one. And while we didn’t see anyone playing Handball that is the third. Things we learned at todays session:

• Hurling is the most popular, with Gaelic Football growing fast right now.
• I loved that all Hurling players “play where they are born”. So you don’t trade players. You play for your club and if you move to the top you play for your county.
• There is no sponsorships. Ticket sales and fundraisers support everything.
• The players just play, they aren’t paid to play.

Wild stuff when you see a Hurling match in action. All of these games are odd amalgamations. We had a lot of fun playing Hurling. Gaelic Football was a bit too easy to think of like Soccer, even though it isn’t at all like Soccer. It was a really fun time learning these sports.

Great cappuccino at Cafe le Coco in Kilkenny.