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day and a half in Kilrush and/or Kilkee

Posted by on

Hello fellow travelers.

We've got two nights to plan between 3 nights in Dingle, and our flight out of Shannon. We will have already stayed in Ennis and seen the big sights in Country Clare in the first part of the trip.

We're looking at driving from Dingle to Kilrush, spending half a day seeing some sights (Vandeleur walled garden, Monastery round tower) once we arrive. The next day we'd spend around Kilkee, maybe driving to Loop Head. That would be the last day of the trip, and we're hoping to make it a mellow day without lots of driving.

We're thinking of staying the 2 nights in Kilrush. Our flight out of Shannon isn't until late morning, so we're hoping Kilrush isn't too far away to spend our last night.

Any thoughts? We're early risers but we're fairly nervous people, so if the drive from Kilrush to the airport is more than 2 hours we'll want to reassess our plans. It looks to be only about 45 mins. to Shannon, but I'm doubling the time, as advised, and to account for our nervous-nellieness.

So, is the Kilrush/Kilkee area an interesting, pretty and mellow place to be?
Is the drive from Kilrush to Shannon longer than I might think?

Any other ideas or suggestions are welcome: places to stay or eat, things to see or do, a completely different itinerary for our last two nights.

Many, many thanks! I've learned a lot from following this forum and am very excited to be going to Ireland at the end of June.

June

Posted by
2828 posts

Well, if it's mellow you're looking for then I think Kilrush certainly fits the bill. Pretty laid back place. Kilkee is a short drive away and has a pretty beach and a nice cliff walk - it's not exactly the Cliffs of Moher but it does have some nice views and photo ops. It's only about a mile long as I recall and so would be a nice outing on a sunny day - good place for a picnic too.
On one of our trips we stopped off at Buggles Bar in Kilrush. Cute, friendly little place...the kind where you just want to linger for a while. Believe they also had B&B rooms upstairs. Can Google it if you're interested.
I personally would lose sleep over worrying about a drive of any appreciable length to connect with my returning flight (full disclosure: I lose sleep the last night anyway). You might consider spending your last day in the Kilrush/Kilkee area and then just driving up and finding a place near the airport. Maybe one that offers a shuttle drop off at the airport so you can return the car that evening and have one less detail to worry about in the morning when you can relax, sleep in, eat a good breakfast and then be on your way with a minimum of drama.
Others on this forum have recommended Bunratty Castle near Shannon airport for last night stays when flying out of Shannon, although we haven't been ourselves and can't comment one way or the other.
Safe travels.

Posted by
12 posts

Thank you, Robert.

You make some good points, which we will consider when making our plans. Thank you for taking the time to write.

June

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