Thoughts of southern Ireland itinerary with 8 (!) of us

I'm assuming you plan on returning the car upon your return to Dublin. I cannot imagine trying to drive a van let alone park it in Dublin. And on the subject of parking. Wherever you end up staying in Dingle, make sure it can accommodate a van. We had a hard enough time trying to park a compact car. Similarly, driving to and parking a van in Kinsale will be tough. The parking lot at our BnB barely fit the aforementioned compact car when other cars were also parked. So maybe just do a day trip to Kinsale from Killarney. Definitely go to Charles Fort. We, three adults, had a great time there. Stop on the way to or from Kinsale at Old Head. Wonderful views of a very Wild Atlantic Way. Driving between the towns shouldn't be too difficult. It will only be hard once you get into the little side streets.

Edit to add: Driving the Ring of Kerry won't be difficult. The primary road has been widened. The kids might get squirrelly on a tour bus. The advantage of driving yourself is the kids and adults can stop and get out whenever you want. And you can wander away from the big tour bus filled parking lots and stop at the smaller pullouts.

Thanks Trotter,
Charles Fort looks very cool - it's added to the list! Good to know about the Ring of Kerry. We reserved a home in Dingle with a driveway big enough to accommodate the van and close enough to town we can walk. We'll attempt the same in Killarney. Now we're considering a night in Blarney with a visit to the castle as early as possible the next morning, rather than staying in Kinsale. Then heading to Rock of Cashel on the way to drop off the van at the Dublin airport before entering the city.

I don't normally suggest this, but have you looked at flying into Shannon (and out of Dublin)? If you don't want to drive, don't drive. Look at private van hires for ROK, Blarney and Rock of Cashel (which is kind of an outlier, geographically from your other destinations). The latter two are more easily reached from Cork, which also has better access to Kinsale and is the home of your MIL. Cork is an easy train ride from Dublin and makes a good base for exploring this area. I am making my fifth trip to Ireland next month, and in my experience, visiting so-called "heritage" sites (even if it's only a grave or tromping around on what might be the place where the family home once stood) is more meaningful than doing what RS suggests (although I'm pretty sure he suggests visiting your heritage sites, as well as staying the night in Dingle). So maybe have a conversation with MIL about getting as much info as possible about where her family is from, whether anyone is still there, etc., and building that into your itinerary. But you know, you do you.

For the Slea Head Dr you can do it yourselves but we took a great tour with https://www.dinglesleaheadtours.com/ in October. It not only allowed all 3 of us to see the wonderful scenery, our local driver and guide darted up and down driveways and lanes off of the main road that we would not have felt comfortable trying in our car. It was a great company and tour.

G3rryCee,
Thank you for your reply. We are planning on flying from Dublin to Kerry and then making our way to Cork. But flying into Shannon is also an intriguing idea. The day trips sound like a good way to relax (and not drive ourselves)!

We've confirmed a 9-passenger van will NOT accommodate us and our luggage. So we'll have to rent two cars. Bummer! Fortunately, we're not planning on driving too much.