I thought I would share some info on our trip. Flew into Shannon and took a bus to our b&b near Limerick. I wanted to be rested before getting the car. Walked to museum and castle in Limerick the first day. I used Sixt rental and picked up the car in Limerick. I used a platinum Mastercard and had no problem declining the cdw. I set up the rental in Feb on the net. Less than $250 for 13 days and they upgraded the car to a mid-size from the sub compact. After driving the roads I would have preferred the smaller car. I drive a manual in the US and had very little trouble switching to the other side. Best thing is to have someone (my wife) navigate and remind you where your to be on the roads. We sort of did the rubble and ruins tour and seen the pre-christian sites and castles. Lots of really narrow roads (1 to 1&1/2 lanes) so be prepared. If Cork is on your list be prepared for road construction in the city. Traffic is a mess and I was glad we bused into the city. Went through Bantry and learned that Bantry House is closed for renovation. Drove out on the Ring of Kerry to PortMagee to go to the Skellings. If the Ring of Kerry is a must then I would suggest a bus tour as I spent most of the time concentrating on the road. Several B&B owners suggested the Bearra peninsula as a better alternative. I was suprised at the price of meals. For my wife and I splitting an appetizer and dessert, 2 entrees and a bottle of wine ~$80 US dollars with the exchange rate. Food can become a major expense. I hope this is informative as I used this forum to get info before going. My wife and I had a great time.

Yes...this is the kind of info that really helps. We will be renting a car from sixt (6 days and counting!), glad to hear that everything went smooth with declining CDW w/mc. Was dinner price average for all areas? we are planning on grabbing most meals in pubs or small places...no fancy places. Did you travel the Beara Pen.? Would like to hear more!

Dinner prices can be lower if you do pubs in the early evening or pick a pub with a restaurant attached. The pub food will come out of the restaurant. Most entrees in pubs were ~10 euros and up, near the coast the fish and chips were enough for two in some places, also soups and chowders are cheap.

We didn't do the Beara pen. but I assume scenery wise would be nice with less traffic (tour buses).

I actually liked finding the older rock forts and burial tombs and seen plenty of scenery driving around. We are from Montana and when we mentioned that, most people thought of our scenery as being great so I may not be the best for advice as to what natural area is best.

Re Beara peninsula
I have vacationed a lot in Kenmare and find the Beara Peninsula to be a completely magical place. There is a restaurant - and forgive me but I can't rememebr the name properly, I think it is Anne's which overlooks a lake which itself is overlooked by the Healy pass. We had great food in a really amazingly beautiful setting, if it helps it is on the same road as the Sibeen pub... Also read the book MacCarthy's Bar whose title refers to a great pub in Castletownbere where the now infamous toasted specials can be found. You can easily drive Beara in a day from Kenmare, but might find it more interesting, and less driving to try to stay on the Beara peninsula for a night - my bet would be the village of Allihies but as I have never stayed there I can't recommend anywhere.

I just returned from 7 full days (plus a day of travel on each end) and also made great use of the info found on this site. I will be posting a trip report when time permits but the short version....

Arrived Dublin - used Argus car rental and it cost $300 Euro for one week including full glass coverage and the optional CDW that put max possible out of pocket damage costs at $100 Euro (we had no damage but the peace of mind was invaluable).

I drive stick in Manhattan traffic on a regular basis fighting with taxis but driving stick on Irish back roads on the left was an experience. I adapted quickly but i'ts not for the faint of heart. I had to cancel most of the Dingle area driving because the GF was too terrified even to ride in the car on the cliffside roads - buses have their advantages.

If you're picky about accomodations or arriving in a busy area late or on a weekend, reserve a B&B in advance - many of the good ones are booked in advance or by mid-day.

We found some great early bird dining options in Dublin (two or three course nice meal for $13 - $20 Euro). In the touristy areas of the countryside we generally found even the pub food to be expensive realtive to the quality. "Cheap" soup is typically $3.50 to $6.00 in Euros. Add 25% for the conversio rate and $10 Euro for a good hamburger or $13 - $15 Euro for Irish stew - it adds up fast. We skipped restaurant desserts (pricey), restaurant coffee (atrocious quality) and often had a soup, an appetizer and one entree that we shared. With the huge breakfast, an afternoon deli sandwich or snack from a convenience store or some cheese and crackers.... we were fine. I bought a 5 litre jug of bottled water and filled two small bottles to drink from . The water stayed cool enough being left int he car at night.

By the way.... definitely stick wiht the small car, get an auto tranny unles you're very comfortable wiht a stick and avoid the small Peugot - try to get a Nissan Micra or equivalent Fiat instead. The Peuogot has a nice ride and is very solid but the seats have a backward slant and can't be adjusted ot have the back in a real upright position. I was forced to drive leaning back with my arms overextended or else leaning forward on the seat - all positions were uncomfortable. When I returned the car the lot attendant admitted that this is a common complaint about the new Peugots

Owen,
I've been looking forward to hearing what you thought of Clonmara...but I can probably be patient enough to wait for your trip report.

Everyone talking about the small car is now kind of worrying me...there are 6 of us and we have decided to rent a VW van. We will I think be mostly on larger roads, except to Dingle...(Dublin to Wicklow to Waterford to Kinsale to Dingle to Shannon Airport). Do you think this will be a problem? We rented an automatic. And second question, it a problem to drive at night from Waterford to Kinsale?

You should be okay with the van if you're a good driver and have good perception of vehicle size. Don't hesitate to slow way down almost to a stop on the narrow roads as you pull towards the edge to allow other cars to come by in the opposite direction. When you drive from Tralee to Dingle and back do NOT take the Connor Pass road in the van unless you've become really confident by then. It's a narrower road in places than the alternate route (the alternate route is 4 4m longer but just as quick). Also - if you plan to drive out the Slea Head Drive and other scenic routes in Dingle, it may be a bit hairy in the van - some of those roads are very narrow and twist and turn along the edge of a drop-off. You can probably get a bus tour of the peninsula from Dingle (or you could fly me over and I'll do the driving {

Meant to say the alternate route is 4 km longer - it's also very scenic.