Greetings, we are returning to our disrupted planning for a trip to Ireland in May. Our thought is to start out with 6 nights in Dublin which would include two days worth of side trips north and south. Then we would like to find a luxury hotel to serve as a base for 4 nights in the countryside with the idea of flying home from Shannon. We don't plan to drive ourselves so we would need to find either guides or a driver to help us out. The challenge is there are so many wonderful choices. I don't want to stay in Galway itself as I want time away from cities. So far we have looked at Muckross park in Killarney, Castlemartyr resort in Cork, Glenlo Abbey Hotel outside of Galway, and Ballynahinch castle in Connemera (that would have the advantage of being near Foxford where my husband's family hails from). I'm sure this barely scratches the possibilities. Has anyone stayed at any of these? And thoughts on which might be most well suited for exploring (nature, castles, villages, history, etc.)? Do you have any favorite areas? This will be our first visit to Ireland. Thanks