Are we trying to pack too much in? First time visit to Ireland.

Since everyone has their own ideas about what is "too much" or "too fast", I will simply say that we did less in our 18 days spent outside Dublin than you are doing in your 13 days outside Dublin. We enjoyed our pace and did not feel it was too slow. If anything we felt a little bit rushed to get everything done on occasion. But maybe you will get up a lot earlier and will drive a lot faster than we did. I offer the following specific opinions. The Hill of Tara is underwhelming, it's just a small grassy hill with a flat top and a small chapel on the side. Some may want to see it for the historical significance, but physically it really is not much different from many other Irish hills. I'd longed to see Giant's Causeway my whole life. I came away thinking that the most significant thing about it is the enormous visitor's center and huge number of people visiting. If you want to see this kind of geologic formation (columnar basalt), there are many better examples around the US, Canada and elsewhere in the world that are much, much less crowded and much more impressive in size. Well known example - Devil's Tower in Wyoming is way more dramatic. Lastly, IMO you can't go wrong by starting with the RS Ireland guide "best 3 week trip by car" and modifying it for your actual time. Don't stress out about whether you have optimized your "must-see" list or not. Whatever you do will be an adventure. Have a grand time.

Its not too much because you will not do all that you have detailed.

Everybody travels at a different speed, but as another poster said I don't think you will accomplish all that's on your list. You will get sidetracked by something, or stay longer than you intended at a location that really interests you. You need to set your priority sight for the day, then once you have accomplished that see what else will fit in. Clonmacnoise is worth a visit, but probably not the way you are trying to fit it in on day six. I spent about an hour and a half at the sight, and that's because I take a lot of photos. If you are going to visit Clonmacnoise then have other places to see to make a day of it. Hill of Tara really is just a hill, if you are like me and like to stand on top of historical hills then go, but I did it as part of a day tour from Dublin, and the guide on the trip was fabulous, and told us a lot of the history of the place while we were there. Just stopping by on your own it might be underwhelming. Your day 11 is going to be a long day, also. If you go to the park you will have limited time (half a day?) if you still want to drive to Kilkenny with a stop at Cashel on the way. Remember that although you have a car, and this will make getting around quicker, you still have to allow time to get to the location, park the car, pay admission, maybe wait to be let in or stand in line for a while. If you're anything like me you will also get lost on occasion (even when the route does look straight forward). So, be prepared to remove places from your list. Killmainham Jail in Dublin is a very good choice, but I did not do the Wicklow Jail. You won't need the car in Dublin, and this might be the time to do a guided day tour that will cover Howth, or Newgrange as these day tours will also cover other sights such as the Hill of Tara, Monasterboice and others you may have missed. Might be a more efficient way to see some things you missed. The hop on hop off bus in Dublin is great, and sometimes it's best to just do a complete round trip of the route before getting off at any location. It will help you get orientated, and decide where to start. You don't have to go to every sight. You won't have time. Check out some web sites for companies that do day tours and see what they cover in a day. This will give you a good idea of what you should be able to accomplish.

Thank you so much for the advice and tips. It looks like I need to trim and that will be a challenge as I want to do it all. I will have another stab at this and see how to best organize.

Please feel free to send other tips or recommendations. It will all be appreciated.

Best,

Selina