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Most terrifying public roads in Ireland

2

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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,057 ✭✭✭hans aus dtschl


    cantalach wrote: »
    Which, as I'm sure you know, makes it murder on a bicycle:


    https://www.strava.com/segments/631196

    It's great.
    South side is much better than North IMO.
    It has it all: loose gravel, blind crests, animals, potholes, grass. Just a beauty.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,756 ✭✭✭ianobrien


    cantalach wrote: »
    Which, as I'm sure you know, makes it murder on a bicycle:


    https://www.strava.com/segments/631196

    Ya it's fair hard on a bicycle. I found out the hard way. What was more fun was coming down when I ran out of brakes......


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,714 ✭✭✭dmc17


    Somehow manged to end up on this road in Kerry last year. Seemed to go on forever. All the time hoping not to meet another car :D


  • Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,083 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    There's more than sufficient passing places there, going on driving in rural Donegal a lot.


  • Registered Users Posts: 795 ✭✭✭jrar


    dmc17 wrote: »
    Somehow manged to end up on this road in Kerry last year. Seemed to go on forever. All the time hoping not to meet another car :D

    "Road" is probably stretching it a bit ! :)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 9,354 ✭✭✭irishgeo


    The gap of dunloe , mad stuff, meeting horse and carts, cars limited spots to pull in and blind corners like this.

    https://goo.gl/maps/xXvXabUnWXwjb67v9


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,002 ✭✭✭Dufflecoat Fanny


    irishgeo wrote: »
    The gap of dunloe , mad stuff, meeting horse and carts, cars limited spots to pull in and blind corners like this.

    https://goo.gl/maps/xXvXabUnWXwjb67v9

    some spot like the hot gates in thermoplyae


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,917 ✭✭✭cantalach


    jrar wrote: »
    "Road" is probably stretching it a bit ! :)

    Well...it is called Bóthar na gCloch;)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,239 ✭✭✭Lurching


    most of thr roads into glencullen co.wicklow

    Glencullen is in Dublin ;)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,252 ✭✭✭Oops!


    Ah folks, the title of the thread is all wrong! replace terrifying with interesting!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,057 ✭✭✭hans aus dtschl


    Oops! wrote: »
    Ah folks, the title of the thread is all wrong! replace terrifying with interesting!

    I think you need to try Priests Leap or Gortnabinny on a bike.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,252 ✭✭✭Oops!


    Wouldn't mind a cut at any of them in a rally car....


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,756 ✭✭✭Dakota Dan


    lottpaul wrote: »
    https://goo.gl/maps/iVcNasvdEK8Bir81A Ashleam, Achill Island

    https://goo.gl/maps/H872HcDzCNAeUjvP6 the road to Keem Bay, Achill

    https://goo.gl/maps/k5wWJzjzQLbqp6km7 the road to Minaun transmitter, also Achill

    All of these roads have no safety barriers and have huge drops on one or both sides, and I have vertigo :)

    I drove that road in Achill around 10 years ago, I kept driving at the wrong side of the road going down as the drop was scary.


  • Registered Users Posts: 229 ✭✭anacc


    irishgeo wrote: »
    The gap of dunloe , mad stuff, meeting horse and carts, cars limited spots to pull in and blind corners like this.

    https://goo.gl/maps/xXvXabUnWXwjb67v9

    And at the end of the gap you come out into the Black Valley which is km after km of extremely narrow twisty road with nowhere for opposing vehicles to pass unless you reverse for km to where there is a verge that isn't a metres high ditch or metres high drops. Most horrible experience of my life, driving that road. Would have been grand if there was no other traffic, but the one time I did drive that road it was a sunny day and there was a lot of people out for a spin in the area!


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,057 ✭✭✭hans aus dtschl


    anacc wrote: »
    And at the end of the gap you come out into the Black Valley which is km after km of extremely narrow twisty road with nowhere for opposing vehicles to pass unless you reverse for km to where there is a verge that isn't a metres high ditch or metres high drops. Most horrible experience of my life, driving that road. Would have been grand if there was no other traffic, but the one time I did drive that road it was a sunny day and there was a lot of people out for a spin in the area!

    You'll laugh, but having done both multiple times, I find it much easier to cycle than to drive.
    The biggest problem is that the majority of people driving have no business being there. They don't know where they are, where they're going, when to pass, or when to wait at the little passing loops. After a long while driving they get stressed out and fed up.

    Example:
    I had a fella in a Ford Kuga overtake me this summer (pointless - we were approaching the hairpins near head of gap), only to find I was on his bumper the entire rest of the way to the hostel. He was sliding and skidding around the corners and really driving without full control.
    After the hostel, he stopped at the fork in the road (lost) and I came up beside him and asked if he was looking for Kenmare. He laughed at me and shouted "Killarney", and sped off into the bog. Around an hour later (no exaggeration), he finally reappeared behind me at Molls Gap. Probably still another 20 odd mins from Killarney. The same lad who overtook me around 90 mins earlier in a rush.

    I probably have a half dozen ridiculous stories like that from Molls or Dunloe. People in a rush while sightseeing.
    I understand people rallying the roads, I understand people in a rush, I understand people sightseeing, but Dunloe and Molls get people in a rush while sightseeing!


  • Registered Users Posts: 229 ✭✭anacc


    You'll laugh, but having done both multiple times, I find it much easier to cycle than to drive.
    The biggest problem is that the majority of people driving have no business being there. They don't know where they are, where they're going, when to pass, or when to wait at the little passing loops. After a long while driving they get stressed out and fed up.

    Example:
    I had a fella in a Ford Kuga overtake me this summer (pointless - we were approaching the hairpins near head of gap), only to find I was on his bumper the entire rest of the way to the hostel. He was sliding and skidding around the corners and really driving without full control.
    After the hostel, he stopped at the fork in the road (lost) and I came up beside him and asked if he was looking for Kenmare. He laughed at me and shouted "Killarney", and sped off into the bog. Around an hour later (no exaggeration), he finally reappeared behind me at Molls Gap. Probably still another 20 odd mins from Killarney. The same lad who overtook me around 90 mins earlier in a rush.

    I probably have a half dozen ridiculous stories like that from Molls or Dunloe. People in a rush while sightseeing.
    I understand people rallying the roads, I understand people in a rush, I understand people sightseeing, but Dunloe and Molls get people in a rush while sightseeing!

    If the road was any way as busy as it was the time I drove through there I'd say cycling must also be a nightmare! I have been all over the country on roads like that, but this was by far the worst. Usually my huge 4x4 is handy for the broken old roads in remote parts of Ireland but in the Black Valley it was definitely a disadvantage because of the size.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,057 ✭✭✭hans aus dtschl


    anacc wrote: »
    If the road was any way as busy as it was the time I drove through there I'd say cycling must also be a nightmare! I have been all over the country on roads like that, but this was by far the worst. Usually my huge 4x4 is handy for the broken old roads in remote parts of Ireland but in the Black Valley it was definitely a disadvantage because of the size.

    In all my years I've never seen anything like that day in July in the Black Valley. I had to stop cycling several times because of the crowds. It was like there was a football match on. I was fairly horrified by the crowds up there to be honest.

    If you felt you struggled in the 4x4, spare a thought: I once was behind two mid-size buses bringing people to a wedding at the Black Valley church via Dunloe. And you know what, they drove it impeccably - far better than the lad in the Kuga did! Great drivers.

    But normally it's much easier cycling than driving, honestly.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,917 ✭✭✭cantalach


    In all my years I've never seen anything like that day in July in the Black Valley. I had to stop cycling several times because of the crowds. It was like there was a football match on. I was fairly horrified by the crowds up there to be honest.

    If you felt you struggled in the 4x4, spare a thought: I once was behind two mid-size buses bringing people to a wedding at the Black Valley church via Dunloe. And you know what, they drove it impeccably - far better than the lad in the Kuga did! Great drivers.

    But normally it's much easier cycling than driving, honestly.

    Slea Head Drive is another road that is much easier to cycle than drive, certainly on a busy summer day anyway. Too many drivers ignore the recommended clockwise route, and that very narrow section after the crucifix can rapidly turn into a car park. But on the bike, you just sail on through. The north side of the Connor Pass is another car park from time to time that is best seen on a bike.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,811 ✭✭✭Chris_5339762


    While having a good old drive up to Barley Lake in Co Cork during the Level 3 restrictions, I started thinking about what the most hair raising, utterly terrifying, bowel softening roads in Ireland. Y'know those single track horrors up the side of a steep mountain with hairpins galore yet not one passing point.


    Find your best, pop them here. And please, only public roads that you can drive on and find on Google, not driveways etc. Try and do a Google Maps link for ease (Click the three dots to the top left, click "Share or Embed Image" then "Copy Link")



    Barley Lake ascent - https://goo.gl/maps/xgkmvYS6T8nPozRV7


    Priests Leap on the Cork/Kerry border - https://goo.gl/maps/2Aptiyz3HKj4d5z98


    A drivable part of the Kerry Way - https://goo.gl/maps/1dqCBJEC3imN9Sqt9




    Something we can all look at while we are not recommended to go more than 5km from home.


    So with counties allowed now I happened to do the Cork side of the Beara Peninsulas Healy Pass the other day. Some people described that to me as scary, but it was just fun.



    https://goo.gl/maps/HuhWXBar1Bz9c1kq5


    Priests Leap as I mentioned above... that was a bit of fun too, I did the Cork side of that.... fortunately meeting the convoy of a tractor and five cars coming the other way when there was a pull in. The best part of this road are the blind summits... where you have no idea if there is road over the summit because there can sometimes be a bend too.


    I ended up having to drive a kilometer into Kerry and park there (sorry Tony) because there was nowhere to turn at the county border as people were parking for the trip up to Knockboy, the Cork County top which is up there. I went too, and enjoyed a 2hr hike.



    But even after all the fun at Priests Leap I think I prefer Barley lake for sheer ridiculousness... its the hairpins that do it for me there, having to do a 3 point turn to get up a hairpin is loads of fun.


    This attempt at a mountain pass in Kerry looks good too


    https://goo.gl/maps/mXmUDZ7TcmvfdPcs8


  • Registered Users Posts: 740 ✭✭✭Jayuu


    Ended up by accident on this road on the side of Mount Leinster many years ago. Was a complete wreck by the time I got off it. I'm not good with driving beside open roads with steep drops and no barriers


    https://goo.gl/maps/a4vkaM8QVBW6m12E9


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,303 ✭✭✭patrickbrophy18


    Many of the roads in Dalkey are terrifying for those who don't know them off by heart. With their countryside like widths coupled with their bidirectional nature, it is a matter of time before there is a head-on collision.

    The stretch of road between Crone Woods and Glencree in Wicklow is a brutal one with long sections devoid of any lay-bys. Many other connecting roads in the Wicklow countryside are also like this.

    Some of the roads north of Leixlip or within a 10 mile radius are windy with narrow sharp turns.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,913 ✭✭✭Danno


    MarkR wrote: »
    Not terrifying, but you'd wonder what was going on when they decided to build this one twisty.

    https://goo.gl/maps/BqUioyZaVD53988N6

    Great lads who built them roads, they never missed a bend. :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,252 ✭✭✭Oops!


    Jayuu wrote: »
    Ended up by accident on this road on the side of Mount Leinster many years ago. Was a complete wreck by the time I got off it. I'm not good with driving beside open roads with steep drops and no barriers


    https://goo.gl/maps/a4vkaM8QVBW6m12E9

    A well used road by a few celtic tiger barrons for testing their rally cars back in the day.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭highdef


    lottpaul wrote: »
    All of these roads have no safety barriers and have huge drops on one or both sides, and I have vertigo :)

    Surely you mean that you have acrophobia, which is a fear of heights?

    I drove from Munich to Venice and back via an anti clockwise route in 2018, over the Dolomites and Alps. I can tell you that there's not one road in Ireland that comes anywhere close to done of the roads I traveled on there. Picture a narrow twisty road with no barrier and a 1,000m+ sheer drop at the side.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,811 ✭✭✭Chris_5339762


    This one caught me out nicely. It looks very innocuous, but is not so fun and involved a LOT of reversing.

    https://goo.gl/maps/vMAJaYdNv7UqDTaj8

    Someone has removed the important sign, y'see. Follow Streetview for a little bit.


  • Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,083 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Even before clicking I had some idea it could be that. It doesn't seem to be on the list, albeit I didn't check too hard!


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,356 ✭✭✭Charles Babbage


    So with counties allowed now I happened to do the Cork side of the Beara Peninsulas Healy Pass the other day. Some people described that to me as scary, but it was just fun.



    https://goo.gl/maps/HuhWXBar1Bz9c1kq5


    Priests Leap as I mentioned above... that was a bit of fun too, I did the Cork side of that.... fortunately meeting the convoy of a tractor and five cars coming the other way when there was a pull in. The best part of this road are the blind summits... where you have no idea if there is road over the summit because there can sometimes be a bend too.


    Priests Leap on the Cork side has a lot of single carriageway, but in the higher elevations there is a reasonable view around, you might see something coming in the distance. On the Kerry side the road has high hedges and you can see nothing ahead.


  • Registered Users Posts: 18,069 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    screamer wrote: »
    Connor pass in Kerry, holy ****, there’s literally parts of it that waterfalls gush beside and a drop to oblivion on the other side. I tell you, heart stopping driving when a tour bus is on one side and you’re on the other, madness.

    ideal road trip for a TopGear special


  • Registered Users Posts: 552 ✭✭✭-Toppy-


    This one caught me out nicely. It looks very innocuous, but is not so fun and involved a LOT of reversing.

    https://goo.gl/maps/vMAJaYdNv7UqDTaj8

    Someone has removed the important sign, y'see. Follow Streetview for a little bit.

    I was zooming down on Streetview going whats wrong with this road then baam :D - nice suprise! :D


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 320 ✭✭Dr. Em


    Meath. Every R road in Co. Meath. Between the tyre-swallowing potholes, the lack of verge, the volume of traffic, generalised speeding, and the walls of hedges blocking all visibility it has reliably served up the worst driving experiences in my inventory. And that is coming from someone who has lived in Cork, rural Galway, and rural Donegal. How can it be so close to Dublin and have such bad roads?


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