Planning a trip to S/SW Ireland with 4 women in their twenties in late May. Any helpful hints regarding sights to see, places to stay and things to do would be appreciated. Planning to self-drive with majority of time in the S/SW, a couple of days in Dublin. (Is this a feasible plan?) Thanks, Kristen

Kristen - you will have plenty of time! Ireland is not very large. My husband and I only had 3 days in the Republic of Ireland but we covered a lot of ground! Dublin is lovely, I would've loved to have had longer there. Don't miss the Rock of Cashel - absolutely beautiful. It is the most sacred site in Ireland and rises up over the town. Blarney, where you can kiss the Blareny Stone in the castle, was touristy but fun. Visit the Dingle Penisula and/or the Ring of Kerry. The countryside is absolutely beautiful. In some areas out here, only Gaelic is spoken, and you will see signs written in the Gaelic language. I have only visited the Dingle, so I can only vouch for that (Superb!). My husband has done both, and he says that the Ring of Kerry is also beautiful, although he prefered the Dingle. I understand that the Bear penisula (below the Ring of Kerry) is also worth seeing. I would've liked to go up forther north of the Republic around the Conemarra (sp?) which I have been told is wonderful and wild. Driving is easy and certainly the best way to see Ireland. As for places to stay, B & B's are EVERYWHERE! Just drive around until you see one that takes your fancy and knock on the door.

I will not repeat th eprevious post except to say I agree. Additionally if you are operating on a budgetI highly recommend calling Bord Failte or checking their website, and getting a complete listing of all Youth Hostels ( you do not have to be a youth!)...They are everywhere and cost about 6 to 10 punt a night. Some are somewhat primitive, some are in old estate houses. My friends and I did that, saved our money for "craic" and had a ball!

Call Irish Tourist Bureau in NYC 212-418-0800 - they are most helpful and have tons of info they'll send you free. Ask for maps and for their book of B&B's. They have one for regular B&B's and one for farm B&B's - we stayed in several and all were great, and not real expensive (typically around $20-25US per person, including private bath and full breakfast - this was in 1996. Dublin should not be missed - stay in center of town and walk to where you want to go, don't miss Trinity College. - Just get the rental car when you leave for the countryside. Be aware that driving is real slow, and people drive pretty casually, so don't figure you'll make the time you'd make on US interstates. Figure more like 30 mph. Ring of Kerry is really nice. We had planned to drive it - the owner of the B&B we were staying at strongly advised us to take a bus trip instead, which was real good advice - road was narrow and crowded, and the person driving would not have seen much of anything. The bus trip was super (they do tend to stop at a couple shops with high prices - but also stop at really scenic sites!)

Have a great time! Feel free to email me if you have additional questions.

See my remarks on Kilronan House posted March 1 under B and B recommendations in Dublin. I was there in Oct and we didnt rent a car we stayed in Dublin for 4 days took a train to Kilkenny . That was very nice there is a castle there but 1 day is enough we then went to Cork and Cobh . I like Dublin better than Cork but Cobh was very nice they have an exhibit called the Queenstown story very interesting. This was the port most of the people left from during the potato famine and the last place the Titanic left from they brought many of the bodies from Titanic there. I havent been west but everyone says it is great I am going to do that next time.

Be sure and visit Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher if
your lucky and its a good day the cliffs are startling
and Doolin is known for Irish music in the pub.
The Waterford plant is tourtisty but still very in-
teresting and if you stay around Waterford stay in a B&B called Lakeview, Callie Carney hostess and
chef unsurpasses hospitality. Have dinner there
if possible.
Cobh is excellent, especially if you have some ties
to Ireland.
People in general very hospitable, helpful and drive the backroads beautiful country. Agree
about Dingle and do the Ring of Kerry narrow
road but a great drive.