May Visit to Ireland...is itinerary too aggressive?

You already know the answer to this. Its insane. And you are backtracking all over the place!
For a 10 day trip, you really only have 8 days to sightsee.
You will be in your car way too much with this itinerary and will not have time to just enjoy Ireland. Driving on Irish roads can be stressful.

Pick three or four bases and plan at least two night stays. I know its tempting to rush about trying to see everything, but with 10 days you will not be able to, so don't try. Relax, enjoy the trad music at an Irish pub, and confine your time to the South. Save anything north of Shannon for another time.

Way too much. I mean technically possible but not fun. Much better to visit and experience Ireland than to just briefly see things out a car window.

Totally get wanting to see "everything possible"......or cover all the so called "must sees" on some list. That's how we wasted our first hurried ridiculous strip to Ireland flying between one night stays. In trying to see so much we really missed everything. Bottom line - you can never see everything so why try. Step back......think what it is about Ireland you want to see and experience....then isolate 2 or maybe three critical things for you.....plan on those and just have a relaxed list of other area things to maybe see or visit as time permits. Don't be a slave to an itinerary.

The best moments are generally those unplanned.....allowing time to interact with the warmest, nicest and funniest folks around. Our great memories include just leisurely stopping by a farmer's field near Ballinskellig to look at the horses and goats.....ending up talking to the farmer, helping him feed them and staying for tea, scones and biscuits..........or taking the time at Cashel to talk to a wonderful woman about her "fine excuse for a dog" and ending up being invited to her house for a dinner. Or heck even the fun of being teased at a local market for my bumbling attempts at speaking a few Irish words. All would have been lost racing to see the next thing. There's always a next thing......don't let that easy desire to see as much as possible rob you of the true magic of Ireland.

Let us know what really interests you......what you dream of experiencing and we can help. Ricks guide that you have Is a great place to start ....steering you clear of tourist traps like the Blarney Stone and pointing out great ways to experience Ireland from a couple bases without spending your vacation in a car and wasting time checking in and out of a new place each day. Just don't get caught up in all the cool things he points out to see - he's not saying try and see as many as possible.

Have a great trip....but for your sake scrap the plan above and start with the basics and give yourselves time to experience the true magic of Ireland. Scaling back does not mean missing anything of importance - it means really touching Ireland's scenery, history and culture.

oh my word... my head was spinning trying to see up with all the backtracking you were doing....

Are your flights booked? If not, I would seriously consider flying into Dublin and out of Shannon. Go from Dublin to Kilkenny, to Carlow, then on to the the west side. With the amount of days that you have on the ground and with one of them being taken up by a triathlon, you cannot see everything that you have on here. I would strongly suggest that you prioritize what you want to see/do and then build a realistic itinerary from there.