The start of our drive along the aptly named Wild Atlantic Way. With a few helpful tips from the cab driver on the way to pick up our hire car, and what I hope is our good share of Irish Luck, we were off out of Dublin and heading 250kms south to Kinsale, a small coastal town just a leprechaun’s leap from Cork. Our first stop was at the ancient seat of the Irish Overkings of Munster, known as the Rock of Cashel. This 4th century fortress occupied an important...

The 1 1/2 hour drive from Chester to Holyhead took us through picturesque North Wales, lush green fields, hedge rows and the occasional castle. That was the good part. The driver was something else. Even before we got in the car he was talking and he didn’t stop until we waved him goodbye at the Holyhead ferry terminal. And to prolong the torture, he didn’t go over 50mph the whole way and this was on a 4 lane motorway. Crossing the Irish Sea to Dublin, it fe...