Hello,

I have never been to Ireland so would appreciate any advice. Here's our very tentative schedule:
Day one - Arrive in Shannon and drive to Galway for two nights.
Day two - site seeing in Galway and surrounding areas. Any suggestions on this as a stop over are welcome - also where to stay ?
Day three - Drive to Killarney - stay for two nights. We are thinking of staying at the Fairview Inn.
Day four - site seeing in Killarney and surrounding areas.
Day five - Drive to Kinsale. Stay over night in Rocklands House.
Day six - Drive to Cashel. Stay over night in Darrynaflan. Cashel is where my ancestors come from as well as Co. Cork and Limerick. So we want to see sites in Cashel. Not sure how much time to devote to Cashel. Ideas ?
Day seven - we will either stay an extra day in Cashel or one of our other stops. Any ideas? Or drive back to Shannon and stay in Shannon overnight for flight out in the morning.

Thanks for your help. My mother has a life long dream of going to Ireland so we want to make this a very special trip.

I would skip Galway and drive to Dingle and spend two nights there. The town is lovely and you can spend a full day driving around the peninsula, that will save you a lot of driving. The rest of the trip sounds great. If you only have one day in Killarney I would do the Gap of Dunloe. The ring of Kerry is way overrated. Kinsale is my second favorate village you will love it.

Hi ckyle:

It's good that you are not trying to do too much. It would be good to know what time of year you are traveling. If it is during the summer, I would opt for Kenmare over Killarney and would probably do that regardless. Kenmare is a beautiful little village with great restaurants and plenty of places to stay.

Jonod's suggestion to skip Galway is just a matter of choice. Connemara is much different terrain wise than Dingle and the RoK. I actually like the RoK and think it's an excellent "long-cut" from Kenmare to Dingle.

Dingle tends to be very high on people's list in Ireland. It is beautiful and compact so you can see a lot in a very small area. Great history and coastal views. My favorite place to stay there is The Shores B&B, on the north coast near Stradbally.

If you decide to stick with Galway, The "Connemara Loop" is a nice option. You would take the N59 NW out of Galway then head north toward Leenaun (or Leenane depending on which map spelling you have). From there, head west towards through Kylemore, then on to Clifden possibly doing the Sky Rd if time permits. From Clifden, head back towards Galway, either on the N59 or head along as much of the coast as you can fit in, stopping in Roundstone for instance.

The big sites around Cashel are the Rock, of course, Cahir Castle, perhaps the Swiss Cottage in Cahir, The Glen of Aherlow between Tipperary and Cahir and perhaps the Vee Drive, south of Cahir.

I would stay in Shannon if your flight out is in the morning. Figure arriving no less than 2.5 hours before the flight and I would prefer 3.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more.

Bill

Hello,

Thank you both so much for your feedback. This is very helpful and does make a difference in sorting out the details. Any and all tips and information is great.

We are traveling in late June early July. Just wondering - any suggestions on a staying in an Irish Castle ?

Thanks !

Carolyn

Hi Carolyn:

In June you will have a huge amount of daylight which will help with a relatively short trip. It will aslo tend to be a bit more crowded and I would opt not to stay in Killarney. It will be very crowded.

There are a couple of options of options for staying in an Irish Castle. If money is not an issue, Dromoland (near Shannon, http://www.dromoland.ie/) is a beautiful 5 star hotel. I believe it requires coat and tie for dinner and so it's pretty upscale.

Just north of Galway is Cregg Castle, (www.creggcastle.com) which is quite a bit less. It looks much like a manor house (though they say it was fortified) and the owners (The Brodericks) arec very fine musicians. They play a concert in the Great Room most nights. It's a lot of fun and a great experience.

The least expensive would be Carrigeen Castle (http://www.tipp.ie/butlerca.htm)in Cahir. It's actually and old jail and a neat old building. It runs about the same price as a B&B but is by no means luxurious. Peig Butler is a bit fussy and some people have been uncomfortable with her, but I had a fine experience and would suggest it for a one time experience. My sister really enjoyed it.

There are of course, others. Places like Adare Manor or Glin Castle in the direction you are going. A little further north of Galway is Ashford Castle near where most of the filming for "The Quiet Man" took place.

Just some ideas to get you going.

Bill

Thanks Bill,

I appreciate your feedback. We actually have reservations at Gregg Castle - but are hesitating due to mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com. Perhaps we'll revisit that option.
What about Kenmare vs. Killarney ?
Also Kinsale ?

Thanks again.

Carolyn