Suggestions on itinerary from Kenmare east to Dublin Kinsale? Kilkenny?

I enjoyed both Kinsale and Kilkenny; the latter puts you closer to Dublin, and it is an enjoyable town to walk around with good restaurants and pubs. You could spend a night in each and break up the driving. Kinsale has a number of attractions and a fun ghost tour and good seafood restaurants.

From Kilkenny to Dublin, you could stop at Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains; it's very scenic with impressive ruins.

Thanks! Would you recommend any of the places that you stayed in Kinsale or Kilkenny?

In Kinsale, I stayed at the Sea Gull house, which was nice and in easy walking distance to the main downtown destinations. The proprietor, Mary O’Neill also runs the nearby Tap Tavern. She is very personable.

http://www.bandbireland.com/accommodation/25808/sea-gull-house

In Kilkenny, I stayed with a wonderful couple in an Airbnb arrangement. They had a very pleasant house to stay in that was a short walk to the major tourist part, including the castle. They were very friendly and great fun to talk with.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/43280

I was travelling solo, so I’m not sure if the Airbnb has room for a family, but the Kinsale guest house should.

We stayed at Hotel Kilkenny last summer.. they had a great indoor pool that my kids really enjoyed!

Thanks for the recos! With much of Kinsale including the Sea Gull booked, we took a B&B near Clonakilty. Hotel Kilkenny looks great! But they are charging a lot more than they usually do for our stay on a Saturday in mid June....

We stayed at Butler Court in Kilkenny. They endorse your parking at a nearby garage, since they don't have designated parking right at Butler Court. Kilkenny is very walkable from Butler Court so you'd only need your car if you're traveling outside Kilkenny during your stay. It was easy to unload our luggage to our room (there is a designated space in front of Butler Court for this - it's a space that says "no parking" in front of their gate) and then take the car to the garage. Butler Court is near the Kilkenny Castle, which is fun to explore. It's about a 1.5 hour drive north east from Kilkenny to Glendalough, which is very worth seeing. The drive through the Wicklow Mountains is amazing and beautiful. We did it in the reverse: picked up our car from Dublin airport, drove the ring road around Dublin exiting at the Wicklow Mountains, drove south to Glendalough stopping there for about 1.5 hours to explore, and ended our day around dinner time in Kilkenny. Easily done in a day, and we were taking backroads intentionally.

Thanks! I will check out Butler Court. We are still looking for lodging in Kilkenny...