Getting used to driving on the left side of the road took us some time. We had to learn to pay a lot more attention to cars coming from the other direction as passing is a little different here. Generally, on motor ways, cars will stay in the left (slow) lane unless they are passing. However, on two lane roads, the slower cars pull over toward the shoulder to let others pass. The faster cars will pass, even if there is not enough room for both cars – it's expected that oncoming traffic will move over as well. So not only do you need to watch what is happening in your own lane, but you need to allow for oncoming traffic to use your lane also. The motorbikes work wonderfully in these conditions. The drivers understand that you can get around the traffic and actually pull as far to the left as they can in order to provide room for the motorbikes to pass down the middle of the road.

Speed limits here are 60 mph on the highways and 40 mph in town (that includes residential areas!). So people drive 70 or so on the open road and about 50 in town as the speed limits are generally not enforced. Evidently there are some areas where unmarked Gardai (police) cars patrol, but they are few and far between. In 21 months we saw two vehcles stopped for traffic violations - both involved the use of radar. It seems really strange to have cars speeding down residential streets past schools at 50 MPH.

Parking is also a problem because it is limited and there are so many people have cars on the road. Plus we have found out from the locals that they generally don't ticket for illegal parking and if you do get a ticket, you just ignore it. Evidently they don't issue arrest warrants if you don't bother paying, so why bother? We did not test this system! Of course, with the bikes it is a bit easier since motorbikes are allowed to park on the sidewalks anywhere.

When you drive through Ireland you end up driving through every little town between here & there. The distances are not great, but there are few motor ways, so the majority of our travels have been on two lane roads. Most of the time it's not too bad, but the afternoons do tend to have traffic jams in the larger cities.

One Sunday on the way back from the Rock of Cashel we happened through the town of Thurles where they were gearing up for the hurling playoffs. The entire town was out, plus thousands from miles around. These folks know what team spirit is! Everyone was sporting their team's colors in their clothing, hats, banners, and waving large flags. Cars drive down the road with huge flags flying out the windows and sunroofs. The roads in town were choked with people on foot and leaving town we passed more than 10 miles of cars bumper-to-bumper, moving slowly in a stop and go manner coming into town.

In North America and on the European continent we like to average 60 miles an hour when we travel by motorbike. We can do this on two lane roads with no problem. In Ireland, we are overjoyed to average 40 MPH. Motor ways are not an option. There are not any - other than the ring road which goes three quarters of the way around Dublin and a few miles of road off the ring for the four main roads going in and out of Dublin. In all, probably fewer than 40 miles, combined total.

One of our adventures took us to the West Coast and the counties Galway and Mayo -about 140 miles from Dublin. This doesn’t sound far but it is a 4-hour trip by car. We made it back in three hours on the bikes. Not much traffic out on Sunday morning. Keep in mind that the roads in these parts are two lanes and passing is difficult for most of the cars, which are four cylinders and manufactured for economy, not brute power. Once you get behind a truck or bus (both plentiful) you’re stuck. Did we mention the wonders a farm tractor on the highway can do for the flow of traffic? How about a flock of sheep being moved from one field to another using the highway as the road between fields.

The trip was somewhat uneventful, even with the sheep grazing all over the roadside - no fencing, all open range. The sheep are so accustomed to the cars that they stand with their bodies on the road and eat the grass on the verge. They don’t flinch or move when you drive by. The sheep caused us no problems at all. The same cannot be said for the dog we encountered on the way home. By this time we were out of the open range and sheep country. Good thing farm dogs have quick reflexes or he and Jim’s bike would be one. Don’t know who was more surprised but Jim claims that if he were a cat he would only have 6 lives remaining!

Driving on the left side of the road became comfortable but is not for the faint of heart. While we were stopped for petrol on the aforementioned trip home a car went by the station on the roadway. Not unusual you say. We didn’t think so either but as we looked at it we knew there was, “something wrong with this picture”. It finally dawned on us. Just another tourist driving on the right hand side of the road! We have watched many people in Dublin make left turns into oncoming traffic.

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