Driving on narrow Irish roads

Although kind of scary on the first day, driving on the country roads of Ireland is kind of fun - fun like a video game where you're not sure you'll survive the next corner! Speed limits tend to be self-enforcing:

(Click on any image to view full-screen)

When two vehicles meet, its like a game of chicken, especially when the other vehicle is a truck or bus. This road has an 80 kilometre limit...

Parking rules are simple - you can do anything, so long as there is no sign saying you can't:

One road sign I had not seen before has a "Z" on it and means, obviously, the road has a crazy curve in it (still 80 km limit, mind you!). This beautiful stone wall with the stream running through is actually the road surface on one of those z-curves:

Road signs are easy to read and directions to various locations are always given, making finding your way simple:

Several times we were struck by the wisdom of road markings. After saying "SLOW" several times around some tight corners, we then came across this 'idiot-proof' sign...

Irish drivers in our experience tended to go under the posted limit, tended to be generous in letting others go first, and were patient when another driver was going slower than they wanted. When the road narrowed, there was no fighting for position, and they just worked together to get around the problem. We could learn a few lessons from them!