Sept Ireland suggestions?
 

We are taking our first trip to Ireland for 2 weeks in Sept. Arrive Dublin on a Thur a.m. from U.S. Renting car (Dooley's). Pls skip suggestions about flying in elsewhere. The airfares were prohibitive. Have our tickets and car rental. Have one week house rental Sat-Sat on SW coast. Plan to do Dublin Mon, Tues at end of trip before Wed departure. We do not intend to try to "do it all" in this time period. Perfectly happy to do a circuit that includes coasts, mountains, or other on way to and from our rental.

Background: Late 50s couple that enjoy photography, walking, outdoor scenery, artsy shopping (wife), small towns, local culture and artisans, seaside villages, pubs, occasional interesting food (but are not foodies), quieter places and conversations over touristy crowds. Castles and ruins...anything interesting to photograph and learn about.

Pressing issue: We need to book our first night and last night stays. Hotels or B&B;s fine. Don't need fanciest, but do like friendly, comfortable. Plan to find B&B's locally for remaining nights we have open. To do this, we need to determine first stop on our overall route to SW.

My questions:
1. Would we be better going clockwise around coast to the SW or staying inland- via Kilkenny, for example, and ignoring SE coast?

2. Since we plan to do SW coastal area from our rental house as home base, we hope to find a place to stay first night (jet lagged) where we can mostly WALK once we get our car and selves there. Is Wicklow/Bray/Graystone area within reasonable distance after landing in the a.m. at Dublin? If so, any suggestions on a B&B in this region? Don't want to drive into Dublin proper first day.

3. Is Waterford worth seeing, including the tour of Waterford Crystal?



You can see our initial thought of going clockwise, but we are flexible on this.

If you are going to be somewhat south of the Galway area, you might love photographing the Burren, (a small mountain of slate slabs with a pre-historic structure), just east of Ballyvaugn, and the cliffs of Moher, a 1000 foot cliff with undersea caverns, a few miles west of Ballyvaughan. Both have spectacular views, which you might preview on line. The road to both is N67.

While I don't suffer from jetlag, so this may not be apropos to your question, we just flew into Dublin and drove to Cahir for our first night on the way to the southwest. Many people use Kilkenny as their first night stop.

Waterford has little to offer, imho, except for the new Crystal Centre. Having seen the "old" Crystal I wouldn't bother with the new but of course it's entirely your call. It's a bit out of the way of your trek to the southwest. Originally I was trying to work it into our visit but it just didn't pan out. We did stop at Kinsale Crystal but the proprietor was in Cork City looking for plumbing parts so we didn't get to see the cutting. You might have better luck.

Kilkenny is a good first stop. There is lots to see and do on foot.

If you are still looking at the Bray/Greystones(note spelling) area, In Greystones I have often stayed at Glandore B&B. tel-01-287464, no email. Greystones is a pleasant town with nice beach for walking. Hungry Monk and Poppies good eateries. Bray has a larger selection of B&Bs though I can't recommend any personally. Also more choices of places to eat. Promenade along the beach. If you like photography, you often can catch early morning horsebackriders on the beach.

Much as I love these two towns, (the area was home for two years), I think Kilkenny is a good choice for lots to do and see while walking about.

I agree with the suggestion for Kilkenny as a 1st night stop. It's an interesting very small city with plenty to keep you occupied for a day.