Bucket list trip to Ireland

Sounds like a great trip. I would add Rock of Cashel on the way to the SW. Also maybe Westport around days 7-8. What a great present for your wife. We will be in Ireland for the 6th time this September. Can't wait. It is one of our favorite places.

I don't think 10 days is enough but maybe that is all you have! We spent two weeks and didn't make it to Northern Ireland. Highly recommend Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin. Dingle was our favorite place and stayed for 5 nights. Preferred Dingle Peninsula to Ring of Kerry though if time definitely do both. Also loved Muckross House/Killarney National Park.
Have fun!

With the limited time available to you I think that you really need to rethink this to avoid spending all of your time in the car.
If this is a "roots quest" of sorts for your wife then my suggestion would be to start in NI after your couple of days in Dublin. My heritage traces to Ulster too, and on our last trip we really enjoyed the Ulster-American Folk Park http://nmni.com/uafp in Armagh. Does a great job of telling the story of the early Scots-Irish emigrations that started around 1715. Extremely educational - helped connect some dots linking family lore with the realities of Ulster history...spent most of a day there in fact. They have a good research facility if she's interested in trying to trace her own family history - their archives include old ship manifests, etc., and there are very helpful docents there to help guide the search. We also thought that Derry was terrific - beautiful walled city with its own troubled history, and the museum there also has a good exhibit describing the out migrations in the 18th & 19th centuries.
From there maybe head over to Galway & Connemara for at least a couple of nights...or more. It's our favorite area in Ireland. Lots to see and do (the Burren, the Cliffs, Sky Road west of Clifden, the National Park, a trip out to the Aran Islands, etc).
Lastly head to Dingle for 2 or 3 nights and use it as a base for Slea Head Drive and the Ring of Kerry, before heading back to Dublin for your flight home. Time permitting a stop at the monastic settlement at Glendalough would be a highlight. There are some terrific hikes there too...everything from short strolls to more serious hikes up into the hills.
I would avoid the temptation to try to cram too much into too short a time and running yourselves ragged in the process.
You don't need (nor do you want) the hassle of a car in Dublin. Pick it up at the airport on your way out of town on day 3. Specify an automatic at booking unless you're an old hand at driving on the left and using a manual shifter. And take the full cover from the rental agency just for the peace of mind.

No matter how you organize this it will be great - it's all Ireland after all.
Safe travels.

I too think that you are trying to cover too much in 10 days and will end up spending a lot of time in the car.

I would skip the north and concentrate on the south.

What about day 1-2: Dublin: hop on and off, Kilmainham gaol ( pre-purchase tickets on the web), book of Kells and long library, St Patrick's church, Christ Church Cathedral, great museums based on your interests,
Day 3: pickup car and drive through the Wicklow mountains and stop in Kilkenny for the night. : Kilkenny castle, walking the medieval mile
Day 4: drive to Killarney with a stop at the Rock of castle along the way
Day 5: Ring of Kerry
Day 6-7: Dingle
Day 8: Drive to Galway with a stop at the Cliffs of Moher
Day 9: stop at Kylemore Abbey before driving back to Dublin or just outside Dublin for the night

What a great vacation! Enjoy!
Day 10: fly home

I agree you're trying to cover too much in too few days. For example, Ring of Kerry and Dingle in the same day? Not a good idea, even if humanly possible. Similarly, Carlingford may be lovely but I would not stay there the night before your flight even though you don't leave until 12:25. You never know if there could be a transportation disruption or you could have car trouble.

You mention that the O'Hares come from Armagh, Northern Ireland. Do you mean the surname in general, or your wife's own family? Can you get any more detailed information, such as any relatives still living there? If the two of you have the time & inclination to research this, then I'd say to narrow that down before deciding where to spend most of your time and which regions to eliminate.

We researched my husband's maternal family using Ancestry.com and the Statue of Liberty / Ellis Island websites. It was not very difficult and pretty exciting when we were able to get the actual documents from Ireland.

Thanks for all the good advice.

It does appear we will need to pare it back a bit so that we can actually enjoy it and not feel pressured for time.

We don't have a lot of information about the Irish O'hares, only that some of her Aunts have said they come from Armagh. So I think we need to do a bit more research so we have a better idea of what to look for. The Ulster American Folk park sounds like a great idea.

Like others, I think that's "too much" for one trip! A couple of suggestions:

Dublin Hop-on-hop-off often has a 2-day for price of one offer, so the two days in Dublin it would be good to use that as your transportation! I love those buses and use them on my first day in any city that has them. Helps get my barings!

It's only my opinion, but I think for 10 days you should pick only 2 or 3 locations to sleep over. For example - your Southwest section you can stay in Milltown House in Dingle, and one day explore the Dingle Peninsula, one day the Ring of Kerry and the Skellig Coast area, and one day Killarney/Tralee/Magillicuddy Reeks area. The owner of Milltown is a Rick Steves guide! :-D

If you like day walks to get out and explore, Camp to Dingle is a nice walk; Cnoc na d'tobar near Cahersiveen is a beautiful Pilgrim Path; The loop walk around Glenbeigh has beautiful views....

Also - May is "walking festival" time! Sneem for example has a walking fest, but so do many many other villages. You could sign up for a walking festival day, and get the chance to really spend hours talking to locals and hearing the details about an area!

Slow down and enjoy - the biggest complaint I hear from tourists is how they're not really enjoying the people they meet and the places they see because they're rushing to the next B&B....

Susan
in Waterville