SUV/Narrow Roads?

Well, people lived with sedans for many years, until the auto manufacturers learned they could make $10,000 extra per vehicle by persuading us that SUVs were a necessity of life. I would never rent an SUV in Ireland or the UK-or on the continent, for that matter. Aside from road width, you have to deal with the need to pass an oncoming vehicle on a road that is less than two cars wide. In cities, you will find that garage spaces and aisles are much narrower than in the U.S.

You need to be concerned about hiding your luggage if it is in the vehicle when you are visiting a site in-between two hotels. An SUV makes it really hard to hide the luggage. Because I only rent the smallest car we (two people ... ) can manage with, I don't know if it's easy to get an SUV with an automatic transmission - if that affects your needs. Driving with the wheel on the right is hard enough as it is.

Tim 100% agree that is why I’m concerned. Yes I found an automatic transmission SUV so that is not issue. Sedan would not be issue if we didn’t have luggage. Even with 4 carry on bags it would be tight as most trunks are so small. When we were in Greece we had a 4 door with only my husband and I, still hard to fit just one large suitcase in trunk. But we had luxury to use backseat.
If we manage to all pack carry ons, all jammed into a sedan I would think having luggage visible in backseat would also be a “security/privacy” concern when parking. Idk.
I think would be so expensive to be cabbing / private driver / trains across these regions. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Don’t know what to do!

I recall when I first began driving on UK roads that even my moderate sized car felt "too big." As was earlier noted, with the SUV you'll have the advantage of being higher up. Honestly, when I drove in parts of Ireland, I truly (not joking) found myself in traffic with more sheep than cars. But that was years ago and not in high season.

One adjustment you might make while you adjust to the size of the car relative to the lanes, traffic and cars that may be parked in the driving lanes in small towns is to flip in your rear view (wing) mirrors, as needed, against the side of the car to avoid being whacked off by traffic, parked cars, or even just to give yourself a bit more breathing room on narrow lanes.

Parking spaces may feel "too small" and you may have to look longer to find somewhere for a larger car/SUV to fit. I found that the curbs in the UK were brutally unfriendly toward my tires. My colleagues would shake their heads and laugh (in the nicest possible way!) each time I had yet another flat. You might ask your passenger to jump out to guide you into a curbed parking space.

Well I wouldn’t get an Escalade but a regular sized SUV would be doable.

Use Google and type in Cork Ireland Traffic or Killarney Ireland Traffic.

You’ll be able to see what’s being driven.

All of the SUVs I had as rentals in Ireland were smaller SUVs - not Suburbans or Tahoes.
- more like CRV size SUV. We had no issues driving or parking those and they had enough room for luggage for 3 or 4 people.

We rented a Seat Alhambra full size people mover with 7 seats in the U.K. in fall 2017 for a month. We had never driven on the left before and we were a little freaked when we first drove but by day 2 we were quite comfortable. Never hit anything. Yup it was tight in a parking garage in Cardiff and we were in the off season so more parking available but we did it. We had to be patient some times. We could not cover our luggage but we did secure all bags together with a thick cable lock and then another cable lock attached them to the vehicle itself. Nothing was left in the car of value except clothes and souvenirs. We also park in handicap accessible spots so we had that “advantage”. We ere worried about our luggage a lot but had no choice.

Also we are hopefully renting the same thing this fall when we hopefully, god willing, visit Ireland for a month.