Thanks Padraig: We don't need the time, only thought it might be easier driving into the city to be close to our hotel. I'll probably go w/No. 1 and turn in car at Shannon airport. Does anyone know mode of transportation to get from Shannon airport to Shannon train station?

I wouldn't recommend driving in Dublin, but if you have to just to drop the car off, it's not the end of the world. We did, and we actually kept our car as we kept doing day trips outside the city with it. However, it's personal taste, and parking CAN be expensive :)

I answered your questions on the MasterCard/ Car Hire thread. There are links to all necessary info, covering options at Shannon and Dublin Airports.

My ADVICE was to drop the car at dublin Airport, though.

:)
Bob

Shturner...I agree with the others about dropping the car off at Dublin Airport. You won't have to drive through the city and that way you could stop off where ever you want along the way to Dublin and not worry about bus or train schedules. Once you drop it off...you can take the express bus back to the City. The route to the airport is nothing like driving in the city...you would be on the M50 which skirts the City and the route to the airport is clearly marked.

Are you non-stop to Dublin? Most Dublin flights seem to stop in Shannon anyway - i'd get off in Shannon, based on your itinerary.

assuming you were comin from the U.S.

Thanks to all. Please disregard the comments I made on 4/2 when I first began this thread. Our trip is entirely different from what I first considered due to many excellent suggestions. Will spend night of arrival at Dublin airport to recuperate from jet lag. Next morning pick up rental car at airport enroute to Cahir, making stops to see sights along the way. Then to Killarney and grandson will golf in this area.
Thanks to Masterphil, we know best places. When leaving this area, will drive to Tarbert, take ferry so we can tour Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. Then drive from Bunratty to Dublin airport to turn in car and spend last 2 nights in downtown Dublin.
Itallian_Chauffer - I'm following your suggestion and dropping car off at Dublin airport then catching bus to downtown. I have all my car questions answered too and thanks a million.
tarmor1 - We fly out of Dallas/Fort Worth, change planes in Chicago, then on to Dublin. American doesn't fly to Shannon and we are locked into our flight. However, grandson who will be 23 will love time spent in Dublin as he loves big cities.
We plan on having a fantastic time.

I now have a question about places to pay tolls, i.e., from Dublin airport to Portlaoise. I don't want to end up paying an additional fee because I didn't pay in time. I assume when driving back to the airport from Bunratty that I will be able to pay any tolls when I get to the airport. Am I correct? Possibly the car rental company at the airport will know?
I was not successful in finding an answer to this in google. Thanks

Thee is supposed to be a kiosk at the Dublin Airport, for your return trip. Outbound, you will need to avail yourself of either On-line, by phone, or at a designated retail outlet. See below for details lifted from a couple of differet websites:

"Option 3: Post-payment - pay as you go (for unregistered users):
if you decide on this option, you have until 8pm the day after your trip to pay the toll. You can do this by visiting the eFlow website www.eflow.ie, or by dropping in to a Payzone retailer displaying an eFlow logo, or by calling our Customer Services Centre to pay by phone. "

"For customers using the M50 that are not registered the Payzone service will allow payment of M50 toll charges at Payzone’s branded network of 1000 retailers throughout Ireland. Consumers who do not register for a tag or video account and wish to ‘pay as they go’ in retail can only do so in retail outlets that are branded Payzone. Payzone agents include Spar, Londis, Gala, Mace, Centra, Supervalu as well as Topaz and Esso’s ‘On the Run’ service stations."

Pay as you go tolls are listed as 3 Euro per trip.

Bob

Itallian_Chauffer - thanks again for coming to my rescue. However, I kept hunting after I posted my question and did find the web site you mentioned www.eflow.ie, and printed out locations where we'll be when leaving airport so we can pay. Hopefully, I'm all set. I still needed an answer on our return trip to the airport so also appreciate your response on this.

We have traveled to several European countries over the years and rented cars. However, I have never before spent this much time with questions and concerns about traveling to a country. We just made our reservations and went and everything turned out great as we expect it to when we go to Ireland.
Sharon

Further info on Airport Toll kiosks:

"New E-Toll payment facilities available at Dublin Airport
A number of new E-Toll payment facilities are now available at Dublin Airport. There is an E-Toll Kiosk in the Arrivals, Hughes & Hughes bookshop and at the Greencaps Kiosk in the Car Park Atrium. "

You are more than welcome for any assistance that I might have provided. Please be sure to 'Report Back', after your trip, to let us know how it all turned out -- the better to help future travelers.

Now that you have 'Kissed The Frog' I am QUITE certain that you will have a deliteful trip and will doubtless find Ireland to be one of your favorite destinations.

It is a magical place.

Bob

Itallian_Chauffer - thanks and I'll let you know how our trip went. To this point we have never had a "bad" trip. Actually a few years ago three grandsons (including Shane who is going on this trip) rode the train from London to Holyhead and took the ferry to Dublin. Since the ferry we took was the last one to return to London that day, we only stepped off and walked around a bit, then had to get back on. Oldest grandson is now married and youngest who is 19 is in Afghanistan (Army) so Shane is only one available to go.