Short Ireland trip advice
 

We are going to Ireland March 15-20th and need help on our trip itinerary. Because we live in Europe,we are not too worried about seeing a lot of Ireland because we can get really cheap flights from the netherlands. We would just like to get a "feel" of the country.

We are flying into Dublin and flying out of Cork. This is the possible itinerary I was thinking:

Thurs night: fly into dublin, good dinner, bed early
Fri: Guinness brewery, Book of Kells, St pattys parade and lots of drinking :)
Sat: Get a car, drive to Kilkenny and then off to Kenmare for the night
Sun: more of Kenmare and then off to Kinsale for the night
Monday: Blarney stone, and visit around Cork

Is this even feasible? Should I bypass Kilkenny or Kenmare? Would you recommend Kilarney or Kenmare? I know we are flying out of Cork, but is it worth seeing a day of it?

As I was saying, we are not too interested in seeing everything in each area, just a couple of highlights.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

Kenmare is a small town but is a good base for travelling to Killarney National Park about 20 miles away. Other places you can see include the Ring of Kerry and the Beara Peninsula.Try to leave Dublin as early in the morning as you can-preferably by 7 to avoid the traffic

Book your Dublin accommodations, car rental ASAP!!
www.aaroadwatch.ie
Use their route planning function, but with the caveat that times listed are notoriously unrealistic. divide the mileage listed by 30 (or, at most, 35)to figure reasonably accurrate driving times.
Bob

The Black Valley in Killarney is pretty amazing place. Fabulous scenery.
The site below has photos of it

http://scomerford.tripod.com/bvalley.html

can't imagine 6-7+ hours driving after celebrating St. Patrick's Day, and that's without stopping...

suggest...

1st night Kilkenny or Cashel, sights: Jerpoint Abbey, Kilkenny Castle, could probably stop at Glendalough on way

2 nights Kinsale

sights: from Kilkenny to Kinsale-Rock of Cashel,Cahir Castle, Swiss Cottage

next day, sights: Blarney, could also see Jameson's Distillery, Cobh, and/or Charles Fort

Do you have a hotel booked in Dublin???? Check the hours for the book of Kells on St Patricks day as It might be closed for the bank holiday as the Trinity College offices are closed for the national Holiday. They may open later in th day as the parade route is in the front of the college. Also reserve a car now as many people are fdoing the same as you i.e. coming to Dublin for the parade and heading off the next day.

Thanks everyone for advice. Yes, we do have a car and hotel booked for dublin but nothing past that. We've narrowed it down to these two scenerios and need advice on our advice from dublin down to kinsale/cork. Should we:
1. drive to kilkenny, spend a few hours and then spend the night in kinsale
or
2. take the route to cork through wicklow going thru Wicklow, Arklow, Gorey, Enniscorthy, Waterford, Dungarvan, Youghal, and Midleton

On the second option do you still go through kilkenny? Is the second option too much to drive and see? As I mentioned before, we are not really interested in seeing everything, just a nice overview of Ireland because we will be back soon.

Thanks in advance for your help!