You Know You're in Ireland When...

This page is dedicated to miscellaneous information, road signs, sayings, stories (that didn't make it onto the main pages), and maybe (if I can figure out how to compress them) some videos of our driving experiences, etc. 

Check back for new additions!

Enjoy! =) 

Galway Bay

Dr. Arthur Colahan

If you ever go across the sea to Ireland,

Then maybe, at the closing of your day,

You can sit and watch the moon rise over Claddagh

And see the sun go down on Galway Bay.

Just to hear again the ripple of the trout stream

The women in the meadow makin' hay

Just to sit beside a turf fire in the cabin

And watch the barefoot gossoons at their play.

For the breezes blowing o'er the sea from Ireland

Are perfumed by the heather as they blow

And the women in the uplands diggin' praties

Speak a language that the strangers do not know.

Yet the strangers came and tried to teach us their ways

And they scorned us just for bein' what we are

But they might as well go chasin' after moonbeams

Or light a penny candle from a star.

And if there's going to be a life hereafter

And faith, somehow I'm sure there's going to be

I will ask my God to let me make my heaven

In that dear land across the Irish sea.

I couldn't find a sign exactly like the ones that we saw, but this was the closest. When you see a sign that says "Dangerous Bends Ahead", that's not too bad, but when you see "Severe Bends Ahead", watch out!

"Caution

Children"

When we saw this sign for the first time, we just about died with laughter. Watch out for the children, they might be dangerous!

Ok, we can handle that.

Oh, please, not a detour! We're already lost!

"No Overtaking"

This means "No Passing Zone".

"Loose Chippings"

 If I remember correctly, this means loose gravel. 

Scary...

Traffic Calming

We never heard what this meant exactly, but we think it meant to slow down. It was usually posted when coming up to a town.

(All of the above signs were copied from leinsterschoolofmotoring.ie)

This would have been a typical sign. That means both hands on the wheel, fasten your seat belts tight, and watch out (while going 100 km)! 

(This photo was taken from Asle Naess's flickr account, thanks to Google :)

There's still a lot of hard feelings between North and South Ireland. The North is still part of the UK, while the South is its own country. A town in Northern Ireland is called Londonderry. 

For more information on this subject you can check this blog page out. (FYI, I have not explored this blog, so I'm not sure what else is on it. It seemed clean from what I could see. This photo was taken from this sight.)