Clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Will you have a car? Also are there any specific things you want to see? With two weeks it is certainly possible to build in a visit to Northern Ireland, the road and rail links make Belfast only a couple of hours from Dublin.

We made a similar 15 day trip several years ago (also flying in and out of Dublin). After touring the city for a couple of days, we rented a car and headed in a counter-clockwise direction. On our way to Belfast we explored Newgrange/Knowth, which we highly recommend--really interesting archaeological site! We spent almost a whole day at the Titanic Belfast museum which had recently opened and enjoyed it very much. The only other site we visited in N. Ireland was Giant's Causeway, also well worth the time. After that we had a string of one night stops (Bunbeg, Westport, Galway, Doolin) all of which have things to recommend them (we don't regret any of them) but I will say that there were some long days of driving, especially Belfast to Bunbeg. We did spend several nights in both Dingle and Kinsale, both lovely towns with lots of nearby things to see and do. It really depends on the kind of pace that you want to maintain. At the time, we thought this would be our only opportunity to make a trip like this so we wanted to cram as much as possible into our days. However, we loved it so much that we are returning next month to spend three weeks in the south and west part of the country. If you do think that a return trip is in your future, I'd consider choosing a few home bases in a part of the island that interests you and making day trips--save other areas for your next visit. That would also give you a little more energy to enjoy the local pubs in the evening. The music is wonderful, but often doesn't start until 9:30 or later. One of our very favorite sessions in Bunbeg didn't start until almost 10:30--pretty late after a long day!

I have done it both ways. My suggestion would be to take whichever route gets you to what you most want to see quickest. Then if you run out of time toward the end of the trip and have to drop something, you aren't skipping something to really wanted to see.

Michael - With 2 weeks, I'd say direction doesn't matter.I suggest using a site like www.viamichelin.com to map out your driving distances and times. I'd also say add an additional 25% to your driving times.