I'm going in and out of Shannon 5/3 - 5/15. Before putting together my itinerary I just had a basic question:

All of the places that people say are overrun with tourists are they that way in early-mid May? For example, would Ring of Kerry be jammed with buses then or does that happen mostly in the summer?

Thx. Rob

I'm not sure, but when I was there in early June, I didn't find it overly crowded at all (and the ROK was definitely not 'jammed with buses'). I would imagine there would be even fewer tourists in early May.

I agree with jent103. That happens mostly in Summer. Most Tour Companies don't even start their Summer season until late June / early July; and BusEireann's Daytrips from Cork City and Galway won't be operating yet.

Elementary / Secondary Schools in the UK & the Irish Republic will still be in session when you are there, so don't expect crowds along the Tourist Trail. European Tourists come later (i.e., mid-July thru early September).

May has its downside: it's a transition month Weatherwise so you can probably expect showers in the South & Southwest many of your days.

Rob, my Insights Guide IRELAND by Discovery Channel says thus:
Ring of Kerry:
"You can drive non-stop around the 112miles (180km) of the Ring of Kerry in about 4 hours, but allow a full day as you will want to make several stops. The ROK is justifiably famous for its combination of lush, sub-tropical vegetation and rugged seascapes.
In July and August the narrow two-lane road can be clogged by a slow procession of tour buses and RV's. If traffic and commercialism bother you, do the Ring of Beara instead, or go straight to Dingle."

After reading this we will definitely be dodging the ROK in our motorhome unless, we happen to find a nearby campsite and can set off early in the morning (6.30-7am). Failing this I am tempted to go for the Ring of Beara.

Ring of Beara:
" Is less well known than its neighbour to the North, ROK, yet ot also offers impressive scenery. It is a favourite haunt of walkers, cyclists, and bird watchers and people who enjoy natural beauty. Although the drive covers only about 68miles(110km) musch of it is narrow, winding roads so allow a full day."

We leave for Ireland on 10th May and have hired a motorhome until 22nd May. Our main objective is The Burren for photography (rare flowers and plants).
Wishing us all fantastic weather!!

The Beara Peninsula with no traffic is more difficult to drive in a large vehicle than is the Ring of Kerry with heavy traffic. Some stretches of the road are truly narrow, hilly, and twisty: you could have trouble meeting a cyclist coming towards you.

But if you are into photography, it beats the Ring of Kerry -- except that you will not have places to pull in off the road to get some of the pictures.

The Ring of Kerry has the best roads (but this is a relative term!) than the other two rings, from what I've been able to tell. All three are beautiful, all three will be free of tourists in May. Even in late June, we met very few tour buses on either Dingle or the ROK in 2006. Of course, we DID meet 3000 bicyclists on a charity run, and that was a special fun

May should be fine. There is a bank holiday weekend the 1st of may and we usually head to the countryside from Dublin for a few days and its never crazy with tourists that time of year. August would be the busiest I thought. At least in Dublin it seems to be!

Information much appreciated Praidig - We are in a hired motorhome (larger than we used last year to UK) and I am already dreading the narrow lanes I've heard about! Looks like unless we set off pretty early at 'sparrows F..t' we wont get any joy out of travelling this route. We want photographs and plenty of them!