Taking the Road Less Traveled in Ireland

Ireland does have regular sized roads where there are lots of lanes and you can go 120 km without having to worry about knocking mirrors if another car comes along. While you will get places faster (and I probably wouldn’t have had the fender bender on Monday), you won’t get see much as you by-pass every town and there is no place to pull over to take photos.

One thing I did was switch off the “highway” and “toll road” options on my GPS – which they call Sat-Navs in Ireland. This way I could cruise the roads less traveled without being completely lost.

However, you will be traveling at your own risk as some of the roads my GPS sent me on were probably last used by sheepherders in the 1800s. I was in places so bizarre that not even the Irish traveled there.

And if there happened to be another vehicle, the road didn’t accommodate it. I swear, there were times I held my breath as the other car inched passed.

One of these roads is Priest’s Leap Road which is what I ended up on when driving from Bantry to Kenmare. When I told people that was how I got to Park Kenmare Hotel, their mouths dropped open. Apparently, none of the locals take that route as it’s dangerous and barely a road.

I know that now and agree with them, but where were all these people with their warnings when my GPS told me to turn right?

Anyway, if you do decide to live dangerously and take the road less traveled to Kenmar, Priest's Leap Road takes you over one of the highest summits in Ireland and it has all these crazy legends attached to it.

Frankly, I was more concerned about getting over it without my bumper falling off.

It was basically being held onto the car by a couple of screws the Irish guy drilled into it after my accident on Monday. One too many bumps and the screws could fall out.  But considering there wasn't any place for me to turn around, I was trying not to think about that.

The road began innocently enough. It started on this narrow road going through farms. Sure it was tight, but it was cute and scenic.  Then I started going uphill and the road was no longer paved. Instead, it was two dirt tire tracks with thick long grass in the middle that scraped the bottom of my car.

I double checked my GPS. I didn’t have highways switched off so it should have put me on a normal route.  I made sure I had the address correct and yup, this was the way it wanted me to go – for the next 18 km. The longest 18 km of the trip.

I kept driving and the road got progressively worse. It took me up and around bends and had dips and peaks that created blind spots. This would have been okay except that on one side of me was a steep cliff with no guard rail and the other side was a rocky mountain wall.

Keep in mind, they don’t have shoulders on the road – so you have about a foot before you plummet to your doom if you go off the road. So not only could I not turn around and go back, but if someone came from the other direction, I was pretty much screwed.

Running into someone turned out not to be a problem - since Irish people know better than to take that scary road. In fact, the only thing up there was sheep and lots of sheep poop (I stepped in some when I got out to take some photos).

But I have no regrets especially after seeing the amazed looks on people's faces when I say I drove it. Besides...Priest’s Leap Road was beautiful. The pictures don’t do it justice. It’s something you’ll need to experience for yourself - if you dare.