Driving Times for a Roadtrip

Travel time estimates when you're on the high speed motorways will be pretty accurate, but once you venture off onto the more rural roads (N, R and L on the map) your progress is likely to slow considerably. Our experience has been to add about 30% to whatever estimate you see on the mapping apps - that usually works out about right .. unless you encounter the odd herd of sheep or cattle on the road, get behind a slow moving tractor, etc. in which case you may come to a complete stop for a while.
Driving in rural Ireland is a pleasure, but don't be in a hurry to get from place to place.

I'dagree with Robert here and I always allow an extra 25% PLUS time for stops etc. As well as animals on the road (some sheep seem to have a death wish) and agricultural machinery you can also encounter campervans, cars tootling along regardless of other road users (that applies to both tourists and locals) and a funeral (Very big in Ireland) can bring everything to a standstill for ages. It also allows time to just stop and enjoy the scenery or something unexpected.

Driving times on Google, AA, via Michelin etc don't take these into account!.

Also allow for time to find parking and then walk to where ever it is you are going. It's surprising how much time that can take up.

Viamichelin, https://www.viamichelin.com , is often the best option for estimating driving times.

The AA is pretty good for times and routes in the UK, and does update/reroute for roadworks

Thank you for your expertise and opinions. I’ll figure that 25-30% in, I don’t plan on being in a hurry but if any of the sites have specific times for entrance , we’ll want to be there.
Suzanne

The posted entrance times at some attractions can refer to the opening hours of the co-located visitor center, while the attraction itself may be open virtually 24/7. One case in point is the monastic site at Glendalough where the visitor center doesn't open until 9:30 ... which is when the tour buses time their arrival and the place starts to clog up quickly with day trippers. If you get there early however you'll have the place all to yourselves. Same thing later in the evening once the tour buses depart.
Point being that for outdoor attractions it might be worth checking to see if you can access the sites themselves outside of the visitor center operating hours. Know, however, that restrooms are usually located inside the visitor centers.