Thanks Stu.

I will be extra cautious and attentive when driving allowing an average pace of 35 mph.

I understand our itenirary is tight but my wife and I very much like early starts for a long day getting to sleep late. She is a physician who is used to staying up with little problem. I had to learn to adjust to her schedules ! I figure getting a start usually around 7 am and finishing each day in a fun pub about 10 pm or more.

"<i> . . .I figure getting a start usually around 7 am</i>"

While staying in B&B's?? You expect them to serve you breakfast at 0600 and check you out before 0700? That isn't the way the vast majority of B&Bs work. You can safely plan on getting underway between 0930 and 10AM most morings - a little earlier some days.

Breakfast between maybe 8:00 and 9:00 or a tad later, loading the car, pleasantries w/ the hosts, pay the bill, more pleasnatries, pet the family dog/cat, jump in the car = 10 o'clock-ish . . . .

Ireland is simply not a place you can travel fast - not like a road trip in the States where you can get on the road at 0 dark-thirty

Good point.
If getting breakfast at 7am or even before 7am is crucial for your itinerary, I'd stay away from B&Bs and sleep in bigger chain hotels that also cater for the business traveler.
These days with tourism being hit by the economic crisis you will often find rooms priced at €49 or €59 per night, not necessarily at the Hilton but at modern, 3* hotels, usually at the edges of the bigger cities and towns.
Even smaller independent hotels rarely serve breakfast before 7am, IME.

Thx Janisj and Cowboy1968.

If I stay at B&B's,..I would definitely not leave before 10ish. B&B etiquette is a must.

I'll leave early (7 am) from a hotel if I absolutely need to,.. due to activities of a particular day.

Oh - 9:00-ish out of a B&B is certainly doable some days - but a planned 9:00 departure can easily stretch out to 9:30 or 10:00 w/o much effort . . . . :)