One week trip to include Dublin/Galway with 6 and 7 yr old grandsons

Dingle was a lovely little town, but we saw no dolphins or whales or puffins while there. Fungie, the dolphin who made the area famous hasn't been seen since 2020, so even though we enjoyed Dingle, if it's out of the way, I wouldn't make extra effort. But boat rides and kids are usually a fun outing. They will really enjoy the Hawk Walk at Ashford Castle, but that should be part of your second leg of your journey. Agree, a sheep farm experience is fun for kids of all ages!

My first idea is the best one, but it's a bit north of Galway and much farther north of Limerick. Visit a sheep farm. Kids love animals. There's one I know of in Louisburgh, County Mayo, called Glen Keen Farm: https://glenkeenfarm.com/. I've been in Louisburgh: It's near a beautiful town called Westport where there are plenty of hotels. I'm sure you could find other sheep farms via a Google search.

Also, kids generally like boats, but your grandsons are only 6 and 7. Would they like a trip to the Aran Islands or would that be too much for them? The main ferry from Galway leaves from Rossaveel Harbor, which is some 15 miles north of the city, but there's a shuttle bus pickup in Galway to Rossaveel.

Another idea is hiking on Dingle Peninsula. In 2010, I hiked the entire 100 miles of the Dingle Way trail: https://www.dingleway.com/. Your grandsons might like a day of hiking and picnic on a segment of it.

Finally, when I visited Dingle, I met a family with preteens going horseback riding. Your grandsons are probably too young, but you'd know better.

" Wondered about Guinness Tour for our son and his wife with the kids."

We were just in Dublin and did the Guinness Tour with my teenagers. We did the tour on our first full day, a Saturday, in Dublin and
caught a 4pm tour. There were lots of people, it's a bit of a place to be on a Saturday afternoon. They do move you quickly through the line but it was a lot and my kids were starting to get tired- the jet lag kicked in. Someone described to me as the disney of beer and that was the feeling I got. The view of the city is nice, but again so packed with people, we weren't able to enjoy it as much as I would have liked. Might be better for adults without kids.

We all really enjoyed our tour of Croke Park. My daughter, 15, really enjoyed it https://crokepark.ie/
The people are lovely and we learned a lot on the tour. If you have any sports fans a must do.
After the tour, we were able to try out the sports.
My kids were not into the book of kells, but I loved it.
Have a great trip.

Thank you for all the suggestions, particularly the confirmation about the Hawk Walk at Ashford Castle and the guidance on Guinness Tour - we will have our son and daughter-in-law go on the tour while we find another option for the boys. Will follow up on sheep farm and boat ride to Aran Islands…..

One bit of follow-up regarding the sheep farm in Louisburgh, Mayo: It's near Croagh Patrick, which is sometimes called the holy mountain of Ireland: https://www.mayo.ie/attractions/croagh-patrick.

The story is that St. Patrick himself ascended the mountain in the fifth century and prayed the biblical 40 days and 40 nights for the soul of pagan Ireland. The story goes that Patrick chose Croagh Patrick because it had been the site of pagan bonfires, and he was claiming Ireland for Jesus.

Croagh Patrick has a trail that is a popular for climbing. Obviously, your grandsons are not old enough to climb it on their own. However, Louisburgh is practically in the shadow of Croagh Patrick. Kids like mountains: They'd definitely see it.

In 1997, I climbed Croagh Patrick in about 2.5 hours. It's only about 2,500 feet to the summit, where there is a chapel to commemorate the story of the saint. Adults on your trip could probably handle it if you have the time and are in good shape. The trial is not paved: It's only stones, but I didn't find it hard to climb.

I went to this museum in Dublin https://www.dublinia.ie/ and there was a school group of third graders ahead of me that were having a lot of fun. I think I enjoyed it more because it was fun to watch the kids.

What a wonderful trip to take with your grandchildren! Good luck with the jet lagged kids though. I might suggest taking it a bit easy on your arrival day. In hindsight we wish we had done that when we traveled to Ireland with kids. A spot your grandchildren may enjoy is the Dublin Zoo. My kids love animals so a visit to the zoo and spending some time in Phoenix Park was fun for them. They also really enjoyed the EPIC Museum . The public transportation (trams) in Dublin were very handy and easy to use and get around.

When we visited Galway (our trip was in the late summer) the kids had fun at a section of the city by the water called Salthill that had a very summertime, beach town feel with a playground, promenade, amusement park, arcade and places to eat.

Thank you all for your advice! Much appreciated! Have made reservations in Dublin for 3 nights and 4 nights in Ennis. Hopefully the boys will sleep on the plane and we plan to keep moving as best we can on arrival to adjust to the time difference!

Another Sheep Farm with a sheep dog demonstration is Killary Sheep Farm Tour. Small operation, owner gave us the tour. Learned so much about the dogs and sheep. Views over Killary Fjord/Harbor are breath taking. The kids would love the tour.

https://killarysheepfarm.com/

ellenfwinter, by chance are you flying in from the west coast and arriving in the early morning? If so, I honestly would consider spending the money to pay for the overnight stay you won't actually get because you'll be flying, but you'll have the hotel room available for you when you arrive first thing in the morning, rather than waiting for your room to be ready at 3pm/4pm.

We'll never arrive in Europe that early again, and not be able to access our room to freshen up and just have some place to call your own, even if you expect to get out and about soon after you arrive. I think it's extra difficult to travel with young children dealing with jet lag, so thought I'd throw that out there. (Of course we notify our hotel that we won't actually be arriving until early the next morning, so that they don't cancel our room.)