Driving lessons Rathkeale
Rathkeale lessons and the test
Our driving lessons in Rathkeale give you an Approved Driving Instructor, a dual-controlled car and a short drive to the test centre. Each one lasts an hour and starts at your agreed pick-up point.
Pick-up at Coláiste na Trócaire
Coláiste na Trócaire works as an agreed pick-up point for students, and home or work for everyone else. Being collected never costs extra.
Dual controls on every lesson
Approved Driving Instructors teach every lesson here, in cars with a brake on the passenger side. You will have that backup the first day you join the Rathkeale Bypass.
Nerves taken seriously
If you are nervous, your instructor slows things down and explains more. Nobody shouts, and you only take on a new skill when you are ready.
Ready for Newcastle West, honestly
We tell you honestly when your driving is ready for Newcastle West. If it is not, you hear what to work on, and no extra hours are pushed on you.
Manual or automatic, your choice
We teach both. Code 78 goes on your licence after an automatic pass and keeps you to automatics, while a manual pass covers both.
Preferences heard
When you enquire, tell us if you would like a female instructor or have any other preference. We read what you tell us before we choose your instructor.
Choose your transmission
Manual driving lessons Rathkeale
Your first manual lessons in Rathkeale are about the car: the clutch, the gears, moving off and stopping where you mean to. Junctions, roundabouts and reversing are added next, each practised until it holds. As your control steadies, the drives go further, and the Rathkeale Bypass gives you practice at higher, steadier speeds. Toward the end, your instructor brings in drives to Newcastle West, so the roads near the centre are familiar before your pretest.
Ask about manual lessons ↗
Learn in an automatic
Automatic driving lessons Rathkeale
Automatic driving lessons in Rathkeale skip the clutch and the gear changes, so you can put your attention on reading the road. The test is the same as in a manual. The licence is different: an automatic pass is marked code 78 for automatic cars only, and a manual pass covers both. Instructor times differ by town, so tell us early if you want an automatic in Rathkeale.
Ask about automatic lessons ↗
Prices
Rathkeale lesson prices
Rathkeale pays the same as Askeaton, Adare and every town we cover, and each price below includes your pick-up and drop-off.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 on Google across RSA School of Motoring
12EDT lessons
=
6Reduced EDT
Just getting started
EDT lessons in Rathkeale
No learner permit holder can sit the test without first completing Essential Driver Training, 12 lessons with an Approved Driving Instructor. In Rathkeale, each EDT lesson starts at your agreed pick-up point and ends with a signature in your logbook.
You learn as you drive, with your instructor planning each lesson, so there is nothing to study for it separately. A licence from certain other countries may cut the course to six lessons. The manual course is €587.95 for all 12 lessons.
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The EDT guide ↗
Getting ready for the test
Your test at the Newcastle West centre
The Newcastle West centre is 12.9 km from Rathkeale by road, about 10 minutes, the nearest of the four. If its dates do not suit, Castlemungret in Limerick is about 30 minutes away, Shannon about 40 and the Mallow centre about 55. Whichever you pick, we build your last lessons around it.
Shortly before your date, a pretest gives you one more hour, this time in the area around the centre, and the car for the test itself. In a manual it costs €183.63. You go into the test with that hour fresh in your mind. Call 021 2355558 to book it once the date is set.
01Get your learner permit
02Fill in the form
03We match your instructor
1
Newcastle West test centre Nearest
10 min12.9 km by road
2
Limerick (Castlemungret) test centre
30 min31.7 km by road
Preparing for the test ↗
Learning in Rathkeale
Learning on Rathkeale roads
Your instructor keeps the first hour near where you were collected, while the controls become familiar to you. Over the next lessons the drives get longer, and once junctions feel natural, the Rathkeale Bypass brings practice at a steady, higher speed.
Students at Coláiste na Trócaire can be met at the school. Otherwise we come to your home or your work, agreed when you book. Your instructor drops you back afterwards at the same point or at another one agreed in advance.
We teach in Ballingarry, 7.5 km away in a straight line, and in Askeaton, 8.8 km. Adare, at 10.8 km, is on our list as well. Learners in those towns are collected from home, school or work there, just as you are here.
All towns in County Limerick ↗
EDT and the test
The EDT: a guide
Your logbook travels with you to every EDT lesson. At the end of each one, your instructor signs it, and after 12 signatures the course is complete. Keep it with your learner permit between lessons. Then, together, we look at test dates at Newcastle West and plan your pretest around them.
The EDT guide ↗
Preparing for the test ↗
Rathkeale questions
A few good questions
Which test centre will I use from Rathkeale?
The Newcastle West centre is about 10 minutes away by road, 12.9 km. That short drive makes the pretest easy to fit in. Castlemungret in Limerick, about 30 minutes away, is the next nearest.
Do lessons ever start at Coláiste na Trócaire?
Yes, students can be collected there once we have agreed it as the pick-up point. At the end of the hour you are dropped back at the school or taken home, as arranged when you booked.
Will I learn on the Rathkeale Bypass?
Yes, once moving off, junctions and steady speeds feel comfortable. Your instructor brings it in when you are ready, and it is good practice for the higher speeds the test can include.
Can I swap from a manual to an automatic driving instructor in Rathkeale?
You can ask to switch at any point, and we check which automatic instructor can take you. Bear in mind the licence: an automatic pass gives code 78, so you could then drive automatic cars only.
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Got a question?
Lessons from Rathkeale
Tell us your pick-up point in Rathkeale, and whether you want manual or automatic, on the form or on 021 2355558.
