Bucketlist Trip for my Dad and I

Two places that immediately spring to mind which are doable from Dublin are Newgrange (5000 year old passsage tomb) and the early Christian site of Glendalough.

Newgrange does get very busy and you will need to prebook tickets to make sure you visit the tomb.

The best scenery is in the west, so think about basing yourself in Killarney or Kenmare for a few days for Ring of Kerry, Killarney National PArk, Ring of Beara and Dingle Peninsula.

Then head to Galway for Connemara for its wonderful scenery - Roundstone harbour, Clifden and the Sky Drive, Kylemore Abbey...

Don't be too ambitious - Ireland is a place to slow down and enjoy.

This is a great gift to your da. Salute.

Foodie: I've never forgotten having boxty in Dublin. Boxty is akin to an Irish taco. In the olden days, Irish people people split open a potato and stuffed it with veggies, meats and so on. I enjoyed Gallagher's Boxty House in Dublin: https://www.boxtyhouse.ie/

History: The Dublin Writers Museum is the best literary museum I've seen: https://www.dublin.info/writers-museum/. (Since you'll be in Scotland, the Writers' Museum there is quite good: https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/venue/writers-museum). Back in Ireland: the National Museum is excellent: https://www.museum.ie/en-ie/home. An unforgettable site for me is Kilmainham Gaol, where the leaders of the 1916 uprising were executed: https://www.kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie/.

History near Dublin: Rock of Cashel: https://heritageireland.ie/places-to-visit/the-rock-of-cashel/. A great place to visit for atmosphere is Kilkenny: https://visitkilkenny.ie/

I agree with the post from wasleys about Glendalough and Newgrange.

History in the countryside: If you can cross the country, visit the Dingle Peninsula. It's an open-air museum of Celtic and Norman culture. Big name sites include Minard Castle, the beehive huts, Gallarus Oratory and more.

I’m so THRILLED to be getting feedback!

To clarify:
We will have those two days before in Dublin WITHOUT a car then after returning from Scotland… we will have a rental car to go ANYWHERE! Just need to be back to fly out of Dublin on the 12th.

So that is why I’ve come here to try to get input to plan (and book ahead when I need to)!

Keep it coming…I go to his house in the mornings and we discuss what he read in Rick Steves book the night before and are now plotting where we will land.

It’s REALLY given him a boost in spirit and life!

I celebrated my 50th birthday in Ireland in May (25 years ago!) and will say my favorite places were Dingle (biking the loop around the peninsula on the day of my birthday) and Waterford,

We went to Waterford as I wanted to tour the factory where Waterford Crystal is made, as we have an heirloom set in my family. And then discovered all the history there—-first settled by the Vikings in the 9th Century. They build an impressive site wall that stands to this day, and there is a restaurant/pub built with part of that wall. We had a memorable and delicious seafood dinner in that restaurant (then named Reginald’s for the tower it abuts), sitting with my back against that very wall (by our request). I was going to recommend that restaurant, but it appears it has morphed into a gastropub with 6 bars and music, so it may be noisy. But if you want to check it out, it is now named The Reg.

More on Waterford history and sightseeing:

https://www.southeastireland.com/pwaterford-ireland.html

My birthday dinner in Dingle was at Doyle’s, and that restaurant is still there and still highly regarded. So I will recommend that one, especially for seafood. You will need reservations.

What a nice thing for the two of you. One place to start is the itineraries for the two RS tours of Ireland along with suggestions in the guide book, that should give you plenty of ideas. You will not be able to see everything, so the harder part will be narrowing down your choices. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time no matter what you decide.

A couple comments about logistics as you plan your time. If I understand correctly, at the front of the trip you leave the USA on April 30, arrive in Dublin on May 1, and fly out of Dublin to Glasgow on the afternoon of May 2? That is not "two days" in Dublin but rather a jet lagged arrival afternoon (often brutal) and about a half day before you need to return to the airport. I wouldn't over extend yourselves those days, at best plan an afternoon walk on arrival day and visit a pub and make sure you have enough time on day 2 to get back to the airport, through security, etc. Similar comment re your "seven solid" driving days at the second half of your trip. You don't have seven full days if your flight leaves on the 12th, unless it is a very late evening departure (even then, if your flight is direct to the USA, you need extra time at the airport for going through US immigration see info here, three hours ahead is advised). It might help to build an hourly calendar with these logistics blocked off so you can visually see how much time you have for visiting sites and driving. That will help with narrowing down your route and choices, unfortunately travel and logistics do take up a lot of time.

As for the tattoo, I don't have any suggestions but do know that probably anyone good will need to be booked well in advance, especially since you have a serious time limitation. Depending on where you decide to visit, you may want to find a place along your route instead of trying to do it in Dublin before you leave.

Best of luck and I hope you have a memorable trip.

Am not sure if I understand this but are you flying into.Dublin on Wednesday and out to Scotland on Thursday ? If possible look into flying into.Scotland and then from Scotland to Ireland and home.from there. Called multi city not two one way tickets. If you already bought tickets you could call.airline and see the cost of changing tickets. If would certainly save you about a half of a day travel. For Kilmainhaim Gaol look info getting tickets now as they sell out quickly.

Everyone has been so helpful and I’m making progress on tightening up our plans.

I’m wondering if trying to see ALL of Ireland in the 7 days after we return from Scotland on Sunday May 5th evening might be too much, though?

We will explore Dublin on the front end (May 1-2–then finish our trip on the 11th there)…then upon getting our rental car on Sunday evening at the airport, we will drive to Kilkenny or Kinsale. Then from there we are still deciding.

For those who have traveled before…If we were to skip Northern Ireland…are we making a big mistake?

Should we absolutely try to go North and see 1-2 things for sure IF this is the ONLY time my father makes the trip?

I know you are very enthusiastic and optimistic but you really should take into consideration the suggestions that have been posted. Flying into Dublin then leaving the next day for Scotland then flying back is really inefficient. You aren’t factoring in how much of that time involves airport time, back and forth to city center, jet lag, etc. Most of us are guilty of trying to cover too much in a finite amount of time, because we’ve traveled so far. I think your 7 day best of Ireland should factor in whether you want to spend all of your time driving (a very taxing endeavor driving on the “wrong” side of the road”) or spending more time exploring a certain geographic location…either parts of the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland but both seems a lot for the time you have there. It will be a wonderful trip no matter what you decide to do!

Also if you are flying in (especially from the west coast) and happen to be arriving in Dublin very early in the morning, I suggest paying for an extra hotel night, the night prior to arrival, letting the hotel know you won’t actually be arriving until morning, because having a place to freshen up immediately upon arrival rather than waiting until 3pm to get into your room would be very nice for anyone but especially those of us of a mature age.

Are your dates set in stone? It would be far more efficient if you could fly into Scotland and out of Ireland, or vice versa, in order to avoid the extra flight. With just seven days on the ground you will never be able to see everything. Sometimes it’s helpful to look at the itineraries from some tours that are the same length of time to get an idea of how much ground you could cover, and maybe even follow an itinerary that you like.

I'll second (third?) the suggestions to see Newgrange, Glendalough, the Rock of Cashel and Kilmainham Gaol. Another site north of Dublin and close to Newgrange is Trim Castle which has been "restored" to show how it morphed over the ages. The town of Trim also has the Yellow Steeple and an abbey ruin. All are within walking distance of each other and are along the Boyne River. The scene is made complete with sheep wandering near the ruins.

With only 7 days do not try to go to the Dingle Peninsula, Ring of Kerry and the Beara Peninsula. Pick one. My suggestions would be the Ring of Kerry mostly because Killarney National Park is located there. If you go to either the Ring of Kerry or Dingle and it's a warm day stop at Inch Beach. I had the best fish and chips there. It's touristy for the local Irish tourists, which makes it interesting as an outsider.

If you go to Kinsale make dinner reservations at Finns Farmcut. Reservations should be made several days in advance. https://www.finnsfarmcut.com/

If you want to go upscale in Dublin and blow the food budget go to Chapter One, a Michelin 1 star, https://chapteronerestaurant.com/.

I appreciate all the input and will consider it!
If I’ve made mistakes in my planning…they are made, unfortunately. We can’t fly directly into Scotland until those dates as my friend isn’t available.

I do have a genealogist working on looking into our family, however, I’m still waiting on hearing from them.

I’m just wondering at this point if we were to skip Northern Ireland altogether…if that would be a big mistake?

I’m just wondering at this point if we were to skip Northern Ireland altogether…if that would be a big mistake?

From the above, you also add, IF this is your Dad's only visit.

That is a very hard question for anyone else but you and your Dad to answer.

Firstly is there anywhere in the North which are must sees/'bucket list' items to your Dad? If there are then seize the opportunity to go there. Maybe on returning to 'Ireland' from Glasgow you could fly into Belfast City, Belfast International or even Derry then start your Irish trip from there. It will be worth any international drop off fee for the car.

Secondly when you get the genealogy back what do you plan to do with it? By that I mean do you intend to visit the home towns/churches/graveyards whatever?
Also until that time you don't know if you have links to the 9 counties of Ulster (6 of which are now in the modern Northern Ireland).

Is your genealogist Irish or US based?- or might you have to visit Archives for certificates- records relating to the 9 (not the modern 6) counties of Ulster are in PRONI in Belfast for example, as opposed to being in Dublin.

I guess the question is, how much of this trip is genealogy and how much is general tourism. As others have said if the trip has a significant genealogical aspect, then you need to leave the ability to flex the itinerary at what is going to be fairly short notice.

Nobody will tell you skipping Northern Ireland or going to Northern Ireland is a mistake, it's really a matter of the time you have, and what your priorities are. I'd rather give myself time to enjoy certain areas rather than take a trip in order to put a check mark by it. You've got to decide if all the time spent trying to get to destinations is the priority, or if the destinations are the priority. It's just a matter of how you want to spend your time. We were in Northern Ireland 3 nights and thoroughly enjoyed it (as part of a 14 day RS tour); an efficient guided tour but that barely scratched the surface. I think when you are on your own, with driving, everything takes quite a bit longer because you aren't familiar. Are you just thinking of just going to Belfast? Or do you also want to see the amazing Antrim Coast, because to me that was the best part of Northern Ireland. Just Belfast isn't my idea of the best of Northern Ireland. But someone else may feel that Belfast is the only place to be. If I had your schedule, I'd stick to the Republic of Ireland, but there's no wrong answer. Just the reality of time.

None of us knows what the future holds. But, your dad is only 75, and now recovered. Hopefully this is just the first of many other father/daughter trips.

Will the genealogy research possibly find family history in Northern Ireland, and would that mean a visit to locations there? That might make it a mistake to miss. Otherwise, we had a trip in 2018 that included both the Republic (south) and Northern Ireland. Notwithstanding the incredibly stunning Antrim Coast at the very north, from a purely touristic standpoint, I preferred the south to the north, by quite a bit.

Based on my initial information…the genealogy records (Irish marriage record) suggest Co. Waterford. A couple of my great-great grandparents children baptism records are in Co. Tipperary.

In that case might flying back Edinburgh to Cork on Ryanair be the most efficient answer?

Your genealogy information points to visiting south, so don’t worry about missing Northern Ireland this trip.

We had originally scheduled a 2 week trip including a big circle around the north and southwest in 2020(guess what happened there...) and after several more delays by the time we got around to it in 2024 we had narrowed it down to 3 weeks in the southwest(Dublin/Doolin/Dingle/Valentia Island/Killarney) and still had to cut "must sees" from the list. It's hard to do, but less is more here and I think you'd enjoy the trip more if you narrowed the focus. Just don't spend time on regretting what you didn't see; you'll never see it all in any case.