A Wet Wild Atlantic Way

[70sThrowback]

Leaving the coastal road we picked up the road to Molls Gap where we met Clive of this parish, which some of you will already have seen. Clive had booked us into lunch at Helens bar in Killmackillogue, where we were very well looked after with freshly made lunch.






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[70sThrowback]

After lunch we took on Healy pass, one of Clive and rally drivers favourite roads. Though as Clive did remind me we were doing it the wrong way around, such is life, i'll have to come back. It was a great twisty tight road, with amazing views.





With Clive leading the way we followed on, until somewhere near Glengariff, where he headed home and we continued on toward our destination beng Kinsale Hotel and Spa.




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[70sThrowback]

Next it was my turn to suffer an issue. Driving along small country lanes I heard a metallic noise, next thing my generator light came on. It was an oh no moment. I jumped out of the car to find the engine running fine, but the alternator bracket had come loose. Tools out, 5 of us (well mainly 1 person and not me) had it sorted in under and hour and off we went.



Listening to every single noise for the next 40 mins before we arrived, nothing else went wrong. The hotel again did us proud, with nice food and some stunning views as eventually the rain had broken and we were promised sun for the next day.




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[70sThrowback]

Kinsale to Leixlip

We had quite a bit of distance to get through today, so we got on the M8 near Cork to get some miles under the belt. Though we did divert off to drive the Vee Pass, which was much better than anticipated and without another car on the road meant we could do it at our own pace. A welcome change from the West to be honest.





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[70sThrowback]

Getting back on the M8, we stopped at services to refuel in every way, before making our way to Glendalough. The road to get to Glendalough was probably the best road out of all of those we drove in Ireland, the R756 Wicklow Gap road. The reason for this appears to be a cycle event, so the road unlike most of Ireland was smooth and excellent. Again no cars around, it was a fantastic 20km ribbon of road.





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[70sThrowback]

This meeting point choice was 2 fold, the start of the old military road, with the access to Sally Gap, but also I was meeting my father in law and a couple of his buddies from an Irish vintage car club.



It was nice to follow these guys on roads they knew well. Also hearing about Lough Bray and the house the Rolling Stones stayed at.




Moving on we hit the outskirts of Dublin where the traffic got heavy, so nothing much to say here. We stayed in Leixlip as it’s the home of Guinness, but also where my wife is from, so I had a quick catch up with the family before joining the others for dinner.




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[jb]

It looks lovely
What is the green car?

[hot66]

Looks a great trip. Never been to Ireland

[70sThrowback]

It looks lovely
What is the green car?

I'll find out, it was a rare Italian one with an A series engine, something ive not seen before.

Update - its an Innocenti, based on Austin Healy Sprite mechanicals.

[70sThrowback]

Looks a great trip. Never been to Ireland

Its definitely not Slovenia! Ireland is a trip of sightseeing, with the odd good road thrown in. Think scenic tour, great craic and only occasionally a driving trip, but the scenery is pretty amazing. I believe the roads North of Galway are much quieter.

[70sThrowback]

Leixlip to home….

And that was that, all that remained was a long day of driving, firstly to the port, then Holyhead to home.




Overall impressions, expect it to rain, it usually does. The roads aren't the best in terms of conditions. Everyone seems to drive at least 20kmph under the limit, which can get frustrating. The scenery is pretty stunning and varied. But when you get clear road ahead, it’s a lot of fun.

As per my reply to James, it’s more a scenic tour than a pure driving trip. But there are definitely some great roads to attack.


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[Lightweight_911]

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Thanks for posting the details.

We were very lucky when we did our trip along the Wild Atlantic Way in my old 356C several years ago - we went in October & drove the section from Sligo heading south (hugging the coastline) as far as Boolteens where we'd booked a cottage for 5 nights - then back up to Dublin via Limerick. Amazingly it was warm & sunny (T-shirt weather) every day except the day we arrived on the ferry !


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