Driving Conditions

The thing is, some responses will say it's OK, and some will re-tell horror stories, but that doesn't help you.

How confident a driver are you, or are you nervous? How adaptable are you, do you get stressed easily? Do you shout at other drivers when driving and rail against the world, or are you calm and relaxed and take it easy?

You do have to concentrate and keep your eyes on the road. You will be apprehensive for a short time driving on the left - but the car is set up for that so it's not difficult.

And baaaing any mishaps (sheep joke) all will be fine.

Solo traveler?

Like Robert, I would need to know your situation. As a non-driver at home, I would not personally be able to do it solo. I am married to a good driver, and he assured me he could handle the driving on the left part, and we have had successful driving trips in other countries, so we went for it after briefly considering tours.
We had a fine time and would definitely do it again. If you have driven in rural areas at home, I think you can do it.
It is easy to get from Dublin to Galway by train, and there are tour services out of both, so it really depends on your planned itinerary.

Traveling with my husband who has planned to do the driving until he's heard horror stories from several people.

...that the driver doesn't enjoy the trip...know if you've taken a tour and what tour company you used...

There's no question that the driver will miss a lot of beautiful sights due to having to pay very close attention to the job at hand because of the things you mentioned. We took a Rick Steves' tour and loved it. And one of the reasons was that we could leave the driving to someone else. We'll not even consider driving ourselves.

My husband is adept at driving on the opposite side of the road in the UK and Ireland and has had a lot of experience driving in those places. I’m the nervous Nellie in the passenger seat. LOL! That being said, he much prefers now to do a small group tour or take public transport as he gets to relax and enjoy the views as a passenger. He likes the camaraderie of the small group tours. Rick Steves and Odysseys Unlimited are our favorite tour companies as they are small groups with fun, well traveled and educated tour members and wonderful guides. While traveling independently is great, don’t knock tours. We found that we have had some unique experiences on tours that we would not have had on our own.

If this is to be your first visit to Ireland, if your primary interest is concentrating on the major cities, and if you would be satisfied with taking organized day trips then I'd say that a car isn't necessary.
If, however, you'd like to see the countryside then a car is the best way to go. Public transportation in Ireland isn't particularly robust though trains and buses will get you between cities in a reasonably timely fashion.
If you (and your husband) are competent drivers at home I think you'll do fine - getting accustomed to LH traffic is surprisingly easy, and after 30 minutes behind the wheel you'll wonder what all the fuss was about. Having a co-pilot can make all the difference too, ie having an extra pair of eyes watching out for other traffic, signage in unfamiliar locations, roundabouts, etc., as well as reminding the driver to "keep left" at all times since the muscle memory you've grown up with will be wrong.
Be well rested before setting off, book an automatic, and maybe preview your daily drives by using the street view feature on Google Maps to familiarize yourselves with the roads before you tackle them at speed and you'll do fine.
Might add that Irish drivers are among the friendliest and most accommodating anywhere. Driving in Ireland really isn't that big a deal.

My husband's driving in the US scares me and our daughter and the first time he drove in England, his parents and I voted to turnin the car early. However, he did surprisingly well in Ireland(because public transportation is so limited), despite the three issues you mentioned above. I think he had left behind in the States his usual over-confident driving attitude.

With a couple exceptions I didn’t find driving in Ireland to be bad at all. I did feel the rural roads could have been better marked. There are some one track/lanes that are two way, but drive slowly and be ready to back up to a pull off if need be. For me, one exception was heading up a one track road and having a big tour bus come over the hill. Needless to say, I’m the one who backed up so it could go by.

I’ve driven in the UK multiple times so am used to the sheep, cows, one track roads, roundabouts, etc. It’s all part of the experience. Once time in Scotland we were by Dunotter castle and had to wait about 15 minutes for a herd of cows to clear the road. Nothing you can do, except wait and laugh.

Born when Truman was President. You do the math.

Have driven in Ireland and NI twice. First early 90’s with 2 friends. Stick shift.

2nd time about 6 years ago when I drove an automatic solo from Belfast to Dingle.

5 hour drive with rest stops. No GPS. Paper maps each trip. Learned long ago that cellphones often do not work on coastal or rural roads .

Drove the Gap of Dunloe in November. No issues except sheep and a few lorries. It’s wee road but in the Fall with green, yellow, red and golden vegetation it was gorgeous, especially when the sun shone.

Maybe it’s because I learned to drive with a stick shift or had a 30 year career as a Film and TV Location Scout which entailed hours of driving in LA…. Who knows but wasn’t daunted driving in Ireland or NI.

Mapped out route night before and followed the route the next day. Signage was fine. Just made sure car always had a 1/2 tank of petrol and I had still water to drink.

Do you have Google Maps? If yes you can see the through fares in Ireland.

For instance click on Lough Adoon Walkway…. Basically its a marsh adjacent to Ballyhoneen Road. Perfect example of Ireland’s road size. Merely get the smallest car that you feel comfortable driving in and slow down. You are on vacation. Relax

I had never driven on the left before last summer in Ireland. Made sure to get an automatic transmission; resulting trip (one week) on Irish roads was uneventful. I adjusted very quickly, and I'm ancient.

Irish motorways are first-rate; secondary roads not bad, on par with rural Ohio; tertiary (farm lanes) take very slowly and you'll be fine.

FWIW, one concern that caused me some mental angst before my first time driving in Ireland was the prospect of meeting opposing traffic on one of the extremely narrow rural roads where one car needs to give way in order to allow the other to pass. Turned out that my fears were largely unfounded. Usually, by the time I slowed and started looking around for a pullout the other driver had already done so and was waving me thru - always with a smile and a wave as if he could sense my concern. The Irish drivers deal with the situation all the time and are well practiced at sorting things out with a minimum of drama.
Driving in rural Ireland is a pleasure as long as you're in no particular hurry to get to where you're going. Just slow down and enjoy the experience.

Your husband should be able to do the driving, if you are the attentive navigator. We did just fine last spring. We had a stick-shift, but my husband’s regular car has a manual transmission, too. Still, that means shifting with a left hand, not a right. Automatic transmission cars should be available, but at a likely higher cost.

The navigator needs to gently remind the driver - frequently - to not get too far to the left, where the edge of the road is, and quite possibly also a stone wall behind some brush. It gets much easier after the first 20 or 30 minutes.

Speed limits are lower in Ireland, which helps, even if the Audi behind you is impatient (we had that happen several times, and it was always an Audi). The tricky thing is if you’re on an “R” road in the country, and huge tractors are coming the opposite direction. Slow down, and keep left, but not too far left.

Again, the navigator is essential, watching for speed limits, reminding the driver to not get too far left, and watching for upcoming left or right turns and roundabouts at intersections. Let the driver know what to anticipate ahead. Google Maps was a key part of the process.

Just returned from our first visit to Ireland. Husband is quite a good driver, and I am a very good navigator!
I'll echo much of what has been said here. It takes a little bit to get used to driving on the left, and the back roads are quite narrow. Ran into lots of tractors! But the traffic is much more reasonable and friendlier than we find in the northeast.

Also, the signage on the secondary and back roads is so-so. We found using google maps and having the navigator paying close attention, so the driver could just drive as was imperative.

I would recommend making sure to get an automatic. We can both drive a standard, but I would not want to add the left-handed stick into the mix!
We went with my elderly in-laws in the backseat, who definitely could not have handled the driving.

I was the driver, and our husband was the navigator. I consider myself to be the better driver and get very nervous with my husband in the driver seat at home. There was no way I was going to sit in the passenger seat while he figured out how to drive on the other side of the road!

That being said, it was totally fine. I had to be very attentive and careful, but I am a confident driver. My husband was also very active and on top of being both a navigator and a road monitor, meaning he let me know, especially the first few days if I was getting too far over to his side of the road.

if you are attentive, stay calm, and remain courteous to everyone else on the road, you and your husband will be fine. The one suggestion I would make would be to do some searches on YouTube for drivers ed in Ireland. You can find really good videos from the perspective of driving on the left and I found it super helpful to be able to visualize how things would be different in roundabouts and making turns.

Also, I will add that while there were times I wished I could watch the scenery from the car a bit more, there were plenty of times when I was able to find a safe place to pull over and exit the car to appreciate it. While you would Be able to enjoy the scenery more if you were not the driver, I would not give up the freedom a car gives in Ireland to explore and really savor the country, personally.