Feeling overwhelmed! Itinerary advice

I'd cut nights in Bushmills and Donegal and spend more time in the west. I loved Donegal, but I think four nights is too many, and two is plenty to see the Giants Causeway (is that the purpose of the Bushmills stop? We also toured the distillery which was fun). I'd add some days in Galway. If you want to reduce moving around, stay in Galway and do a drive through Connemara. You could also drive through the Burren and see the Cliffs of Moher from Galway. We loved Galway, can you tell? :)

The extra night in Bushmills was to be able to see Portrush and some more of the coast in that area, including at least a half day in Derry. Not interested in the Distillery.

Donegal, we were planning Slieve League, Glenveagh national park, Doagh famine village, and exploring more of the coast.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Good advice from Celeste. We, too, would recommend adding time in Galway just to be able to see more of Connemara, which is our favorite area in Ireland as well.
You could streamline your itinerary a bit and make better use of your available time if you could reschedule your stay in Dublin to the end of your trip and head north immediately after collecting your car at the airport. While Carlingford is a nice little village, I don't think it quite merits 2 nights unless you just want to use it as a base to visit Newgrange, Bru na Boyne, and/or Tara while you're in the neighborhood.
Derry is certainly worth a stop, and we really enjoyed our stay in Belfast too...much more than we thought we would. Time permitting I'd suggest taking the coastal route up thru the Glens from Belfast to Bushmills. Reminded us of Highway 1 in California - very pretty.
If this is your first trip to Ireland I'd suggest adding at least an extra day or two to the Connemara portion of your trip. Sky Road west of Clifden is beautiful, and a meandering drive from there to the National Park, Kylemore Abbey, and the village of Cong would present many opportunities to hike, visit ruins & castles, and generally enjoy some of the prettiest scenery in Ireland.
Finally, I wouldn't agonize too much over arriving at the "perfect itinerary". It's all Ireland, which means that it will all be great no matter how you finally organize it. And assume that you'll return one day - Ireland does have effect on people.
Safe travels.

Yes, it's our first trip to Ireland.

I'll eliminate Carlingford, but can't change the Dublin first two nights, as we have a non refundable reservation already. Won't arrive in Dublin until mid afternoon anyway, which is a bummer.

I'll allocate 3 nights in Galway...or is there somewhere closer that would be a little more quiet, but still be able to see the sights around there?

OK, since you're committed to the first two nights in the city, I'd recommend that you delay collecting your rental car until you're on your way out of town. Driving in Dublin is a daunting prospect even for drivers with a lot of experience driving on the left, and you're better off anyway just using public transportation to get around.

Robert, that was the plan. No way do we want to drive in the city.

Picking up car the 3rd day to head to Belfast. Should be okay to stop in Trim for a few hours, then head on?

Sounds like you're in pretty good shape for your trip.
If your ancestry traces to Ulster, and if you have the time, I'd recommend stopping by the Ulster-American Folk Park near Armagh. Fascinating place. http://nmni.com/uafp.
The Tower Museum in Derry has some interesting exhibits regarding the out-migration from Ulster in the 18th century too too.

I like YOUR plan for County Donegal being repeatedly familiar with the whole west coast in saying so. If I were modifying anywhere (not that I feel it's a must) I'd look toward rethinking Carlingford instead. You'll get all the peninsula and coastal like pleasures you could want more profoundly in Donegal and Connemara, where I'd focus more days than including Carlingford.

Consider two airports (Dublin and Shannon) giving you more economy in time and cost both. Finally, there are no mistakes implied about your thinking relative to my preferences.

Thanks so much, Preglad.

I actually changed the plan from Carlingford to Connemara before you posted :-)

I'm considering switching from Galway to Clifden.

Good idea? We want to spend some time exploring Connemara. I know Galway isn't as big as our cities, but still sounds too bustling for what we want to do.

Great choice I think. Clifden is very pretty - much smaller and more rural than Galway, and as was mentioned before will make for easy day trips to the various attractions in Connemara, including the scenic drive out along Sky Road.
For an off-the-beaten path adventure you might consider a trip out to Inishbofin (island of the white cow). The local ferry departs from Cleggan...about 15 minutes from Clifden.

Thank you so much, Robert. After 3 nights there, we will be heading to Dublin to leave the following day.