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Please help with specific itinerary

Please help with specific itinerary for next spring. We want a very leisure vacation & do not want to drive more than about 2 hours a day. We get more pleasure from exploring one place from top to bottom rather than trying to cram in 7 sites in 1 day. Airports and Hotels mentioned are firm! Saturday arriving in Shannon from USA: Night spent at Dromoland Castle Hotel Sunday & Monday night open: **What to do? Where to stay? (My husband is a beer judge here in the states, so he loves trying new beers.) Tuesday & Wednesday night: Mount Juliet Conrad Hotel, Kilkenny. **Sites to see from here, which is not as easy to see from our next few days in Dublin? Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night: Hilton Dublin Hotel I have already seen a lot of good info on this site for many good day trips from Dublin, so I think I have that covered. (great suggestions on this site from Bill! Are you from Ireland?) Depart from Dublin on Sunday Thanks everyone, you all will make visiting Ireland a pleasurable experience.

amberlynn - perhaps you would get more responses if you re-posted with Ireland in your title. As it is now, you could be asking about anywhere. (Many folks do not read threads with vague titles like this one) Maybe my bringing this to the top will help - but a better title would help more.

Amberlynn: Sadly, I am not from Ireland, but I feel like it when I'm there. The bad news is that your husband will not find a great variety of beers there. There are some smaller breweries and Irealnd of the Welcomes did a story on them a few years back. I never saw it though. You won't be able to walk into a lot of pubs and find all sorts of different beers. There is a brewpub in Ennis, the Biddy Early pub which I have heard has VERY good beer. Ennis is quite close to Shannon. The standard Irish beers are Guinness, Smithwicks, Harp and Kilkenny (all brewed by Guinness) Murphy's and Beamish. You will see a lot of Budweiser, Heinekin and Carlsberg. I went into McGuires in Dublin and they have their own brews. Very good beers. The food I had was terrible though, I think the cook spilled the salt shaker in it. I just found a website that list the Irish breweries. It is: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beerfly/list?c_id=IE That might help. Have a great time. We are going in May. Bill

Janis, thanks for your idea, but since I have posted already I’ll just see what happens. I’ll remember to be more specific if I post something else later. I almost feel foolish posting anyway, since almost everything I want to know is already posted somewhere in this forum already. It is great, isn’t it! Bill, thanks for the info and the web site. Ron is studying it at this very moment. Seems like we will be enjoying Ireland about the same time next year. We too are going in May!

Amberlynn: It's a great time to travel there. I will be there from 8-26. I too love great beer, but haven't gotten a chance to work as a beer judge. I think that I would enjoy that job too much! Bill

I'm from Ireland and there is a great pub in Dublin called The Porter House. It's on Parliament Street and they brew their own beers ther. They also have music. Good craic!!

Bill, we will be in Ireland for a much shorter stay than you. We leave New Orleans on the 16th and arrive in Shannon via Atlanta on the 17th. We will return home from Dublin on the 25th. If you have a web site of your travels in Ireland I would love to see it. Muireann, I now have another pub for my hubby to try out. Porter House is listed with one very good review on the web site that Bill gave me above. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Amberlynn: Here is the website from my last trip. It was a great trip despite terrible weather. It was meant as a journal for my own purposes, but some people find it helpful. http://www.geocities.com/obeirne_ireland_2002/index.htm Bill

Not to take away from Dromoland, but the last time we went we stayed in Kinvara at the Merriman hotel. That was charming to walk around, see the Burren, Drive to Ballyvaughan and Cliffs of Moher. Had lunch, as always, at Moran's on the Weir and ate at Merriman's which was terrific. For whatever reason, I thought Biddy Early's was up in Donegal. All kinds of Biddy's--black, red etc. Your husband would enjoy it but it's a bit of a trek from the Shannon area.

I just looked up the website for Biddy Early and unless they just moved, they are not in Donegal. The are on N85 halfway between Ennis and Lahinch. This is not a terribly long drive from Shannon and there is one route to the Cliffs of Moher. Don't drink to much and fall of the cliffs. Here is the website: http://www.beb.ie/ I drove right by it and never noticed it! That won't happen again. Bill

Dear amberlynn, The prospect of not driving for more than two hours a day is commendable. Allow me to offer a few time-tested suggestions: Given the fact you've got a pretty fair drive from Dromoland, in County Clare, to County Kilkenny, I would suggest you stay at about the halfway mark, perhaps around Cashel. Here you can take full advantage of the wonderful Rock of Cashel (best seen early or late in the day, due to large crowds). The close-by Cashel Hotel offers a lovely lunch, and you can walk to the "Rock" from its grounds. For an evening of entertainment, consider the nearby cultural center which offers fine quality live performance concerning Irish culture. It lies in the shadow of the "Rock," and you can gain details, I'm sure, by contacting the Cashel, or Co. Tipperary, chamber of commerce. While in Cashel, tour the lovely by-ways of Counties Tipp and Kilkenny. This is lush, memorable countryside. Consider, too, a side trip to Cahir to see the castle and the Swiss Cottage. As regards beer, Ireland isn't the best country in Europe for beer diversity. Guinness, it seems, has such a stranglehold on the market. And while it is first-rate, do consider some competitive stouts, both of which are solid, Beamish and Murphy's. Beamish isn't always easy to find, while Murphy's, it would appear, is more readily available in southern counties. U.S. beers have made an impact in recent years, and those are Bud and Coors. While in Kilkenny make a point of spending at least a half day in Kilkenny City. You'll enjoy a tour of the castle, do some shopping at the fine design centre (located just across from the castle), and don't miss St. Canice's Cathedral. If the weather is clear, hike up the cathedral's tower and enjoy splendid views of Kilkenny. Just down the road from Mt. Juliet is the marvelous Jerpoint Abbey, and its well worth seeing Cistercian ruins. Equally worthwhile, in nearby Bennetsbridge, is Nicholas Mosse Pottery. The Mosse shop is most delightful, featuring top quality pottery and assorted crafts, along with a top-notch cafeteria. Don't miss it. A final note about Dublin. If you have the slightest interest in Irish history, particularly Ireland's struggle for independence in the early 20th century, do see Kilmainham Gaol, located not far from the Guinness Brewery. The tours at Kilmainham are excellent, and it was also the site for some of the filming of the Daniel Day-Lewis film, In the Name of the Father. Best of luck.

Amberlynn, I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest a side-trip to the lovely village of Inistioge, located close to Mount Juliet. Have a pint or two in Inistioge, stroll around its quaint streets and riverside park. This is some of Erin's prettiest scenery; no wonder it was the setting for the Maeve Binchy-inspired film, Circle of Friends.