One week in Ireland

Your question is way too vague to answer without more detail. Will you have seven full days in Ireland (total of nine days including your arrival and departure days) or just seven days (five full days)? What are the things you want to see on opposite sides of the country? What are your interests? Have you traveled internationally before? How do you intend to get from place to place? You will have difficulty finding a vehicle to rent that will hold seven passengers and their luggage. A little more information about your intended plans and what you want to see would help us help you.

We have traveled extensively in Europe before, by car and by train. Driving on the opposite side of narrow roads has put us off driving in Ireland. Also, as my husband does the driving, he misses so much of the scenery because he's looking at the road. We kind of like the idea of people telling us what they experienced and what they recommend we see, versus following guide books. We're in good shape, pretty adventurous and open to all suggestions!

Well, unfortunately, in Ireland you will mostly be limited to taking the bus if you don't want to drive. Train travel is not very extensive, particularly in the west. There are major train lines to places like Galway and Belfast from Dublin, but not a lot of train service otherwise. For example, you could take the train to Galway, but would then need to take a bus or tour to the Cliffs of Moher. You can take the train as far as Tralee (I think), but then would need to switch to a bus to get to Dingle. That is going to eat a lot of time. For the most part, the roads between cities are motorways (like our interstates) or regional roads (like our two-lane highways). Only in the rural areas do the roads get really narrow. A party of seven will be expensive and not very flexible in moving around. You might want to consider choosing a "base" or two, and taking day tours from there. You can get tours out of Dublin to see Newgrange or Glendalough, for example.