wilkie, my inclination would be to tell you to stay in Galway one night, Ennis one. Mainly because it'll give you more time to see Connemara. As I mentioned to you, it took us all day to drive from Galway to Westport. You can definitely drive from Westport to Ennis (which we did). But you would have to really cut back on any stops on the way. And, while we enjoyed Ennis, since you will have already seen the Burren and the Cliffs, I think one day would be enough. IMHO, the day would be better spent seeing more of Connemara than in Ennis.

In case you think it would help, I'm posting what I hope is the link for my trip report.

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34784012

I don't think I ever got around to posting my report on our B&B in Ennis. We stayed at Grey Gables and we were very happy with it. The rooms were comfortable, the breakfast was good and the location is very convenient, good walking distance to the town centre.

Be aware of lots going on in Dublin when you will be there. Sept 17 football finals. After that Ryder Cup. Make your reservations for Dublin ASAP!

I believe this may be the online walking tour of Kilkenny that Bill was talking about: http://www.knockahopple.com/downloadkilkenny.html If you download the tour and take it, it would be polite to give feedback to the author when you return.

Thanks CAPH52, I think we will stay 1 night in Galway & 1 night in Ennis.Irish eyes we do have reservations at Trinity College while we are in Dublin. I attempted to download the tour but had some problems so will try later.

Wilkie, what a coincidence! I just finished making reservations today for the Alcantra B&B in Kilkenny. We'll be there the same time as you are and we're neighbors at home too! We're from the Seattle area. We'd originally planned on only one night in Kilkenny (our first in Ireland after landing in Dublin) but instead decided to stay 2 nights there. I usually try to schedule a 2 night stay about every third place just so we're not moving every night. We thought we could go over to Wexford and Waterford as a day trip from Kilkenny.
After Kilkenny we plan on moving over to Kenmare, then maybe a night in Dingle before heading north up to the Cliffs of Mohr, The Burren & Lisdoonvarna. I haven't made any other reservations yet. We were hoping we could 'play it by ear' and make reservations the day before as we travel. I hope this is possible in Mid-September.
We finish up Ireland in Dublin before ferrying over to Wales and traveling through the Cotswalds. We fly home out of London.
We'll see 'ya in Kilkenny and maybe you'll have some first-hand knowledge of where we're headed and you just left.

Stlblew, that really is a coincidence as we just last night extended our stay in Kilkenny for another night (staying Sept 13 & 14), also our revised plan has us going from Dingle to Kenmare (or Bantry) then Kinsale before arriving at Kilkenny. Your route is very similar except in reverse. We look forward to sharing our experiences (maybe over a pint) See you in a few weeks. Any suggestions on B&Bs in Kenmare or Bantry?

Hi Wilkie,
I know you're looking for details but here I am writing to comment on your itinerary.

You might consider skipping Ennis entirely. It's a doable drive from Galway to Dingle, you won't need to break that up. You could either spend 2 days in Connemara (or a day trip to the Aran islands) or add another day in Kenmare or Bantry. I'd prefer that to another day on the Burren (and I do like the Burren but 2 days seems like enough.)

In Westport we loved the day we spent on Clare Island.

In Kenmare or Bantry, there's so many great things to do - several peninsulas to explore, Bantry House has a lovely tea room. The garden on the island off Bantry - Garinish Island or something - would be terrific.

In Dublin we loved all the museums and the brewery tour. Have tea at Bewley's Oriental tea room.

We'll be staying In Kilkenny the nights of the 12th & 13th so we'll overlap only one night. We haven't yet decided on where we'd like to stay in Kenmare but are looking at Brandylochs Guest Home, Virginias Guesthouse, Seanua B&B, Silvertrees B&B and Abbey Court B&B there. We intend on two nights in Kenmare too. We haven't planned on including a drive through Connemara.

I noticed you said you're doing walking tours while in Dublin. Dublin Tourism has a link to audio guides for various walking tours there. If you have an iPod or an mp3 player this sounds like a good idea and much lighter than carrying around a travelguide and tryiing to read it.
http://www.visitdublin.com/multimedia/iwalk.aspx?id=275

We were originally thinking of including a drive up to Northern Ireland in our itinerary but instead decided to travel slower.

Thanks for the advise rosetravels, I like the idea of staying 2 nights in Galway & seeing the Aran Islands & I think we will stay in Kenmare before going to Kinsale, hopefully that will make that part of the trip a little easier. Thanks stlblew for the tip about the MP3 audio walking tours we will definitely get the youngest to download those for us. Has anyone bought the visit Dublin attraction passes & if so are they worth it? Anyone have any suggestions for 30-40 euro B&Bs in town at Galway, Kenmare or Kinsale?
Thanks for all your help.

We did end up running into wilkie at the Alcantra in Kilkenny. Had a great time discussing our travel plans (we were only on our 2nd day) and they recounted theirs.