well we have returned today from our 10 day trip to ireland - I'm not going to post the whole trip report now-probably on the weekend -just a few things now
we had a great time - seriously annoyed our son sometimes and he had to take some space. he even wandered around Galway & Dublin on his own a bit at night which was a little disconcerting seeing how he could drink there and can't at home. however no problems, he was back before us each time!

Thanks for all the great advice I received:
ATM's were definitely the way to go - worked out great everywhere. The only thing we found was that most machines would only let us take out 300 at a time so a few more 5.00 charges than I would've liked.
We even managed to be down to just a few euros by the end of the trip and put those in the UNICEF envelopes with the headphones on Aer Lingus.
Most of the B&B's we booked in advance were either just fine or really good (we kind of judged by the owners really) Dingle was our favorite owner - Susan Daly - Daly's House - sorry though, I know a few people liked Adare but I really thought that was the most impersonal one we stayed at. Wasn't impressed and my husband had a cold shower - not happy about it.
The driving went well - my husband did it all-well over 700 miles - they wouldn't let me, didn't trust me. Only one major wrong side of the road turning - a little scary. Thankfully we only received a Ford Focus - could fit the luggage, barely but seeing how narrow the roads were on Slea Head it was just as well.
Dingle was beautiful - loved Doolin - Had a great day with my relatives in Roscommon. took over 600 pictures - half digital half film. Dublin & Galway - well they're cities and aside from the thing we wanted to see and did see in Dublin - they're cities. Didn't dislike them at all - just really enjoyed the countryside more.
Rented a cell phone which included a Meteor sim card - don't like meteor - never did receive the 15 euro credit after the first 10 so were afraid to use the phone too much and run out of time.
I'll try to give a whole report this weekend (provided I don't spend all my time at work catching up).
The best part of our return home was a friend's thoughtfulness. she left a cooler with chicken pot pie, salad, beer & soda outside of our house so we wouldn't have to worry about anything tonight.

Again, Thanks to all - you gave wonderful advice.

Thanks for sharing and we will look forward to your trip report. We will be leaving for Shannon in 17 days.

Good to know about the ATM's and we will check out the web site for the Daly House.

Hope you had better weather there than we have had in the past week here in Wisconsin.

hi pbjhunt,

were there just the 3 of you or a 4th? I seem to remember you had reserved the same car as we are planning to get for the 4 of us (Renault Laguna hatchback wagon)? but maybe I'm getting you confused with someone else.

Looking forward to your trip report. We will be traveling with our two teens (15 and 18), so I'm especially interested in your experiences.

Glad you had a great time. I am going in early June for 12 days before going on to Spain and France.

About the ATM bank fees. $5 per transaction is not so bad; much better than messing with traveler's cheques. I don't know where you live but if Bank One (a division of Chase) is in your area and it's worth changing banks for more than just foreign ATM fee reasons you should know that their fee is just $1.50 per transaction. The 300 euro daily limit works great for me as I don't want carry more than that anyway.

Larry J

I returned the 24th and will post a few words about accommodations over the weekend. I have to say, thanks to you guys, I saved so much money by using ATMs and paying for everything in cash. I had my limit upped on two banks before I left and was charged 5 dollars for $1,000 withdrawals. My Bank of America came today and the rate was .78 euros to the dollar. Not bad.