two bikes to the west coast of Ireland

My two sons and I took a bike trip to eire this year 2017, in April, Joel drives a Yamaha xt 660, I drive a Kawasaki zzr 600, if you plan a trip to eire, I would recommend the Holyhead/Dublin route, it's the quickest, an important factor if the sea is "lumpy", stems and Irish ferries offer early morning sailings that get you to Dublin at the break of day, useful if you are making for the west coast. On arrival in Dublin the first obstacle is getting out of the docks, it is a bit confusing. If you are heading west you will come out of the docks, turning left onto a three lane one way system. This quickly bears right and you run alongside the Liffey into the city, just keep going straight for nearly two miles before crossing the Liffey following signs for N2/3/4, then leave the city following destination signs which now appear, Galway/Sligo/etc. Irish motorways are brilliant, no one obeys the speed limit, and there are no fixed cameras, but watch out for Garda mobile speed camera vans. We were the slowest things on the road at 95mph at one point. Heading west there are no petrol stations on the motorway except one about 20 miles out of Dublin , for all other refuelling you have to leave the motorway and follow signs for local petrol stations, which can take about 10 minutes.incase I forget this when returning to the ferry you will see signs for Dublin ferries telling you to turn left on the M88, (I think) do NOT take the left filter lane onto this motorway unless you want to add an hour to your journey time to the ferry, as this will take you north to Dublin airport before bringing you all the way back on one of Ireland's busiest bit of motorway. Returning to the ferry head straight for the city centre, you will soon find yourself on the left bank of the Liffey following signs for the ferries, and you will be there in fifteen minutes from entering the city. Ireland has another quirk, many petrol stations sell freshly cooked "breakfasts", all laid out in ban Marie's, you select what you want and they fill a roll giving you a massive breakfast roll, I had two eggs, five rashers of bacon, three sausages, black pudding and hash browns in a roll a foot long for €3, which was brilliant. These breakfast serving garages proliferate the more west you go. I hate to mention what Joel had in his roll, infact I doubt I could remember it all, he just said yes to everything, the damn thing was huge!!!! All Irish motorways are two lane and toll. For bikes this comes in two parts, to athlone it's €1.50, then another euro from athlone to Galway. It is very useful to have a pocket with about ten euros in change, so you don't have to go hunting for money at the toll booths, and thereby hold up the other traffic. As a general rule of thumb if you are looking for accomodation bargain on €50 a night b&b for one person, there are some cracking hostels that offer dormitory style accomodation for as little as €10 a night, you can haggle with the Irish, so a good deal can be had if you are staying several nights for two plus people. My two sons and I did get a three bedded room, b&b for €75 a night, and it was a brilliant place, we got afternoon tea and cakes and soft drinks for free!!!! Irish tourism always have a list of accomodation and prices available so you can drift from one location to another just relying on regional tourist bureaus, and you will probably get as good a deal as you would find on line, you certainly won't get a worse deal. In the west of Ireland you must visit the cliffs of moher on the coast of Clare, the coastal route around the south of Galway bay is a must, you will have taken the road to Limerick leaving Galway, and after about ten miles you come to a very significant collection of tourist traps and garage, takeaways etc...mother Hubbard's, it's called, there you turn right to follow the coastal route, the secluded bays, the village harbours, the rugged landscape as you enter "the burren" is gorgeous. The burren itself is a virtual lunar landscape, Cromwell said of the place. "No soil deep enough to bury a man, no tree high enough to hang a man, no river or stream deep enough to drown a man"...I wonder if he had many friends?. The burren is a protected area, you can only sample the delights on the Right side of the road, that's between the road and the sea. Do not attempt to drive off road on the left hand side of the road or the gardii will discumknockerate you. Arriving at the cliffs of moher you enter a tourist trap and have to pay for parking!!!!, Bargain on €6-10!!!. Leaving the cliffs return via lisdoonvarna and corkscrew hill, this is a cracking drive, you will love it, you'll eventually get back to mother Hubbard's and the left turn to Galway. Want to savour an Irish town that hasn't changed at all in 50 years? Visit lochrea. Leave Galway on the road south to Limerick, then take the left turn to craughwell, if your bike can do close to 200 miles an hour, the brilliant road to craughwell is the place you will do it. If the road was any wider or smoother, it would be an airport runway!! In lochrea there has been absolutely no development of any sort in the town centre since the 1950's, sure there are modern shops, but housed in old buildings. At this point I must stop for the moment.