14 Day Itinerary. Can you provide feedback and recommendations please :-)

Here are a few lodging recommendations:
Dublin -- Buswells Hotel. great location near Trinity/Book of Kells. Clean, comfy, helpful staff and a nice tea in the afternoon.
Dingle -- A B&B alled Pax Guest House. Uphill from town (walkable) with gorgeous views over the harbor. Outstanding host (John), breakfasts and overall atmosphere. Quiet, relaxing.
In the Kilkenny area, my favorite is a B&B called Lawcus Farm, run by two of the nicest people on the planet -- Ann Marie and Mark. Absolutely gorgeous little farm on the banks of a river (Mark will set you up to fish, if you like.) Amazing breakfasts. Out in the quiet countryside near the village of Thomaston, very close to Kells Priory and Jerpoint Abbey (at Jerpoint get a guided tour (free, I believe), and very worthwhile.) Also in the area is a glassblowing studio and Mosse Pottery.
In Kinsale, a B&B called the Cloisters, run by two very nice women called Orla and Aileen. Very clean and good beds. You are uphill from the main town, but still very walkable. There is a church nearby that rings its bells in the daytime -- sounds lovely. Very good homebaked goods -- Aileen gave me the recipe for her spotted pups!
In Doolin we have stayed at the Half Door B&B. It was fine, but not our favorite, but I think places near there are very limited. The big upside to staying there is that you are within shouting distance to the three pubs, which have nice music.
Do you have Irish ancestors? If so, you might find the Famine Ship interesting in Wexford. We have done that as a daytrip from Kilkenny.
Do you like Irish woolens? Make sure to stop at Avoca (in Dublin or on Ring of Kerry.) There is a nice little woolen shop in Dingle run by a delightful lady called Birdie. (Can't think of the name right now.) Also in Dingle, there is a very nice custom leather maker's shop. My husband got a custom wallet made there several years ago, and still loves it.
Of course everyone has different views on travel, but I like to build in a good bit of downtime to just learn about a village by sitting in pubs, etc. and talking to people.
Slainte!

Hi SherrieF!
Thank you SO much for all of the great information. I am going online right away to check your recommendations. Any, yes, we like wollins and will be visiting the shops of which you spoke. Can't thank you enough and let me know if anything else pops in your mind. Slainte!! Ron

We really liked Celli Breach B&B in Dingle mainly because they had an upstairs balcony we could sit on and watch sunset and hosts John and Angela were great. Also the Lighthouse in Dingle although beware their dog Lucky thinks he runs the place, such a sweet thing. Stayed there twice and Mary and Dennis are lovely. In Kinsale we really enjoyed the Presbetary B&B. I think it is called the Pantry restaurant in Kinsale,, fantastic. We keep going back again to Ireland. You will really enjoy. FYI, I believe you can now book tickets for a timed tour for Kilmainhaim Gaol in Dublin. We have always gone off season and had no problem with entry but in top tourist season it might be worth looking into that. To us, it was highlight of seeing Dublin.

Since no one else has done it yet, I will offer 2 frequently used replies to your broad question "Are we being too aggressive?" 1) "It depends". If you can zoom though some of those venues and sites in an hour or less, then you have a chance to do it all. If however you spend 3 hours in every place to absorb it all as my wife does, you may be hard pressed. Be aware that at some venues (e.g. Newgrange , Muckross house, Skellig) you cannot totally control the time you spend there because the tour length is set by the tour guides and their logistics. 2) Be sure you take into account that many Irish roads have a low transit time compared to what we might expect at home. Don't assume you can average 60 mph (100 kph) and make it from A to B in a relatively short time. Once you get away from Dublin metro there are not that many roads that look like a 4-lane in the US. We averaged around 40 mph on most country roads due to the fact that they are often very curvy and narrow, with limited forward visibility. Don't be surprised if you get stuck behind a farm vehicle or impeded by sheep.

Those caveats dispensed with, I would estimate that you may be able to fit it all in. The only specifics I will point out is that it's too bad you will go north to Trim on day 4 and then south to Powerscourt etc on day 5. That backtracking will likely cost you 2 hours.
I suspect that by day 5 you will have learned a lot on how much you can really do and you will be able to modulate the rest of the trip up or down as needed. My only remaining advice is to take enough time to have fun. Enjoy.

Ron,
Your route/itinerary sounds very similar to ours. We (2 couples) will be there in July for 15 nights, but we start in Belfast and leave from Shannon. We added Belfast because the FF miles worked better. We couldn't make it work into Dublin. All in all I am glad we did. I am really looking forward to Belfast.
We are very ambitious tourists, but your plan to see all those attractions in Dublin made me tired just reading it, but then again you'll have 3 nights whereas we will only have 2. Keep in mind that those museums really eat up time. We are not too big into museums. We would rather see the cities and countryside. I am an over planner, but I like to leave a little wiggle room to allow for spontaneity, weather, and energy level. We will not pick up car until Kilkenny. We will have all public trans. until then.

If you condensed your Dublin sightseeing into 2 full days, on your third day you could take a day/bus tour to the Boyne Valley area. This could save you a day to use elsewhere and avoid back tracking. I know, some are not into group travel, but to me this is "my" day off to leave the tour-guiding to someone else as I am always the lead for the 4 of us. We like a mix of organized day tours, walking and independent. Or, you could take a day trip to Belfast (either independently or via tour).

We are taking a 'day' bus tour from Dublin to Glendalough and Kilkenny and we will just remain in Kilkenny. We wanted to minimize the amount of driving, esp from Dublin area.

Note: if you want to visit Kissane Sheep Farm you may want to double check their schedule. The last I looked there were no demos on Tuesdays (your intended visit day) or Fridays. And be careful, some of the time slots are in German only.

Your day to visit Jerpoint and Cashel on same day seems awkward. Why not pick one over the other and just head south to Kinsale and explore enroute. This could save you another night to add elsewhere, such as Galway. I hear that Galway is a must see. We will on visit enroute because we decided to splurge at the end and stay in Ballynihinch Castle for 2 nights(highly recommended by a friend to stayed there last year. She loved Galway, too)
Just my humble opinion: you have a lot of one night stops which is tiring. In our 15 night trip we only have 2 one-night stops.

For what it's worth, see our itinerary below
Belfast: 3 nights in a flat (arrival day from US) Black Taxi, Titanic Exp, Pub tour/crawl? Giants Causeway, etc tour, Crumlin Rd. Gaol, Milltown Cemetery, photo stop at GF's grandfather's last known address in N. Ireland. Not nec, in that order. Early bus from Belfast to Dublin.
Dublin: 2 nights in a flat:. day 1: 3 hr Sandemann's Free (not really) walking tour. http://www.newdublintours.com/ Used this tour in Amsterdam and Paris and they're wonderful. They cover all the highlights, but not admissions. Musical Pub Crawl in pm. Day 2 Trinity/ Kells, Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin Castle, Christ's Church & St. Pat.
Kilkenny: 1 night Butler Court B&B: Bus tour from Dublin. Explore Kilkenny remainder of day. Pick up car in am. visit Cashel and poss. Cork, Cobh enroute to Kinsale
Kinsale: 2 nights Old Presbytery B&B, Don and Barry's, Charles Fort,
Dingle: 3 nights in cottage rental, Muckross, Kissane, Killarney enroute to Dingle. Slea head and/or ROK, maybe Blasket Is. leaving a free day open here to catch breath and play by ear. Maybe go back to Killarney National Park.
Doolin: 1 night Daly's Hous B&B, via Tarbert Ferry and Cliffs. Sunset Cliffs cruise
Connemara Area: 2 nights Ballynihinch Castle, visit Galway enroute. possibly visit Aran Is. via Rossaveel, or Westport, Clifden, Cong
Last night: Shannon Airport Radisson Park Inn, revisit Galway enroute and possibly Quin Abbey and Bunratty. drop off car at airport 5-6pm.

We leave July 1st and return July 17th. We'll be back before you leave so I can more accurately report back then.

Hi Bobbing4data:
Thank you very much for your recommendations. We have been having trouble finding a room in Dingle as we will be there over Saturday and Sunday nights. That's just the way our itinerary worked out. I'll check your recommendations. And thanks for the Kinsale recommendations too. We were planning to go to Kilmainhaim Gaol early to avoid the rush but I will look into their timed tours now. GREAT suggestions! Ron

Sorry Bobbing4data...my response was for Gail!

Hi Bobbing4apples/Cindy:
Thanks for addressing the transit times. We certainly do not want to be rushed on this vaca...rather want to soak in the countryside. Part of the advantage of having a car is we can linger when we find vacation magic and plow through when we hit an area we don't like as much. Your advise is well appreciated though, and I agree that by Day 5 we should be in the groove...as long as we haven't wrecked our car from driving on the "wrong" side of the road :-) Thanks for your reply! Ron

Hi Cindy:
Thanks for your reply, advise and sending me your itinerary!
I agree that allowing for organized tours takes some of the pressure off and is a good suggestion. And, like you, I am an overplanner. However, I like to include places to see with the realization that we might not get to everything. Thanks for the heads up on the Kissane Sheep Farm. I did not know of their limited hours. I did try to book for Ballynihinch Castle but they are booked when we will be there :-( One other poster suggested NOT going to Cobh (I was planning to go too) as there was not much to do there and Kinsale was better anyway. Their opinion, not mine. I will also check out your Kinsale and Doolin B&B recommendations because I have been having trouble booking. Surprised how busy September already seems to be. Thanks for your help and have a wonderful trip. Do try to let me know afterwards if there is anything I need to see or do as you will be the expert then :-) Best, Ron

Ron,
I thought the same about Cobh, just keeping it in mind if time allows. I do love anything regarding the Titanic, but we will get quite the experience in Belfast. I am really looking forward to that.

I also over-include...we have the must see/do and the may see/do. Thank goodness that the rest of our group just lets me do the planning and then will say each day "what are we doing today?" Of course I do consult regarding major decisions such as lodging accommodations, but those have been long booked. Now I am fine tuning the day by day, hour by hour (sort of) itinerary. On days 10-13 we will have a nice long stay in Dingle in a house/cottage. Being in your own place is so much more relaxing. This will also be laundry time! :) We have a nice mix of B&Bs, vacation rentals, and the Castle. Towards the end of our trip I am going to be less structured (Galway, Aran Is., Connemara, and Shannon areas). We'll be pretty travel weary by then, so we will play by ear and see where the car, weather, and energy takes us.

Note: I edited my previous post. I made an error regarding our B&B in Doolin. We were originally booked in Kates' Place, but they are now out of business. We are now booked in Daly's House (which is Kate's mother, Susan). As far as Ballynihinch, keep checking their website. You never know, someone may cancel between now and then. September is a very popular month. I wish I was NOT going in July, but 2 out of 4 of us must vacation in the summer. :(

if you like the idea of staying in castle/stately manor hotel check out this site. The friend that recommend Ballynihinch also stayed in Ballyseede Castle in Tralee area.

https://manorhousehotels.com/hotels/

Hi Cindy:
You and I sound like planning monsters. We should book a trip together as it would be awesome! I like to view the places and read about them before I go. That way, when I get there, I feel like I have already been there and know what to look for or what the history or back stories are. My family seems OK with that so it works for us.
After your post I looked into Kate's Place in Doolin and learned about the Daly House. Again, rooms are getting very tough to find in the good locations (ie in town so I don't have to drive home after the pubs) but I am zooming in on Google Maps and "new" B&Bs are popping up. I then cross reference them with Trip Advisor or any other site to try and get feedback on the place. VERY time consuming and exhausting! The curse of a super-planner.
As for laundry...we just did 5 weeks in Thailand and Cambodia and only took smallish back packs. I had two pairs of zip-off pants and an assortment of "technical" shirts that were made of polypropylene or the sort. I washed them out every few nights with shampoo and by morning they were dry and fresh smelling. No one knows you so if you wear the same clothes over and over no one knows...except in your photos :-) I even brought back clothes I never wore. So, as RS says, lay everything out then put 1/2 back! My wifey is still a work in progress on this but she did do pretty well this past trip.
Thanks again for your excellent feedback and follow up. Can't wait to hear from you when you get home!
Ron
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PS My wife went to HS with a girl named Cherry Hill :-) We are Beach Haven lovers too.

I just happened to see that your are staying at the Radisson Park Inn, in Shannon. Somewhere on this site, somebody else just wrote about their recent tour. They just got back from Ireland. The person said that the Radisson Park Inn was a real dump. They definitely told readers not to stay there. You may want to look at very recent comments, in April.

Hi Elaine:
Thank you so much for your response. Actually it was Cindy, who also replied to my OP, who was staying at the Radisson Park Hotel in Shannon. She mentooned it in her response. I did review the hotel on Trip Advisor and will steer clear of this property. Thank you for the heads up!
Again, thanks for responding.

Thanks Elaine and Ron...

I have made alternative arrangements for our last night. Our flight time was pushed back to 12:20 so there is no need to be at the airport overnight. We will have plenty of time to get to the airport the next day. I hope dropping off car and US customs doesn't take to long.