Tour Western Ireland in 10 days-- skip Dublin?

In my five visits to Ireland, I skipped Dublin on my last trip. It was hard to do because I find Dublin to be a lovable city. However, the west of Ireland is lovable itself. You could always make a return trip dedicated to Dublin only, something I did on my fourth trip.

If you skip Dublin, maybe go either a bit east or a bit north of your present itinerary to add some variety. If you'd like to go north, a climb up Croagh Patrick (https://www.destinationwestport.com/explore-westport/a-bluffers-guide-to-climbing-croagh-patrick) -- sometimes called the holy mountain of Ireland -- in Westport, Mayo, is worth it. I climbed it in 2.5 hours. If you'd like to push east, a visit to Kilkenny (https://visitkilkenny.ie/) -- the best-preserved medieval town in Ireland (with Ennis second) -- is worth it.

Given all that you want to see on the west, I really like your idea of skipping Dublin. We spent 18 days in Ireland this May, including 8 days in the west (based in Galway, Ennis, and Killarney with day trips to Inis Mor, the Cliffs of Moher/Burren, Dingle, and the Ring of Kerry. I definitely wish we could have stayed longer in the west! Another advantage of having more time in the west is that may give you more flexibility to pivot depending on weather. We had spectacular weather for the Cliffs of Moher and Inis Mor, a very rainy day in Dingle, and a combination of rain and low clouds/fog on our visit to the Ring of Kerry. The rain in Dingle was manageable, but we basically saw nothing on the Ring of Kerry (the outline of Skellig through the mist). If we had had the flexibility to visit the Ring of Kerry either the day before or the day after, we would have had a much better experience there.

There is really no wrong decision on your part, as Dublin is also a lot of fun. But if it were me, I’d opt for more time in the west.

I wouldn't skip Dublin. We were tempted to because we're not fans of cities in general. We flew into Dublin and immediately got on a train out of Dublin. We did spend two nights in Dublin at the end of the trip and it was not enough. So much to see and do. Pubs, EPIC Museum, Jameson factory class and some restaurants with tradition Irish foods were some of the things we did manage to squeeze in.

You could fly into Dublin, spend two and half days there, train to Galway rent car there to visit the west and fly home from Shannon.

I'm going to second Gail, except that I would maybe take the train to Limerick and bus/taxi to Shannon and pick up the car there, since that's where you're going to return it. Head to Doolin and take the ferry to Aran Islands (probably the next day by this point). This skips Galway and eliminates the option to fly to the Aran Islands, which is apparently a great way to see the Cliffs of Moher. If you want to do that, wait to pick up the car until you're back from there.

I agree with Ruth that skipping Dublin in order to accomplish all you want on the west coast might not be a bad idea. That said, Dublin is a pretty special place and (IMHO) Guiness Storehouse and Trinity College/Book of Kells are not the sights/experiences that rise to the top in my Dublin mind (though both are pretty cool).

Even without Dublin, you'll be cramming in a lot of places out west to see. Having been there several times, and having made the mistake of one night here, two nights there, more than once, I advise all of my friends to slow it down and choose a few places as a base where you can spend 3-4 nights and take day trips out from there.

If you're going to give up Dublin, then flying into/out of Shannon makes perfect sense. If you decide to include Dublin I suggest training from Dublin to Galway and picking up a rental car there.

No matter what you choose you will absolutely love Ireland. What's not to love?

Mike