First time visiting Ireland: itinerary advice please?

Well the first thing I would say is............get those accomodations booked! Yikes! We are going in August as well (second time) and have had our accomodations booked for months!

Are you planning on two separate rooms? Just a note, family rooms that can accomodate 4 are in short supply! If not, then you will need to book two rooms in the same place which makes me think you need to get busy!
As far as the itinerary, this looks doable. More driving than I would want to do, but everyone is different.
We are doing three night stays to be less rushed. I understand though, there is so much to see and so little time!
Have a great trip and would love a trip report when you get back!
Ashford castle in County Mayo is on the list of best hotels in the world. They also have a hawk walk that gets high praise on this forum.

We have enjoyed four trips to Irelalnd. I would suggest you do your itinerary in a different order and eliminate either Kinsale or Kilkenny.

Google map this and see if it appeals to you:
Dublin airport - Drogheda (first overnight, only about 20 miles north of the airport), New Grange (for a morning visit), Galway, Burren (for a morning visit), Dingle, Kinsale or Kilkenny or maybe Cashel, Dublin (return car, visit city).

Thoughts about this itinerary:
Stay in a small town in County Galway, use your full day to take a ferry from Rossaveal to Inish More and/ or explore Connemara. We really enjoyed Ballynahinch Castle Hotel (near Roundstone). Two nights although three would be better, so you could also explore out near Clifden.

Drive from Galway to Dingle town with a stop on the Burren, a strange rocky area with some prehistoric stones. Use the Shannon tunnel, just west of Limerick. (You could instead go by way of the Cliffs of Moher which we have always skipped.)

Dingle town for two nights. Use your full day to explore the tip of that peninsula.

When you leave Dingle, head just west of Kilarney and enjoy the jaunting car tour through the Gap of Dunloe. Skip Kilarney town, head to Kenmare which is a pleasant small town with several restaurants and pubs with music. On your full day in Kenmare, explore the south side of the Ring of Kerry and / or the north side of the Beara Peninsula. If this were my trip I would spend three nights in Kenmare.

We have never visited Kinsale. Kilkenny was good for a few hours. Cashel is also good for a half day. Glendalough is another very interesting area filled with monastic ruins. Consider overnighting near Glendalough and heading to Dublin the next morning.

Dublin, to us, is just another big city. We both visited there on the trips we took as teenagers and have never revisited. One full day there would be more than ample for us, but everyone has different choices.

Hope this helps.

Cynthia recommends Ballnahinch estate. We did not stay there, but OMG, what a beautiful place. We took the walk along the river and saw some expert fly fishing being done. The grounds had the most beautiful hydrangeas I have ever seen!
I would totally stay there although I don't think you could call it a castle!

To add a slightly different perspective -- we just returned from 2 weeks in Ireland earlier this month, and visited both Kenmare and Kinsale.

I would pick Kinsale hands down over Kenmare. I found little interesting in Kenmare, but in Kinsale there's the harbor for evening walks, some good restaurants, bars, a star fort, and an entertaining walking tour on the history of the area.

I also thought Galway was underwhelming and would take another day in Dingle town as a preference -- maybe take the archaeology tour.

The Blasket Islands visitor center west of Dingle was terrific and worth several hours' time to get a different perspective on what effect emigration to the U.S. had on small Irish towns. It was more like a museum than a visitor center.

Granted, all this is after only one trip to Ireland -- so keep that in mind. Others who have visited multiple times certainly are more authoritative.

Thanks for all your expert advice! We decided to go ahead with the itinerary I outlined above. We are pretty flexible to see a bunch of different sights based on RS's book's suggestions.

We could not find any reasoably priced castles to stay in, but we are planning to visit a few along our route. Ashford Castle sounds great.

We will take into consideration all your wonderful ideas.

Thanks so much!

I am taking my mother to Ireland in July and doing almost exactly your itinerary!

Only difference is we are staying in Dublin only 1 night.
I just booked the Ballyseede Castle in Tralee for 2 nights and plan to visit Dingle after the 1st night. It lessens the driving after doing the ROK and before we head to Cliffs of Moher.
It was the most affordable and I'm planning to say in smaller b&b's to offset the cost.