Welcome to TSR
@johncolescarr.
Hello there..... My humble advice I can give on the irritation issues is First and foremost 'ADD NO PRESSURE TO THE RAZOR,LET THE WEIGHT OF THE RAZOR & BLADE DO THE WORK,YOU JUST GUIDE IT OVER YOUR STUBBLE. Equally important is to practice your technique, this is the secret to traditional wet shaving, by doing this you will gain your shaving confidence...."I taught myself to shave the lather from my ugly face, rather than the stubble"....This will help to reduce irritation. Get yourself a sample pack of DE blades to find which is best suited to your skin type.
Don't worry too much about anyone else's opinion....Try not to expect too much too soon and be on a obsessional quest to get a perfect BBS shave with each shave.... Nobody is standing on the other side of the mirror making biased judgements. The face you're shaving is your own, and you don't have to satisfy anyone but yourself. The wonderful thing about traditional wet shaving for me is that there are so many good products out there and there literally is something for just about everyone....The vast majority of my shave set ups are inexpensive, which work perfectly for me....Last but not least try doing one WTG pass at first until your skin gets accustomed to this way of shaving. Enjoy your new shaving experience.
Yours- Barry.