Not sure about timeline.

There have been a great many posts about this general topic, i.e. fitting a driving itinerary of rural Ireland into a limited time span. I suggest you go back and read a bunch of them to get a broad view of what many travelers think. Trips much like your 2 scenarios have been discussed.

Based on my experiences, I'd say "yes" you could accomplish the driving you've outlined for either scenario. However, I would not enjoy it very much myself because there'd be limited time for actually visiting with people or places. Given the short time you have, I'd personally elect to spend several days in Dublin and several days in one outlying area where there are several attractions of interest nearby. That way I'd minimize driving and maximize time for a ETTBD experience.

Ireland is charming and I'd expect you'll have a grand time whatever you do.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I suspect the Game of Thrones tour originates in Belfast since that's where many of the locations for the show were filmed. Northern Ireland is a completely different country than Ireland.

When in these scenarios do you plan to do the GOT tour as I don't see any mention of any excursion into NI?

Secondly you are trying to see too much and not giving yourself enough time to do so.

Roads in Ireland can be small, steep, windy and any travel time shown needs to be extended as you won't be doing 75 - 80.

Also weather in March can definitely be a factor that will affect travel time.

I'd consider this sceanrio:

3 full nights in Dublin upon your arrival with one day spent traveling by bus or train to Belfast to take your GOT tour. it will be a long day but easy by public transport .

Get rental car and leave for Glendalough, from there to the Rock of Cashel and from there to Kenmare. An overnight then do the ring of Kerry and then onto 2 nights in Dingle, Dingle Peninsula then up to Doolin and overnight there see the Cliffs then head back to Dublin.

Enjoying Eire is ALL about slowing down!

I am somewhat of an experienced backpacker and have spent time in Ireland. I find this itinerary should fit your needs without being to extraneous. There is some hiking in here but you wont mind the exercise when your taking in the sights of beautiful waterfalls or the Cliffs of Moher. This entire itinerary can also be easily done on bus if you want to save money and don't want to drive.

Saturday (Dublin)
• Arrive in Ireland
• Temple Bar
• Musical Pub Crawl

Sunday (Kilkenny)
• St. Canice’s Cathedral
• Dominican Black Abbey
• Rothe House
• Smithwick’s Experince
• St Mary’s Cathedral
• Kilkenny Castle

Monday (Killarney)
• Ross Castle
• Ross Island
• Muckross House and Abbey
• Torc Waterfall

Tuesday (Killarney)
• Ring of Kerry Bus Tour

Wednesday (Doolin)
• Burren Way
• Cliffs of Moher

Thursday (Doolin)
• Aryan Islands

Friday (Galway)
• St Nicholas Collegiate Church
• Lynch’s Castle
• Eyre Square
• Galway Cathedral
• National University
• Galway City Museum
• Spanish Arch

Saturday (Dublin)
• General Post Office
• Guinness Storehouse
• Kilmainham Goal
• Trinity College
• St Stephens Green
• Glasnevin Cemetery

With this itinerary, you will only see Ireland behind a car windshield. I suggest being realistic about travel times and cut your places in half.

Thank you all for the great feedback. I will review my schedule and make some changes.