Hello,

We've refined our plans since my last posts. Here's the latest for context. Questions follow.

Early June, 3 adults (two older, one younger) drive in rental car from Dublin to Birr, stopping at Hill of Tara for long visit on the way, spending the night at Dooly's (thanks seedee).

From Birr, we head to Buree or thereabouts for one night.

Next stop Cork for two nights, using it as a base for at least one day driving/exploring.

We're interested in landscapes, old places and working/real places, and are hoping to get a taste of the waterfront, etc. in the Cork part of the visit. We also have a musician in the group, so places with open mics or live music are a plus. The musician is also extremely knowledgeable about Irish history, and we all are interested in that, from Celts and before, as well as the last century, Georgian castles not so much.

We'll be flying out of Cork to Paris the morning of our fifth day.

Recommendations for:
stopover after Birr on way to Cork
place to stay in Cork and venues with music, etc.
coastal, waterfront stops for day trips

Some of you have already answered some of these and I thank you in advance and apologize for any repetition, but I wanted to gather the entire question in one place.

Phyllis

Hi,

We are just back from Ireland and enjoyed spending time in West Cork at Bantry House. A very special place indeed.

http://www.bantryhouse.com/bantryhou...bed-breakfast/

We used it as a base for exploring Sheep's Head, Beara and Mizen Head....areas of great beauty and few tourists.

Bantry has wonderful restaurants and a good selection of pubs for music.

Bruree Limerick I presume? so from Birr to Portumna and down Lough Derg to Killaloe then a couple of options how to get south of Limerick, maybe continue down the Shannon and cross at O'Briensbridge?

Alternative would be Birr to Nenagh and the M7 to Limerick.

not sure what if any information I might already have given.

Thanks Tony2phones. Yes, you have given us tons of good information. We're thinking of heading more toward Roscrea and Cashel. Though Killaloe looks very interesting. Any thoughts?

Thanks Bette. That might be a little too far west. But it looks lovely. We hope to hit the western coast on another trip when we have more time and so will be sure to file this recommendation for that trip.

Trouble is you cant do everything, Roscrea has some history with the Castle, Heritage centre, roundtower, The town has its own Cross, Sean Ross Abbey and the "Angels Plot" is also worth a visit. Cashel has its own publicity as does Cahir and if going that way then Cahir might be a better overnight than Bruree. maybe http://www.thecarrigeencastle.com/about/