Cork to Dublin by train or is auto easy drive

The M7 is basically like an interstate here in the US, four lanes, it is somewhat hilly but like interstates they are safe and most of the hills are gradual, easy driving and great to get started. Visiting the villages you mention is a different matter. You will be on two lane and possibly one lane roads at times and it takes some adjustments with a pretty quick learning curve. Go to google earth and view some of the smaller towns on street view to see what you are faced with, it will give you a pretty good idea. Be sure to notice that for me the street view did not give a great feel for how steep some of the roads are but I adjusted. You might want to view a couple of roundabouts that way too, they are of course a bit different because they go opposite what you are used to if you are a US driver. You can find a ton architecture history over there with little effort, its really cool. We hired a guide for the ring of Kerry and for a half day out on Dingle and it was money well spent as they took us to great spots and I was able to take a day off from driving. I would not have enjoyed driving in Dublin and was happy we picked up and dropped off our car at the airport and took the bus and a taxi in and out of Dublin. Get the smallest car you can stand and get an automatic if you have the extra cash. You will get scared on the left side as a passenger but as I said the learning curve is pretty quick. The small car was great for me because I felt it was easier to keep in my lane (kind of a challenge being on the left side), it was much easier to squeeze into relatively small parking spots, and when we missed turns on rural roads it was really handy for me to spin around and go back to the roads I missed! The short wheel base was great for us. For two of us we rented a four door Seat brand auto that was described as a "city" car but it worked perfect for us and had all the power and pep we needed and the four doors made luggage storage a breeze. Study your route. Relax and have fun, its one great place to visit.

The highway between Cork and Dublin is no problem and even some of the small towns are OK for getting used to left-side of the road driving. As previous poster said, I would pay more for an automatic too. I recently made the drive from Dublin to Cork rather than taking the train because I wanted to make a few stops (Rock of Cashel and Cahir Castle - both were worth the visit), and I didn't have problem in Cashel or Cahir. The problem is getting out of Cork and into Dublin. I drove into Cork on my first day and the car shows the effects of that and would never go into heart of Dublin within first few days of driving. If you can rent the car on outskirts of the city, close to an M-road and return it to either the airport in Dublin (going around the city) or someplace south of the city, that would be your best bet. I used the Hertz on the South Circular Road in Dublin, which wasn't too bad, outside of the center of the city.

The train would be fine to travel between the two cities, but you will miss out on the small towns and spectacular sights in between.

Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate your encouragement and tips. Good idea to google the major highway.

I thought the driving on the left deal was easier than I was led to believe. Even though we went to some out of the way places, once you pulled out on the road correctly there wasn't a time where you'd decide to suddenly start driving on the other side of the road as there was usually a fair amount of other cars to remind you what everybody was supposed to be doing on the roads.

We did at one point encounter someone driving (towards us) on the wrong side of the road, it was a low traffic road at that point so they must not have had the visual reminder of what side to be on, luckily it was a straight stretch and they moved over well before our paths crossed.

Again, thanks for your help. We are going to rent a car and I are going to say a novena before I get in the car;)))