I am hoping to take our family of 4 to Ireland in late July (2 children, aged 8 and 14). Last summer we rented a house in Provence for a week and it was a wonderful experience. I was hoping to perhaps do the same this summer somewhere on the west coast of Ireland.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to reasonably priced cottages, or else have any other suggestions as to where to look, what to look for, and what to avoid in renting a cottage?

Thank you for your help.

Greg C.

We are a family of 6 and have rented a cottage for a week in July. I got on google and typed in self-catering cottages-Ireland and then went from there. Ours was on the web site www.easycottages.com and it's in County Kerry. Of course we haven't been yet but the house sounds very nice and I have a photo of it. Also the landlady has been SO nice.

Greg.....
http://belmullet.mayo-ireland.ie/claggin.htm
Just returned from Ireland & visited this property....on miles of beach.
We also stayed at Rosturk Woods...an A+ house rental, with its own private beach....near Achill Island....I'll check for the web-site site & post it for you!!

Here is the web-site for Rosturk Woods....www.rosturk-woods.com

Thank you both for your replies.

McKim... do you mind my asking which property you have reserved? Is it in or near a town?

Thanks.

Greg C. We rented the Pine Tree House in Tarbert--Co. Kerry. It's 3kms from Tarbert. It's an hour southwest of Shannon Airport. It's fot 4 bedrooms all ensuite. The town is nearby and is small but it does have a hotel and a few small restaurants. The owner also has another house to rent called swallowglen lodge.
The web site that has the photo that I have says www.ireland.ie at the top. The ferry goes across the River Shannon at Tarbert to Killimer. I'll now look up the web site and see if I see it on there. We reserved several months ago. Any more information you want let me know.

Gary: I finally was able to find the site with our cottage. It's www.ireland.ie and then click on accomodation and then enter the part that says self-catering cottages and they'll ask a name of a place and when I typed in Tarbert the two houses I told you about came up along with their pictures.

We also used the www.ireland.ie site to rent along the southern coast last summer. It was a very economical alternative to B&Bs for our group of 4.

Check out www.irishvacationrental.com
for self catering holiday homes & apartments

Many thanks to all for your help.

McKim -- The houses both look very nice. What made you choose Tarbert? Is it your impression that there are towns nearby to walk around at night, etc.?

Thanks again.

Greg: We were looking in that part of Ireland and I said we have 6 in our party but it's 7 so I had a difficult time finding a house with enough bedrooms so that narrowed our search A LOT. We also all wanted our own bathroom. I just searched all the places using the map and this house looked good. I have since found out about Tarbert from the message board at Frommers. It's also centrally located to where we want to visit before we head to Dublin to stay in bed and breakfasts for 4 nights before leaving. My Parents lived in Ireland for a year a long time ago and I visited one summer while in college. That was a long time ago but I was familiar with the country.

McKim,

Thanks again for the response. It does look great a great location, so I called, but unfortunately they're booked up for the month of July. As a matter of fact, I have yet to find anything on that website that is available for the week of July 24th. I'll keep looking and keep my fingers crossed. I guess this is the price I pay for getting such a late start.

Anyway, thanks again and I hope you have a wonderful time.

Greg C.

Greg,
Try checking on the house that we rented....four bedrooms...each with private bath...very reasonalbly priced...near Westport...Achill Island.
Rosturk Woods!!!
Beautiful location with a private beach!!!

Bailey,

It looks absolutely beautiful, but also appears a little too remote for us. In order to keep the kids interested, I think we need to be close to or in a town. It appears that Rosturk Woods is somewhat isolated. Is that correct?

Again, thanks for your help and interest.

Greg C.

Bailey,

I found the Rosturk Woods website and it looks wonderful and clearly the kids would not be bored. I just sent them an e-mail to check on availability.

Thanks again.

Greg C.

You can also try www.irelandwestholidayhomes.com

Greg it's 8 miles from Newport & 15 from Westport....and just a mile to Achill Island.
The Stoney's (owners) have three children....so I'm sure they could provide great ""kid"" info. It was our favorite place to stay on our trip...we just returned & stayed in 15 places.
ps...there is a great beach steps from the door & tennis courts.
I know...it's difficult pleasing everyone!!
Good luck with your plans!

ps...if you need any up-to-date info on the area....
[email protected]