Waterford is my favorite place.
Also check where u will be on Easter Sunday - may get to see commemeration parade for 'Easter Rising' in Dublin probably in morning time at GPO -90 yr anniversary

Like the others said I would skip Waterford. We were there and not much to see that you couldn't drive into town and see after spending the night wlsewhere. We did enjoy the Waterford Crystal tour though.

And for what it is worth we enjoy Doolin for a place to spend a couple days that you can use as a base to sight see. The people are always friendly.

Have a wonderful trip!

Hello! Thank you all so much for your suggestions. We will consider them all!

I believe we will save Galway for another trip (soon, I hope!), along with most of County Clare. Based on what you all have said, it seems that concentrating on the Southwest and Dublin makes the most sense.

peteram, I think we'll be leaving Dingle the morning of Easter Sunday, arriving in Kenmare.

When you arrive in Shannon, you may want to go north and see the Cliffs of Moher. They were truly beautiful. Then either go back to Bunratty and catch the castle dinner (very touristy, but interesting and tasty for your first night) and stay in Shannon, or take the car ferry across and stay somewhere like Glin. The car ferries are great. Just drive on.

Well, we've booked our tickets, and turns out we'll have to adjust the itinerary anyway- we got a better deal by arriving one day later, and will avoid the uncertainty of Good Friday.

So, the new plan will be as follows:

2 nights Dingle
2 nights Kenmare
1 night Kinsale
3 nights Dublin

I know Dublin sounds like a lot, but since we'll be likely arriving late afternoon the first day, and will fly out first thing in the morning on our last day, we will really just have 2 full days there.

I'm so looking forward to the trip...thank you all so much for your suggestions. We of course can't see everything this time around, so there's only one solution: start planning our return visit! :)

Sounds like a great trip, and I understand with you being educators that your choices of dates are limited. Schools are probably out also in Ireland ,and Easter week is always a busy time in Europe with kids on vacations.
Flying into Shannon and out of Dublin is what we did several years also and it worked out great. But drove around 9 days. We did however hang around Bunratty the first day and night, ate lunch after arrival at Dirty Nellies pub etc, tackled some jet lag,then took off for Galway the next day for a night.(Irish roads not as good as Enlgland and of course on the left side...be careful after flying all night) After that we followed your itinery of Wonderful Dingle, Kenmare, Kinsale (a night in Waterford, not necessary but you could pass through there on the way). Then Dublin for a couple of days.
I think you'd very much like the Greenmount House (?) in Dingle. Lovely with good views AND the most complete, famous, glorious breakfast included.
The Slea Head drive out of Dingle was spectacular and some say a better choice than the Ring of Kerry. Ring of Kerry is SO crowded with busses (and definately would be THAT week) and you see the back of a bus and of course can't pass. Slea Head is great as many other people have said.
We approached Dingle from the north over Connor Pass (really "interesting") , passing through the Castle Gregory area first.
Then leaving Dingle you can take the southern road on to Kenmare.
In Kinsale we stayed at the Old Presbytery , a lovely, well run B&B close to town (and it has it's own little parking place in the back courtyard,,a real bonus)
We were in Ireland the first week of April and had 9 days of sunshine!.(however it rained the last day in Dublin).
You have a wonderful trip to look forward to and I wish you well.
We ate at a nice restaurant in Dingle (sorry, forget the name) on the main street up from Benners Hotel. Met an American couple who were living in Dingle for 6 months....wouldn't that be nice. ?

Driving from Kinsale to Dublin Waterford is only a slight detour.I went there last year kicking and screaming but when i saw it I enjoyed it very much.Also the Middleton Distillary is on the way and also very interesting.In Kinsale we stayed at the Old Bakery(www.oldebakery.com and it would be hard to find nicer people to stay with.Within a short walk of town.We ate at J>Edwards which was outstanding.If driving to Dublin from the south Dun Laoghire is a great place to stay.Free parking and a handy train ride(3-4 Euro roundtrip.We dropped our car off and took the direct bus to the hotel.Double decker thru Dublin.Great ride.

Now that you have decided on your trip could I offer the following as a vast amount of info:
www.kerry-tourism.com
www.cork-guide.ie
www.visitdublin.com
Enjoy and give me a wave as you pass me by.

Hiya, my wife and I took a similar trip to yours three years ago, though the reverse - started in Dublin. Three days in Dublin is fine and you can always take a half day and run out to Glendalough, Tara or Newgrange if you are tiring of the city. We stayed in Kenmare and saw both Kerry and Killarney Park; we also stayed in Kinsale. Both great little towns. You can see the crystal factory in Waterford on the way from Kinsale to Dublin, we dropped by for an hour, worth seeing but not a huge deal. Enjoy, you'll love it.