Ashford Castle?

Well what kind of experience are you looking for? Ashford is basically a hotel and depending on what is going at the time, access is some times restricted to residents (I know someone working there).

From a historical point of view you should not miss out on Dublin castle.

If you would like a really special splurge, stay there a night or two. There are one and two-night specials they run from time to time. Or email them to see what might be available when you might be there.

But, if you don't stay there, but would still like to see it, have lunch there and book the Hawk Walk through the School of Falconry at Ashford (you can put that into YouTube and see various videos people have posted of the experience). We did it, and it is one of top 10 special experiences on vacations. Basically each participant gets their own hawk to learn to launch and land (it is not hard), after getting a short introduction to how the hawk thinks, lives, hunts, etc. It was truly fascinating. Small groups...my husband and I were an outing by ourselves with the guide. Obviously one wears the provided THICK leather gloves, and the hawk is predictable.

When we were there, we noticed they were charging non-guests something like E5 or E10 to come across the bridge to the hotel area, probably worth it in order to walk around, see the lake and view the castle and enjoy lunch there (which is not super expensive). I'm not sure if the fee is rebated if one dines there...worth asking, but not sure.

If you don't make it all the way to Ashford (and the Connemera region that includes Kylemore Abbey (open to the public for a reasonable fee), you could check out the smaller Dromoland Castle (where you could also eat lunch)...they also have a lake and an absolutely fabulous walled garden. Dromoland is not too far from the Shannon Airport.

Dromoland is a castle, but not as castle-like as Ashford. Ashford also was recently named one of the top hotels in the world by Travel & Leisure magazine, so if you want to say you've seen it, you will never be closer :) (EDIT: I just looked in the magazine, and it was rated the Top 3 hotel in the world!!!) It really is fabulous. If you stay there, see if you can wiggle a comp upgrade into a Deluxe room. They were extremely kind to us!

I don't know if it would be on your route, but I loved the Kilkenny castle.

A couple of other options would be:

• Ballynahinch Castle in Co. Galway
• Clontarf Castle in Dublin

Thanks for the tips! I have heard about the falcon walk at Ashford and that sounds incredible! Thanks everyone!

Oh my gosh Ashford Castle is so very, very nice. Three years ago my husband and I took a 14 day TAUCK tour of Ireland. We were blown away at the Ashford Castle. Our tour group (34 people) boarded a private boat, on a river, ending at the castle. When we arrived at the dock, a bagpiper greeted us. We then followed him across the walk way, over the bridge and into the castle. We only got to stay there for two nights though. The grounds are spectacular. We were there in June. We could see the water and grounds from our window. We even had a photo of the castle blown up at Costco, for our wall. I actually have "Ashford Castle" as my title on my cell phone, to call our house. We had a choice of getting a massage or doing the falconry option. As my husband didn't have any shoes appropriate for the mud and rain, he passed on it. He definitely said he should have tried to borrow some shoes to do it. Some of the people who did go ahead with the falcons said it was phenomenal. We adored Ireland, especially the southern part, not so much Belfast or Dublin though.

The castle itself is amazing, but it was closed to residents only. The doorman gave us 2 minutes to go in and look in the lobby but that was it.

The best thing about this for us was the Falcon walk. My wife and I both did this and it was on the top 3 favorite things on our trip to Ireland.

Have a Harris Hawk a foot away from your face looking into your eyes and having complete trust in you is an amazing experience.

I second the comments about the Dromoland.....we had two days there last week and if it get's any better than that I doubt I'd notice the difference. The Domoland also offers the Hawk Walk and is only a few minutes from Bunratty Castle where we enjoyed "A Traditional Irish Night".....the most fun we had all week. The concierge at Dromoland is Molly and she can arrange for your activities there including private drivers to get you around.....we had a private driver, Ger Lawlor (GerLawlor83@gmail.com) take us over to Cliffs of Moher and the Burren....wish we had found him earlier in the trip....entertaining and informative.
We also had two days at the Belleek Castle....in Ballina. Much smaller but very much of a "medievel" feel about it, a great value for the price and the best food of our 12 days in Ireland.
From the Belleek we were only 30 minutes or so from Mount Falcon where we had our Hawk Walk....a unique and fascinating experience and easily in the top five in our list of favorite activities during our 12 days. I recommend the Mount Falcon Hawk Walk highly....we had a small group which we weren't expecting...but wound up enjoying it even more than a private outing as we met some enjoyable people including a nice couple from Germany who we wound up having dinner with.
FWIW, if you can get into Ashford Castle you'll be about a quarter mile (just a good stretch of the legs) from Cong....where the outdoor scnes from the 1951 movie "The Quiet Man" with Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne was filmed....we took the "Quiet Man" tour including the Museum (a replica of "White 'O Morn).....fun guide who told lot's of interesting stories about the filming of the movie. By far.....by far and away (pun intended)...the best Traditional Irish stew I had all week was at Danahers (sp) Daughter.....just across the street from Pat Cohan's Bar....don't miss it.

Two other possible castles are:

Kilkenny castle, a beautifully restored castle, which is about two hours south of Dublin; and
Kylemore castle, which you can get to on a bus tour from Galway. It is in the Connemara, which is beautiful country and has gorgeous grounds.

Bunratty is a good one that is conveniently located, though my wife and I don't go for the more more commercialized aspects. Dromoland is a very nice stop for lunch though quite pricey in 2002 and probably more so now. Be aware that they have made it into a fancy hotel, but for what it is it's very nice. Cahir Castle is near the Rock of Cashel which you might also find interesting. We did not see Cahir Castle, when we overnighted in Cahir we were on a blitz tour that did not leave us enough time for that or the Swiss Cottage which is nearby. Later I found out that Cahir is supposed to be one of the better castles in Ireland.

There is Ross Castle in Killarney. Tours with Guide available
Dublin Castle Tours available by Guide ...