My trip plans! Opinions and suggestions please!

Ask the staff at your accommodations where to find music in pubs. My favorite times have come when several local players squeeze into a corner alcove and play music for themselves rather than to entertain customers. The songs may be traditional or written last month; the instruments vintage or modern. Later in the week you are more likely to find well-aged men on a stage, playing the same Beatles songs as when they were young plus automatic versions of Danny Boy. Bus tours appear to eat it up. Well, 'drink' it in.

Hi Betsy,

Malahide is a beautiful town, easy access to the city & a short distance from the airport. I would return the rental car when I arrive & take the train into Dublin. Instead of Shannon, try Ennis. It is a little smaller, fantastic musicians. I would also consider, changing Tralee or Kilkenny or shaving a night off of both & stay in Dingle. Another fun town. I think Dingle is my favorite destination spot in Ireland.

Get your rental and leave Shannon airport enroute to the Dingle Peninsula. There's NOTHING in Shannon of interest. You are arriving early enough to be able to get a sense of Ireland's beauty as you head to Dingle. It's only a 2.5 hour drive (maybe 3 as you'll be stopping to take pictures) or if you must stay in Tralee do so. Anyway, suggest a minimum of 2 nights in Dingle. http://www.cillbhreachouse.com Can't beat John and Angela's hospitality nor the brown bread that John makes. MUST have a pint or two at Foxy John's which is a pub in a hardware store. There are other pubs to enjoy as well. If you are adventurous see if visiting the Gap of Dunloe is your cup of tea. One of the most beautiful places in Ireland in my humble opinion and as it appears you enjoy horses you might consider a trap ride. Visit Killarney to enjoy the serenity Killarney National Park. Muckross House is of interest. I'd then plan a route back towards Dublin. Small island and you have a good amount of time to see it. http://www.dinglehorseriding.com/treks/ has some nice treks for a rider.

Instead of staying in Shannon, I would suggest heading to Doolin or Ennis. Great music in both, and the Cliffs of Moher are on the way to Doolin, too. Neither is far from the airport, and there's nothing in Shannon to see. Bunratty Castle is just six miles from the airport, too.

Thank you all so much for the advice.
I am now checking into staying in Doolin for our first night, and then maybe use the extra night on the end (3 nights Grand Hotel Malahide, instead of 2) to maybe do a day trip to Kilcoo, near Newcastle, northern Ireland... to see where my husbands family came from, before dropping off the car at the DUB airport...
Does this sound possible?

or maybe drive past Dublin, (that would be May 2nd) going right to the Kilcoo area, and stay 1 night there to explore and then go back to the Grand Hotel Malahide for May 3 - 4 in Dublin, and flight May 5th.??

Getting ready to buy the flights, ASAP hoping for the flight prices to go down a bit...
So ready to start booking things...

Thanks again!

Hi Betsy--
I second the comments about staying in Doolin instead of Shannon. Its an easy drive from Shannon Airport and its a beautiful location. I would also recommend adding Dingle to your visit if you are interested in music and pubs. Its a fun little town with tons of live music and near the Slea Head Drive which is just lovely!
Have fun!
Sarah

The Pembroke Hotel in Kilkenny is an excellent choice! My mom and I stayed there for one night in October after booking on their website the night before our stay--if you haven't already booked, you can save 5€/night if you do so on their site. (Edited to add: I had problems with their website not accepting my phone number on the online booking form on their site, so I called them directly, and ended up getting an additional 5€ off on top of the online discount for my troubles, so the night there was only 85€ instead of 95; again, the service was great!)

The service is terrific, the room is nice and big, the bathroom is great, and the wifi was the fastest on our entire trip. Also, we had dinner a few doors down at Zuni, and it was very yummy, if a bit pricey (worth it, though!).

Its location is why I chose it, since we were just going to the artisan shops at the castle's old stables around the corner, and the hotel let us keep our car in their off-the-street lot while we shopped (and bought lots of great stuff!). After we were shopped out, we stopped for early lunch at a tea shop on the corner which was very charming, and where we had a wonderful conversation with a young mother with her toddler son--she and her husband were dairy farmers just outside of town, and my mom's father had been a dairy farmer, too!

We headed to Clonmacnoise after lunch, but we would have definitely stayed longer if we could have.