Ireland/N Ireland Golf/Wife Trip

[Chilidog]

Hey gang,

 

I have an upcoming trip to Ireland/N. Ireland and wanted to get thoughts from the group that either live there or have been there. This will be my first trip to Ireland but I’ve spent a decent amount of time in London/Nottingham and Aberdeen, Scotland. 
 

We plan to fly on November 9th (landing on the 10th from the US). We fly into Dublin and then we will drive to Kilkenny. We will see the sights around there for a day before moving on to Cork. We will do the Ring of Kerry before moving on to Killarney. We will see the sights before moving up to Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher area. After seeing the sights, we move up to the northern part of Ireland to see the sights. Then, I am trying to schedule Portstewart on the 14th (Portrush told me they aren’t open because it’s the national Day of Remembrance) but they haven’t responded. I have Royal County Down scheduled for the 15th. Then we go back to Dublin and I’ll spend 5 days there. One I’ll go to Portmarnock (again they haven’t responded to my email). One I’ll go to Athlone to see the sights. Two days I have a trade show and the last we fly back out. 
 

Here are my concerns:

 

1) Haven’t driven over there for about 7 years and I’ve heard the roads are narrower than England. Not excited about it but I’ll be fine after the first day. 
2) Portstewart and Portmarnock won’t return an email and I don’t know why. I’m sure it’s because I’m a single (wife is just going to walk along with me) but it’s hard to plan if they won’t respond at all. 
3) We are going to try and see a lot of national parks and do a lot of hiking and we are going town to town. Little worried about leaving all of our stuff in the car as we go and it getting broken into. 
 

What are your thoughts?

[ajgoodal.704]

1)  I drove Kerry, Clare, Galway and Mayo a couple years ago and did not find the driving to be any different than driving in the Cotswolds / Dorset areas of England.  L roads are narrow one-laners, so if you can avoid doing a lot of driving on those, you and the car will be fine.  

 

2)  If they don't get back to you, 27 holes at Castlerock is a good alternative.  

 

3) We did the same on our trip and didn't have any issues.  We had a hatchback and kept everything under the storage cover so you couldn't see the luggage.  Just like home, don't leave any valuables in plain view and you should be fine.  

[Chilidog]

1 hour ago, ajgoodal.704 said:

1)  I drove Kerry, Clare, Galway and Mayo a couple years ago and did not find the driving to be any different than driving in the Cotswolds / Dorset areas of England.  L roads are narrow one-laners, so if you can avoid doing a lot of driving on those, you and the car will be fine.  

 

2)  If they don't get back to you, 27 holes at Castlerock is a good alternative.  

 

3) We did the same on our trip and didn't have any issues.  We had a hatchback and kept everything under the storage cover so you couldn't see the luggage.  Just like home, don't leave any valuables in plain view and you should be fine.  

Thanks for the suggestions and recommendations. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my clubs out of view and that’s what I was worried about. I may get a large black trash bag and put it over them to try and camouflage what they are.