This would be in early June, with myself, my brother, and my parents (55-60) driving a rental car between the two. We could just drive straight, but I think it’d be nice to break it up and see a tad bit more of SE Ireland. I think we’d depart pretty early morning and see if we can’t beat a little traffic out of the city, although jet lag might slow us down.
For complete context, we’ll have I guess a cumulative 1.5 days in Dublin before/ after our flights, 3 days in Galway (with planned visits to Connemara (Clifden) and Burren. Dingle will be two days, with a Slea Head drive planned. I’m also extremely intent on getting out to watch some Gaelic Football and Hurling, though that might be a solo endeavor (and I’d love some tips!). I include this mainly because if there’s any sort of void in our trio or like glaring oversight w/r/t Irish Culture that we’re not getting from our other stops, I’d love to shoehorn it into this drive somehow. All of the North of the isle would be one, but in theory I’ll return on some future trip to do that.
I’m going to give my initial thoughts, and would love to hear your feedback!
I considered Wicklow, but thought it added a bit too much time (I don’t mind driving in a bit of dark, but would prefer to arrive in Dingle by sunset or so), and while beautiful would be not too dissimilar from nature I could see back home in the US or later on this trip. I also considered Limerick, as it works well with the route, but couldn’t find anything that really stood out or sparked my curiosity. So, I was most interested in stopping at one or two of:
- Cork/ Cobh/ Kinsale
- Kilkenny
- Rock of Cashel
- Waterford
- Wexford
I’m not going to play expert, I couldn’t give you a concise summation of what any of these offer that would extend past the first page of Google results (which is why I’m making this post!). That said, Rock of Cashel would only make sense to me if it was a really truly exceptional castle - “the most wondrous you’ve ever seen, with the most fascinating history” kind of thing.
Kilkenny, honestly, stood out because a friend and (strangely enough) a musician I admire both mentioned liking it there, and I value anecdotal experience highly but am not sure I see what sets it apart (probably would be great for a couple days, but perhaps doesn’t shine brightest for 3-4 hours).
Waterford and Wexford I’d love to hear people’s takes on, if they’re unique in some way or like broadly indicative of some singular SE Ireland characteristic I’d be down. It’s Cork and the surrounding environs I’m most interested in though - as of now, my pitch would be to stop in in time for the feted “Historic Stroll”, and tackle the Scilly walk before or after (would this be redundant? Would love to hear!). Also , if I were to trod this path - does it make any sense to stop in Kinsale alone, or should I stop in Cobh and/or Cork too?
I know I’ve typed far too much, but please tell me where I’ve gone wrong or overlooked something with any of this - any suggestions would be more than welcome (for lunch along the route, too!). Certainly don’t limit yourself to those possibilities I’ve mentioned, and I want to reiterate my preference for a place/ outing that I’m not replicating elsewhere in the planned trip.
This is by far the bit of the trip I’m least certain about it, but if you have something to add about the rest then please fire away - thank you!
Thank you!