When I was planning my short trip in Ireland I was worried about how much driving I would be doing by myself, and how long it would take me to get around the different parts I wanted to see. I originally planned to stop about half way across, but when I actually planned the route it wasn’t nearly as far as Canberra to Melbourne. It looks a lot further on the map, all the way across the island to the other side, but easily doable in a single day.
In the morning I set off from the hotel to pick up my car. I booked a taxi in my phone while waiting in line to checkout and the taxi was outside by the time I had wrestled my bags through the door.
“Sorry it isn’t very far, just up to the car rental place, but I didn’t want to drag my bag that far.”
“Oh, no problem at all! You wouldn’t want walk to there from here. Oh no.”
(That was typed in a stereotypical, but completely respectful, Irish accent. He was very friendly and chatty.)
“So where are you off to now?”
“Galway tonight, then down the cost.”
“Oh! You’re braving our rural roads! Ohh, bless you!”
makes the Sign of the Cross
I entered the Budget office. The counter had two terminals, but only one of being used, though there were three people behind the desk. Two were clearly supervising each other while one actually served people.
Everyone in the queue went through the same argument / discussion with the person behind the counter. They already had purchased insurance, or it was included in their booking, but they were all told that wasn’t enough insurance and they could either purchase more additional extra insurance or have a hold put on their credit card – this really felt like an extortion racket.
Even though I had booked directly with Budget I got the same talk about having enough insurance and needing an additional hold on my credit card. Their excuse was I used the .AU website when I booked (not even sure if I did) 🤬
They handed over the paper work and warned me about toll roads and motorways. They were extremely insistent that I make note of tollroads and there was dedicated paperwork for it. I am assuming if you miss paying the tolls they just go back to the Budget via the license plate, and while they’ll happily charge your card it creates a small mountain of paperwork each time.
My car for the next few days was a 2023 Toyota Yaris. A perfectly reasonable car for just me. Enough room in the boot for my suitcase and backpack. Small enough to easily fit down small Irish streets. It had Apple Car Play and a USB-A port (Yay for the USB-A cable I specifically brought with me for legacy ports 🤣).
The powertrain was a 1.5L hybrid. The “tachometer” goes from ‘Off’ to ‘Charge’ (re-gen braking / coasting down hills) to ‘Eco’ to ‘Power’ – and honestly it spent most of the time in Eco, only occasionally popping up into ‘Power’ when overtaking or joining a motorway. I like driving Toyota hybrid cars (I have driven my dad’s Prius quite a lot), it gives you a score at the end of your drive and it’s fun to get a better score each time 😁
I followed the directions of the Sat Nav out of Dublin and towards the west. Not long after getting on a motorway it told me to exit, so I did. I travelled down a few roads that seemed to run parallel before navigating a few round-a-bouts and then joined the motorway again.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I figured this was just the way to my first stop.
It was nice driving along the country roads, even if they all weren’t wide enough cars in both directions. It also meant I could stop and try and get some photos. The bare trees were packed full of nests.
Clonmacnoise
My first stop was Clonmacnoise, an ancient monastic site located on the River Shannon in County Offaly. Founded in the 6th century by St. Ciarán, it became a major centre of learning, culture, and religion in early medieval Ireland.
There is a visitors centre with dioramas and displays of “life in the 6th century” with artefacts from the site. A short film on loop that was shot in the 70s including some footage of when Pope John Paul II visited the site. The film included aerial footage, which was impressive given it required a helicopter and a film crew, and not a $200 drone.
Inside they have the original High Crosses, including the Cross of Scriptures, which dates from about 900. There a replicas outside where they originally stood.
Outside you can walk through grounds and the old ruins. There are seven main ruins of temples and the cathedral in the middle.
There were a lot of jackdaws around, nesting the ruins.
Just outside the grounds of the monastic site there are the ruins of a castle, at a slightly wonky angle.
Back on the I followed the instructions that took me along the country lanes and back onto the motorway, though only momentarily. The maps told me to get off again at the next exit, which I did. This happened a couple more times on the way to Galway, which is when I figured out I had ‘Avoid Tolls’ set in the maps. I checked the drive time between Dublin and Galway in the hotel and I think it added maybe 20min to the whole day, maybe.
