Senior Solo traveller to Ireland

Ireland is easy by train or bus, but some locations are challenging and time consuming. For that reason, and the fact that you only have 8 nights, which probably means just seven days on the ground, I would not recommend trying to get to Dingle by bus. It would take you a whole day to get there, and another to get back to Dublin, leaving you little time to see other things. Remember that in October your hours of daylight are going to be less as well. To make the most of your time there I would suggest just splitting your time between Dublin and Galway. The train between the two is frequent, and only about two and a half hours. It is easy to get guided day tours, and there is quite a variety of them. You will want enough time in Dublin to see the city and maybe a day trip or two. I spent four nights in Dublin, a couple of days seeing the city, and a day trip to Newgrage. I also spent four nights in Galway with day trips to Connemara and Kylemore Abbey, Cliffs of Moher and Burren, and a day trip to Inishmore. Public transit will get you to some of these sights, but not as many as a guided day tour will.

As for the safety issue, I think Ireland is safer than many places. At least, it feels that way to me. I am in Ireland right now with just my kids, as my DH had to get back to the States to work.
Went alone to the pub last night and I walk around alone in the dark here in Dingle.

Have you considered the 8 day Rick Steves Ireland tour? It might take the stress out of trying to get to places, see different sites and learn about the history and culture from local guides the tour has. If you have not been on a Rick Steves tour before you may want to try this tour. They give you local guides in each area you visit, you stay at centrally located hotels, you will have a guide and will get walking tours from the guide and locals, see the sites not from a bus distance. It sounds like everything you want will be from this tour. And you can book the single supplement and have your own room if you like.

Just a suggestion.

I went on the 14 day Ireland tour and loved it. Beautiful countryside, wonderful people, great pubs, great music and just a fun time with a nice group of people.

I have to agree that you are going to either need to cut Dingle out of your itinerary or make it the main destination and stay there awhile. It takes a long time to get there on Public transport.

I think focusing on two hub cities (Dublin and Galway) makes the most sense. You can easily take day trips from both of these locations either on public transport or with organized day tour companies. You don't need to worry about safety beyond the common sense precautions you would take anywhere.

You might even do an overnight on the Aran islands from Galway to give you some of that remote coastal feel.

Per the others you really don't have the time to try to visit both Dingle and Galway. Better to pick one or the other and concentrate on day trips from there. As was mentioned, the train to Galway is quick and direct from Dublin and from there you'd have an array of options for booking day trips to the attractions in the area - including an excursion out to the Aran Islands. The Aran Ferry has a pickup point right in Galway to get you out to the ferry landing for the trip over.
An alternative is to take the train down to Killarney (about 3 hours with one change), base there for a few days and book day trips around the ROK, rent a bike to explore the National Park, and/or a short day trip up to Dingle and Slea Head Drive from there.
If you'd like to cover more ground and don't mind a slightly quicker pace then doing the RS tour might be your better option.

I went on the Heart of Ireland in 8 days tour with Rick Steves last September. You will travel with friendly, congenial people and be taken in comfort on a spacious bus to out of the way locations you cannot easily reach on public transport. You will have a dedicated tour guide and local guides in various towns and cities. Ireland 🇮🇪 is gorgeous, the people are welcoming and charming and I cannot forget the music! This tour is designed for the traveler with limited time and will maximize your ability to visit all the places you can fit in in 8 days!

Agree with others usage of public transport to get to Dingle will eat up a whole day.

Now if you flew into Shannon it would be easier to get to Dingle and to enjoy Ireland's gorgeous West Coast. However, you are arriving in Dublin. Do not miss Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains. Nor Powerscourt. You'll need to research but there are busses to each I believe. Glendalough with fall colors will be stunning.

Lastly consider spending a night or two in Belfast in Northern Ireland. Easy 2 hour bus or train ride from Dublin. Simply remember Euros in Ireland, Pounds in NI.

Oh and I've driven the island twice solo and was born when Truman was in office. Nary a problem nor did I ever feel unsafe.

Gorgeous country, warm, friendly people, fabulous seafood, and intriguing historical sites. What's not to like? Well the weather might be iffy but one cannot control Mother Nature.

Go, explore, enjoy!

Thank everyone for the information. I'm still planning my October trip :-)

Just realized I have 9 nights so now considering 3 nights in Belfast, 3 in Galway & 3 in Dublin. I'm sure the day light hours will be short so ?? Thinking about bus or train to each City - whichever is easiest. Not sure if I should do day tours or find an inexpensive tour company that has overnight packages/tours? Also, wondering if I should travel at night & save the daylight hours for touring?
And, definitely have to include some "Castles!"
Some ideas:

Day 1 arrive Dublin around noon. Travel directly to Belfast via Bus?
2 Days & 3 nights, sites such as Troubles, Cremlin Gaol, Antrim Coast, Causeway, Dunluce Castle, Bushhead, Shank hill/Falls New Grange

Day 4, Return to Dublin & travel to Galway for 3 nights Kylemore Abbey,
Cliffs, Connamara, Burren, St Nicholas Church, Galway Cathedral, Aran Island

Day 7, Dublin 3 nights. Glendalough & Wicklow, Mountains & Powersccourt, Kilmainham Gaol, Trinity College, Guiness, Museum of Arch, Dublin Castle,

Departing a.m. Day 10

I'd appreciate your feedback. Thank you!

Get an automatic car with sat nav and driving is a breeze!!!

Your revised itinerary looks good.
Booking day trips from Belfast, Galway, and Dublin will be the more cost-effective alternative, and would provide you more flexibility to make changes as necessary rather than committing to a multi-day all inclusive tour.
Your travel from Belfast to Galway via Dublin will eat up most of day 4, so you really only have 2 days at your disposal there, which means that you'll need to prioritize among the day trip out to Inishmore (recommended, if it's a nice day), the Connemara Loop (also recommended), and the Cliffs & the Burren (last among my personal priorities). There are plenty of day trip providers available for you to choose from in Galway, even in October. You can check the weather the day before booking the ferry and make a last minute decision whether to commit or not - the ferry will never sell out that time of year. Likewise you can wait until you arrive at the dock at Kilronan before selecting one of the tour guides that will be lined up as you exit the pier. You can choose from a standard van or a jaunting car, and there's a place to rent bikes there too if you're feeling adventurous.
A day exploring Dublin, then excursions north to Newgrange & the Boyne Valley one day, and another south to Glendalough and the Wicklow Mtns., would be good way to organize your time there.

I agree with Robert, your itinerary looks like the best way to do this if you have to return to Dublin to fly out again. If going from Belfast to Galway you may want to arrange your travel so that you leave Belfast at the end of the day instead of spending another night and leaving in the morning. This way you could arrive in Galway in the evening and have a full day instead of just part of a day. This may make for one very long day, but it will mean more time in the Galway area.

Wow! Such wonderful advice! I'm guessing many of you have travelled to Ireland a few times :-) Would you suggest a bus or train from Dublin to Belfast? From Belfast to Galway? From Galway to Dublin?
Any B&B or Airbnb suggestions in the 3 areas?

Thanks!

I would always pick the train over the bus. It’s more comfortable, you can get up and walk around, and it’s not going to fall victim to traffic problems.

There's an aircoach bus service that runs from Dublin Airport to Belfast that departs every hour, which is probably the more convenient way to go. Here's the link: https://www.aircoach.ie/
You could also take the train - slightly more complicated since you'd need to get yourself from the airport to the train station to begin the journey.
Returning to Dublin and on to Galway is probably more easily accomplished via the train. It's about 2 hours from Belfast to Dublin, then another 2.5 hours to get to Galway. Check http://www.irishrail.ie/ for timetables and prices.
For accommodations, including B&B's, we've had good luck starting our searches on www.booking.com. Their filters are pretty handy for narrowing down our searches based on location, cost, amenities, etc. Once you've identified a property using any of the search engines it's usually worth checking to see if the place has a website of its own to allow booking directly with the hotel or B&B. You can sometimes get better deals by booking direct.