4 days from Portrush to Galway

I think that if you did everything in the Donegal and Connemara chapters of RS Ireland 2019, those driving routes with sightseeing stops would fill your 4 days pretty well. If you are hikers, birders, etc., then that you'll have even more ways to fill the time.

The Connemara peninsula (the land mass that curves out to the west between Westport and Galway) gets a lot of favorable comments, with Clifden being a popular base there. We are hoping to go since there is a family connection in County Sligo just a ways north of Westport.

The hawk walk at the Ireland School of falconry, Ashford Castle, at Cong, was the high light of the trip for my sister.

Derry and the Bogside are awesome. I'd do a night there over Portrush, great pubs and music. The round fort just outside of Derry in the Republic is worth a stop. Donegal is great, we spent a week there on our last trip. We stayed in Donegal Town (Reel Inn and The Castle Bar), Ardara (Nancy's and The Corner Bar). Westport and Clifden are also great towns - we especially loved Clifden (Lowry's, Mannion's) - great day trips to Kylemore Abbey, Connemara National Park and Roundstone. We preferred Clifden and Westport over Galway. You can't go wrong. I'm sure Sligo and North Mayo are great too.

Thank you all for the advise!! So I’m thinking maybe we will stay one night (instead of two) in Portrush and one night in Derry. And then a night or two in donegal and then either Westport or Clifden for two nights. We too have family links to the Co. Mayo area and want to do some exploring. We are renting a car. We are going in March and I’ve heard Galway is a fun place to be for st paddy’s day, and not as crazy as Dublin. Any advise there? Thank you all again!