As an American driving enthusiast, I was excited to drive a car in Ireland.  Driving on the wrong side of the road with the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car would be great fun.  To add to the challenge, I rented a car with a manual transmission.  A stick.  So I would have to learn to “row the gears” with my left hand.

I studied these concepts on the Internet before I left and found a lot of helpful info.  Most drivers said that the adjustment was easy.  Some mentioned the little things that were confusing, like rear-view mirrors that aren’t where you expect them and turning into the wrong lane first thing in the morning.  I also found Google Street View to be invaluable.  Our trip started out in Dublin, so I could “fly” down the local streets and visualize the traffic patterns.

I wasn’t interested in driving in Dublin.  Like most large cities, it’s difficult and fraught with danger.  We picked up the car the day before leaving the city, with a clear shot out of the south side to the M50 motorway (in the Republic of Ireland and the UK, a motorway is a controlled-access highway similar to an Interstate in the U.S.)

Many dual carriageways and two-lane roads in Ireland have been updated in the last few decades.  They have paved shoulders and clear markings that are similar to roads in the U.S.

But once you wander off into the country, it’s hard to know what you’ll find until you get there.  Many roads can accommodate two vehicles moving in opposite directions, but only by very slim margins.  The “close” feeling is amplified by the presence of hedges and stone fences that come right up to the very edge of the road on both sides.

An oncoming tractor-trailer on a rural road can be a harrowing experience.  We rounded a bend on a road with very tall grass berms on either side to find a huge truck lumbering toward us.  I stuffed the little Citroen C4 as far into the grass as far as I dared and stopped. The trucker slowed.  They have huge blunt-nosed trucks with giant windshields that allow you to see the driver almost completely.  He was a young man with dark hair, sunglasses, and a mild sneer.

He gave me the “come on” signal and I immediately realized that it’s probably easier for a small car to work it’s way past a truck than the other way around.  I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m pretty confident at judging whether or not the car I’m driving will fit through a particular hole.  So I went for it and I made it without any scratches.

Another challenge on these roads is the appearance of pedestrians and cyclists.  When the road is lined with walls or hedges, there is simply no other place they can go.  We were flabbergasted at times, for the locals had no qualms about walking down a road with blind corners and hills.  Rounding a bend, you naturally lift your foot off the pedal and prepare to brake because you just don’t know what might be there.

And half the time they’ve got a dog with them!

Short of the race track, this was the most engaging driving I’ve done since I got my driver’s permit at the age of 16.  All the elements come into play.  Left-hand orientation, shifting with the wrong hand, tight quarters, and stunning scenery to top it all off.  You really have to be on your toes all the time.