Ireland Road Trip in the 997: Wexford, Wicklow, the Antrim Coast & Slane Castle
Updated: Aug 23
As seems to be becoming traditional with our road trips, the car we planned to take wasn't the car we left in.
The plan was the 964 Targa. We were packed, ready to head for Fishguard and pretty much good to go when my bloodhound-like sense of smell picked up the faint whiff of petrol. Not something you really want to ignore when you're about to head across the Irish Sea.
Karl had already driven the car down to my work, so after a bit of investigating we decided it wasn't worth the risk. The Targa stayed, Karl got dropped back home and my 997 was hastily deployed instead. As it turned out, the forecast for the next few days wasn't exactly Targa weather so I can't say we particularly missed having the roof off.
Last minute car change Fishguard to Rosslare ferry crossing The Pike in Wexford Creamy pints!
Fishguard to Wexford, Into the Fog
We caught the 2pm ferry from Fishguard and couldn't really have asked for a better crossing. The sea was completely flat and everything was very uneventful, which is exactly how I like my ferries. About half an hour after leaving Wales though, we sailed into a really thick bank of sea mist and at one point visibility was so poor I was half expecting Jack Sparrow to emerge from the fog on the bow of the Black Pearl.
Sadly, nothing quite that exciting happened and we arrived safely in Rosslare before heading into Wexford for our first night. A few very good pints of Guinness followed at The Pike and The Undertakers Bar, before a sensible night ready for some proper driving the next morning.
The Wicklow Mountains, Scenic but not Smooth
The following day we were heading north to Dundrum to see Karl's brother, but rather than simply taking the quickest route, we looped through the Wicklow Mountains. The scenery was beautiful but the roads were somewhat less so. There were sections that gave Cotswolds tarmac a serious run for its money and, with the 997 currently set up rather firmly, it wasn't always the relaxing scenic drive I'd imagined.
Overlooking Lough Tay, known as the Guinness Lake Paint-balling sheep Ferry Crossing
We stopped at a few places along the way, including Glendalough and its famous ancient monastic settlement, the Seven Churches, and also managed to get the obligatory car photo overlooking Lough Tay, better known as the Guinness Lake. The name is particularly apt from above; the dark peaty water and little strip of white sand make it look remarkably like a giant pint of Guinness, helped by the fact that the surrounding Luggala Estate was owned by the Guinness family for many years.
Eventually we arrived in Dundrum and went for dinner at The Bucks Head. Absolutely superb. We genuinely haven't had food of that quality for a long time, so if you're anywhere nearby it is well worth a visit.
Saturday, A Drive Along the Antrim Coast
Saturday morning meant another early-ish start because we were driving further north to meet Mark from the 9WERKS group. Our route took us across on the Strangford Lough ferry and eventually up to Carrickfergus, where Mark arrived in his white Cayman GT4.
Before doing anything, we took the opportunity to get some photographs of the cars by Carrickfergus Castle and had a chat. We'd already noticed while driving through the Republic of Ireland: sports cars seemed surprisingly thin on the ground, so we asked Mark why.
997 Outside the Dundrum Inn Porsche 997 and Cayman GT4 at Carrickfergus Castle Carnlough Harbour
The answer, unsurprisingly, comes largely down to money. Ireland's Vehicle Registration Tax is heavily linked to CO₂ emissions and, for the highest-emitting passenger cars, can be charged at 41% of the car's assessed Irish market value. Add emissions-based annual motor tax, insurance and the general cost of owning a high-performance car and suddenly something like a Porsche becomes a particularly expensive indulgence.
Mark said some owners have historically found ways around the costs by registering cars in Northern Ireland, sometimes through relatives, although he reckoned the authorities were becoming increasingly wise to that one. It certainly explained why we'd seen relatively few interesting cars in the south compared with what we're used to at home.
From Carrickfergus we headed onto the Antrim Coast Road, and it was absolutely worth the drive, and we found the other Larne… I wonder if they have a Larne Sports & Classic Car Club? 🤔
From there we carried on up the coast, eventually stopping at Carnlough for chips overlooking the harbour. This is where I took what turned out to be my favourite photograph of the 997 from the whole trip. Lovely little harbour, great backdrop, sunshine and the car parked in just the right place.
I'm just choosing not to think too hard about whether the chip fat was completely vegetarian, what you don't know can't hurt you I guess.
The Great Antrim Sheep Roadblock
The roads heading further north towards Ballycastle were some of the best of the trip. Great scenery, sweeping stretches of road and plenty of places where you just wanted to keep driving. Mark pointed out that part of the route around Torr Head had actually been used for the Ulster Rally just the weekend before we were there, which suddenly made rather a lot of sense. The 7.9-mile Torr Head stage had been run twice as part of the 50th anniversary event, with the rally also forming a round of both the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and the European Historic Rally Championship. It must be quite something to drive those roads properly closed and at rally pace.
Our own progress was considerably less dramatic, although it did briefly come to a complete halt courtesy of approximately 50 sheep. We rounded a corner to find what appeared to be the entire local flock coming straight towards us, so there wasn't really much room for negotiation. We pulled in and let them stream past while they carried on as if closing the Antrim Coast Road for livestock was an entirely routine occurrence. To be fair, they appeared to have a much better grasp of lane discipline than some of the drivers we'd encountered.
Karl also got the chance to drive Mark's GT4 for part of the route (thank you Mark) and came back suitably impressed. It also produced one other useful discovery: apparently the suspension in the 997 really is bloody hard. I'd been blaming my slightly green-around-the-gills experience through the Wicklow Mountains on the roads, but it turns out it might actually be the car. Some adjustment may therefore be happening shortly.
Eventually we reached Ballycastle where we parked up, had an ice cream and sat by the harbour, shorlty after, we said goodbye to Mark and headed back towards Dundrum for a family wedding anniversary party that evening, keeping things sensible because there was still another day's driving ahead.
Sunday – An Unexpected Car Show at Slane Castle
On the way back south towards Wexford on Sunday, we followed a tip from Mark and called into a car show taking place at Slane Castle.
The selection of vehicles was... interesting. There is clearly a healthy enthusiasm for unusual modifications on the Emerald Isle. Some we liked, some we didn't, and some raised considerably more questions than they answered, but that's half the fun of going to a car show somewhere different.
Save my eyes What is it? A lot of effort has gone into this
What really impressed us was how alive the car scene felt. There were teenagers, older owners, families and everything in between, and people were genuinely friendly and keen to talk about what they'd brought. One particularly nicely done Bay Window bus caught my eye, along with a couple of Porsche-based kit cars that made almost no sense whatsoever. I still don't really know what they were trying to be, but I looked at them for quite a while, which probably means they achieved something.
There were unfortunately also a few people leaving the show determined to demonstrate how easily their cars could spin their wheels, which was considerably less impressive. There was a much more sobering reminder of the consequences of stupid driving the following day, when we heard the dreadful news that five teenagers had been killed on the M9 travelling the wrong way along the motorway.
On the motorways, I'd noticed signs in my rear-view mirror facing the opposite direction, warning drivers to turn around because they were travelling the wrong way, afterwards they suddenly made rather more sense.
Ireland's Garda Commissioner subsequently spoke publicly about the issue, saying that in some cases this kind of incredibly dangerous wrong-way driving is being carried out for social-media attention. Horribly sad and unnecessary.
Mount Usher and Back to Wexford
After Slane, we continued south and managed to squeeze in a late stop at Mount Usher Gardens for a coffee and something to eat shortly before it closed. Then it was back to Wexford for our final night before Monday morning's ferry home.
The return crossing was, once again, wonderfully uneventful. Flat sea, no drama and still no Disney Pirates unfortunately.
One thing that really struck us during the trip was the difference in the landscape following this unusually dry summer, the south of Ireland looked remarkably like Wales had been looking when we left; dry, parched and brown after such a long spell without much rain. The further north we travelled, the greener everything became, and by the time we were on the Antrim Coast, Ireland was looking much more like the Ireland you expect to see in the photographs.
So, Did We Miss the Targa?
Not really. As much as we'd planned the trip around taking it, the weather meant we wouldn't have made much use of the open roof anyway and the 997 was a very comfortable place to cover the miles. Well... apart from the suspension.
More importantly, leaving the Targa behind turned out to have been absolutely the right decision. When Karl got home and properly investigated the fuel leak, he removed the suspect fuel hose and it split completely in his hand, which doesn't bear thinking about if it had decided to do the same thing somewhere halfway across Ireland.
Strangely, that car seems to have developed a habit of warning us that it isn't ready for a road trip before we get properly underway. So yes, better safe than sorry, especially when the evidence subsequently falls apart in your hand.
Comments