I'll be spending time in Dublin for work (I have previously visited Dublin plus Wicklow/Glendalough). Prior to Dublin, I'll be doing 3 nights in Galway (well one night in a castle actually) with Cliffs of Moher tour etc. I'll have one extra day in Dublin at the end of my trip that I'd like to use as a daytrip. I've narrowed it down to Northern Ireland (book a tour to Antrim Coast + Belfast) or Kilkenny (by public transport). I'll be there mid-January. Any votes on which you would choose and why? Thanks!
I found that Belfast and the Antrim Coast were exceptionally interesting.
I think that with the limited daylight available in January, I would go just to Belfast.
Antrim Coast & Belfast is more interesting than Kilkenny in my opinion. The Giant's Causeway is worth the trip alone and Belfast is just icing on the cake.
I strongly recommend the Northern Ireland trip as the Antrim Coast is one of the most beautiful in the world. My husband and I traveled to Ireland in 2017 and based our stay in Dublin as well. We took one overnight trip via public transport to Kilkenny and found it to be very commercial. We did visit the castle there, but other than that it is a lot of shopping. We did the daytrip to the Antrim Coast and we were most looking forward to Giant's Causeway, but the rope bridge stop and black cab taxi tour of Belfast were also top notch.