A little over a week in Ireland - what to do?

[v]

First of all, is late September a good time to go? That's kind of the only time we can travel.

Let's say we land on Friday or Saturday morning and stay until the following Sunday. Direct flights to/from NY preferred so Dublin would be a good airport to fly into but others could be considered. I've been to Dublin for a weekend before (which I think just about took care of Dublin for me) but my husband has not -- and neither of us has been anywhere else in Ireland.

What to do?

Thanks!!!

[mbcdefg]

When we went to Ireland in 2010, we flew nonstop from Shannon to EWR to get home. Is Shannon an option for you, that way you're on the west coast?

I loved the Ring of Kerry and Cliffs of Moher ... you can rent a car or book a bus tour.

Kinsale is a cute harbor town. (ETA - if you wind up going here, check out a restaurant called Fishy Fishy. It was closed for the evening when I was there, but it's supposed to be really really good.)

Ditto that 2-3 days is plenty for Dublin. The countryside was much nicer. We were in Dublin for a couple days, then rented a car and made our way west toward Shannon over the course of a week.

ETA - we went in mid-August. IDK how much different September is, but I was quite comfortable. 

I also went to northwestern Ireland when I was 17 as part of a guided tour-sort of thing (mainly stayed in County Donegal, in a small village), and we went into Northern Ireland at one point. My sister went to Ireland with some friends this past summer, on her third trip to the country, and took a guided bus tour for young singles. 

[CrazyLucky]

We went for two weeks and had a great time. We flew into Dublin, stayed for 3 days and then meandered about and got over to Shannon. Dublin has a lot of neat stuff and my favorite part of Dublin was probably Trinity College. They have students who give interesting and amusing tours. The Guinness tour was also very cool, even if you don't like beer. There is a jail near Guinness (Kilmainham?) that was an interesting tour as well.
We rented a car. If you know how to drive stick, it's no big deal, but they do give you the hard sell on getting additional insurance.
Agree with PP that the Cliffs of Moher and Ring of Kerry are awesome. There is a second ring (Ring of Dingle?) that is less crowded and also beautiful. Connemara is great, especially if you like hiking. When we were there, it was foggy, so the hiking wasn't so great.
The number one best thing we did and absolutely loves was to visit the Aran Islands. It's an all day trip, but so worth it. You take a boat. When you get to the island, you just explore. We rented bikes and were able to check out the whole island. It was the favorite part of the trip for both of us.
We stayed at B&B's which were often just people's houses. We tried to go to a lot of bars that had trad. I was surprised how hard it was to find Irish music and how easy it was to find American music.

This trip was so much fun. we really enjoyed it, and if you can believe it, never got sick of each other! That's how cool it was!

ETA: We went in August.  The weather was good, but it was high season, which means everything was very expensive.  I think September is a great time to go.

[Susie]

The west coast is my favorite part. A weekend in Dublin on one of our trips covered it for me, and I only felt like I needed that much time because I like Irish history. If you haven't been to Kilmainham Gaol and have extra time in Dublin, that is pretty cool (but sad).

As far as other things to see... My first trip was early June, and my mom and I flew JFK-SNN. We did Galway, Aran Islands, Connemara, Doolin, the Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Dingle Peninsula, Kenmore, and Kinsale.  SNN is a much easier airport to pick up a rental car from, because the area is more rural and easier to adjust to driving on the other side.  Both times we rented a manual (since that is what we drive at home anyway, and it's a lot cheaper) and there was a little adjustment to shifting left handed (but not reversing the gear pattern or clutch/gas/brake).  We brought our own Garmin with a European map loaded onto it; it cost about the same as renting a Garmin with the car (but we'd have it for future trips too).

The second trip was in May, and we flew PHL-DUB with friends of ours. We spent a long weekend in Dublin, then went to Northern Ireland to Bushmills, Giant's Causeway, Derry, then back into the Republic and up to County Donegal to Malin Head, down to Sligo, through County Clare to Doolin again, Cliffs of Moher (again), Aran Islands, and drove straight across Ireland to fly back home out of DUB.

All my favorite stuff is between Malin Head at the top of County Donegal and County Cork on the west side.  When picking accommodations, walkability to pubs is essential.  We did B&Bs pretty much everywhere.  

[v]

Oh yes, flying into/out of Shannon would be fine. Thanks for the ideas!

[Deleted]

We went in September 2013 and had spectacular weather - warm and sunny, most days only needed a light jacket or sweater. I think our itinerary was:
2 nights Dublin
2 nights Kilkenny
2 nights Dingle
2 nights Galway
1 night Dublin

Dingle was my favorite. We stayed an an inn called Pax House that was phenomenal - views of Dingle Harbor, very private rooms, walking distance to town and great personalized service. The scenic Slea Head drive was my favorite day in Ireland. Good fresh seafood in a casual setting at Out of the Blue in Dingle town. From Dingle, we drove to Galway stopping at the Cliffs of Moher which is an absolute must. I didn't love Galway - if I could change it I would spend that time visiting elsewhere on the west coast, or maybe the Aran Islands.

[bbdoll]

We enjoyed some of the lesser known spots as well. Newgrange, short distance outside of Dublin. Very interesting. We enjoyed the Waterford Factory as well. Beautiful items. Stay in B&Bs when you can. That is the way to see the true Ireland. Be prepared for the rooms to be frigid though. Many of the homes didn't have central heat. You might have a small space heater in the bedroom, but they give you three or four blankets to pile on the bed.

[rosecottage]

Hi v I was just wondering from your trip you mentioned you were going to stay a night in Ennis, just wondering if you did ore not as you didn't mention it later on. Hi all I'm a newbie here from Eire "Ireland"

Edit: Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong with my signature ? Thanks Carmel.

[osumelissa]

The Dingle Peninsula was my favorite part of Ireland when i went a few years ago. We rented bikes one day, packed a lunch, and biked around the peninsula. It was tiring, but so much better than being in a car. Killarney National Park is also quite a lovely way to spend a day. Kilkenny was also a cute town that we quite enjoyed. We rented a car in Dublin and then made our way over a week toward Shannon. I quite liked the west coast of Ireland, so my next trip there I plan to focus more on the south and west. I found Dublin just to be OK.

[erbear]

I'd fly into Shannon and out of Dublin.

Ditto the west coast love. Galway was my favorite city. I loved the Cliffs of Mohr and the Dingle Peninsula. Was nice to have a home base in Killarney and do day trips to hike for a few days. 2-3 days in Dublin is plenty. Have fun!