West coast drive

I really felt that Galway itself was far less interesting than the surrounding areas. It seemed so tourist oriented and crowded. We felt it was trying very hard to be what tourists would expect from Ireland. Go just a little further and head out to the Aran Islands for one of those nights. Another good day trip from Galway is a cruise on the Loch with Corrib Cruises to Ashford Castle and Cong.

Have you sorted out where you're going to pick up your car? If you're thinking of collecting the vehicle in Northern Ireland and dropping it at Shannon be aware of the rather sizeable one-way international drop charge involved.
Seems a shame to be in NI and not spend some time in the fascinating walled city of Derry. From there it's a quick hop across the border into Donegal - Ireland's Wild West. Gorgeous countryside, and if you need a focus for a day trip I'd suggest Glenveagh National Park. The Lord who once owned the manor house there was the instigator of one of the last of the great land evictions back around 1860 - so it does have a history. Plus it's just a beautiful spot with a very pretty walk along the shores of Lough Beagh.
Rather than Galway consider spending time in or near the village of Clifden a bit further west. From there you'll be central to the Sky Road scenic drive, the ferry landing at Rossaveal for the day trip out to Inishmore, the very pretty drive around the Connemara Loop and, for an off the beaten path excursion, the short ferry ride from the village of Cleggan out to the island of Inishbofin - one of Ireland's better kept secrets.

I agree, skip Galway. A day trip to the Aran Islands is a great suggestion. Inishman is the largest island, you can take a small van tour around the island, take in the wild scenery, and enjoy a nice meal in "town." I also agree about visiting Derry, especially if you have any interest in the history of Northern Ireland. It is a small city with plenty to see in a day: the murals, the walk along the old walls of Derry, the Peace bridge. I recommend a tour guide. One we used on Rick Steves tour was Martin McCrossan company. If you have enough time in the North, the Giant's Causeway is spectacular. I'd opt for Donegal over Sligo, especially the coast. In Dublin, we took a Literary Pub Crawl with Colm Quigillan. Lots of fun, lots of literary history. Time to stop for a pint in several historic pubs. Dublin also has many great theaters. You might want to prebook a play at the Abbey Theatre. There is a pub, Lanigan's, right across the street and around the corner that is very authentic and serves a hearty Irish stew. Have a great time.

Westport: We enjoyed the hospitality at the Willow Lodge. Hardly a "lodge", it's a clean, comfortable, 4-room B&B with great breakfast choices prepared by the relentlessly cheerful Angela. A short walk into town; leave the car in the convenient on-site parking. (Angela made dinner reservations for us at Torrino's [Italian; seafood]. Excellent food and service if you need a break from fish/chips and shepherd's pie.) http://www.willowlodgewestport.com/

Westport was our base for a morning at nearby Ashford Castle in Cong. Lodging at Ashford wasn't in our budget but the highly touted Hawk Walk/Falconry School was a trip highlight. https://www.ashfordcastle.com/activities/falconry

BTW, don't worry too much about driving, even in Ireland on the left side of the road. Standard Forum advice is: rent the smallest vehicle you can tolerate; automatic transmission; purchase all the available insurance, including tire and windshield; purchase or bring GPS; and just take it easy. In narrow situations, the big bus drivers will give you directions by hand signals from behind the windshield. The sheep are less helpful.

Wow! Thank you all for your responses and suggestions. So I am going to reevaluate our plans. Adding Derry, staying in Dongal, not Sligo, and maybe skipping Galway altogether or just one night. The Aran Island sounds like a plan Carol, thanks.
Robert, I have not worked out our car rental yet. We are flying into Dublin and out of Shannon. Would I be better off renting in Dublin and returning to Shannon? I thought about Clifden instead of Galway, but my thought process was that we would be at a seaside area in Westport and thought some city time would be good. I will be reevaluating this tho. I’ve decided to definitely add Derry, sounds beautiful and historic. Thank you Robert and nstonerocks for the suggestion.
Thank you rca for the reccomendation of the “lodge” in Westport, as well as your encouraging words about driving!!
Thank you!!

"Would I be better off renting in Dublin and returning to Shannon?"
To beat the one way drop charge - yes - but the kicker is that if you pick it up on your way out of Dublin then you're stuck with it for any time you're actually in Belfast since having a car in the city is more of a hassle than it's worth. On the other hand, if you want to minimize your time in Belfast and instead want to explore the Antrim Coast, the Causeway Coast, and generally are up for a meander thru the beautiful countryside on your way to Derry then having the car will be a plus. Just park it once you're in the city and rely on your legs and public transport to get around for the day or two you're there.
Might mention that a good place to stay is the Premier Inn over in the Titanic Quarter. They offer parking (for a fee I think). It's a 5 minute walk to the Titanic Museum and is a short stroll along a pedestrian friendly walkway to get across the river and into the city. There's also a HoHo bus stop just a block away. Very Convenient - and relatively cheap too as Belfast accommodations go.
Might add that some here have reported that they were charged a small fee for taking a rental into NI, although we personally have never experienced that. Point being that you should notify the rental company of your intentions so you don't inadvertently void your insurance. Many here recommend Dan Dooley for car rentals. They offer fair prices and a clear explanation of the insurance coverage - something we've found isn't the norm when renting in Ireland.

Thanks Robert. If you don’t mind, tell me your thoughts on our itinerary. This is a last minute trip we are planning, for the first two weeks in November (1st-15th). I have not booked our flights yet, but here is my plan. Side note: My ancestors are from Ulster and my husbands grandmother is from Mayo. With that in mind we have decided to stick to the northern half of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. We arrive on a Friday, we plan to spend 3 nights in Dublin with one of those days doing a day trip to Cashel or Kilkenny (open to suggestions) then taking the train to Belfast and spending 3 nights there with a day trip to Giants causeway. Then this is where I planned on renting a car. From here I am not sure, we have 7 days to go and do. I don’t want to hop around to a different place every night but yet I want to see it all. Derry and Donegal are definitely on the list. Not sure how long to allow for these places. Then we want to move down the coast. I am totally open to any and all suggestions. I thought Galway would be a good place to set up camp for a few days, but I am definitely reconsidering that. Lastly, I planned on driving to Shannon the morning of Thursday the 15th to return the car and fly home. Maybe we would be better off cutting a day somewhere and making the drive back to Dublin on that Wednesday. And just rent the car from there in the first place. We are not big city people and would much rather see the country side and meet the people. We want to see some site of course and a castle or two, but maybe 3 days each in Dublin and Belfast is too much. I am all over the place here- changing something every few hours, I could certainly use some guidance. Thanks!

Just my 2 Euro cents, but here goes:
Although flying open jaw is generally good advice to avoid backtracking, in your particular case it isn't much further to drive from the Galway area to Dublin than it is to drive down to Shannon, and since it would be a lot cheaper for you to fly in and out of Dublin you might want to do some comparison shopping regarding your flights and go from there.
We like Dublin, but for a first time visitor I think most here on the forum would agree that the "real" Ireland resides in the rural areas outside the cities. Am guessing that your flight will be arriving in the early AM of day 1 after a long overnight flight from the US. Suggest taking a taxi or the Airlink bus into the city, dumping your bags at your hotel, and striking out on foot to explore and generally start resetting your body clock. Then back to the hotel for check-in, a shower, and a short nap to feel human again, then back out to explore more of the city. Next morning, having gotten a reasonably good night's sleep, head to the airport to collect your rental car and head north to Belfast, where I'd only stay for a couple of night's before heading north again, maybe via the exquisite Antrim Coast, to the town of Portrush for 2 or 3 nights - it's central for visits to the Giant's Causeway, Derry, and (since your heritage traces to Ulster) to the Ulster-American Folk Park near Omagh. The park is a fascinating place to spend a few hours - they do a great job of explaining the history of the out-migrations that began around 1715. There's also a research facility there where you can pore over old ship manifests, etc. if you really want to immerse yourself in a roots quest.
From Portrush take the long way around (the N56) to get to the village of Donegal for a couple of nights ... stopping at Glenveagh along the way. There are some spectacular seascapes just off the main road near the village of Dunfanaghy that are worth a detour as well. Can use the "things to do" pull-down menu on Trip Advisor to see what's in the local area that might be of particular interest to you - for Donegal and for any of your stops along the way.
Thence down to Clifden for several nights, returning to Dublin at your leisure. If you'd rather not mess with the whole car return thing in Dublin know that you can drop the car in Galway and then take the direct train (about 2.5 hrs.) into the city, with the added advantage that the train station is near the city center.
I'd really recommend fighting the mind-set to want to "see it all" and let that drive (ie spoil) the whole experience for you. Slow down, meander, and just let the charms of rural Ireland open themselves up to you. I confess that it took us a while to learn that lesson, but it's probably the best advice I can give you. Most of our cherished memories of Ireland and its people happened in between our scheduled stops.

Thank you so much Robert, I like what you said and I am going to take your advise and to do some reworking of our itinerary today. With less time in the cities and more in the country side.

We have revamped our itinerary and booked our flights and some places to stay. We will be flying in and out of Dublin, renting a car from the airport. Not sure if we will rent it that day or come back the next day, as we are leaving Dublin that next morning. We are booked for one night at the Bloom Hotel in temple bar, but I’ve been reconsidering that, we will need a good nights sleep, that night in particular! The plan is to drop our luggage and go to trinity college and do some exploring around. Next day we drive to Belfast, I want to take a scenic route and stop for lunch along the way. So I’m looking into that now. (Suggestions welcome!) Spend two nights in Belfast at The Flint. See some sites. Then drive along the coast, see the Glens, and make some stops along the way, (again- suggestions welcome!) then on to Portrush, where we rented an Airbnb near the center of town for 2 nights. We will day trip to giants causeway and all the sites to see around there. Then we will continue on to Donegal, with a stop in Derry. We rented a cottage for three nights walking distance from town. We will do some day trips driving around. Doing some research on that now as well. Then we plan to go to Westport for 2 nights and then either Galway or Clifden for 2 nights and go to the Aran islands and cliffs of Moher, if November weather allows. And then back to Dublin for our last night in Ireland. Any suggestions or ideas are welcome! Also any tips on car rental places? Thank you!

And we want to drive the loop of Connemara! Does anyone know if that is an all day road trip or an afternoon. Keeping in mind the short November days.

Looks pretty good to me.
A few supplemental thoughts: As an enroute stop going north from Belfast consider the village of Glenarm. The castle and walled garden there is a nice little place for lunch, and just walking around the grounds is a pleasant break from driving.
There's an abandoned village back in one of the Glens nearby, but I forget the name. Might want to do a google search if it's something that might interest you.
Driving from Westport down towards Clifden would allow you to see some of the prettiest parts of the Connemara Loop at a meandering pace along the way, including the National Park (some nice short hikes there), the beautiful Sky Road, and Kylemore Abbey. For a slightly off the beaten path detour leaving Westport consider a stop at the Doolough Memorial near the village of Delphi. The location is particularly beautiful and evocative - made even more so once you learn what happened there. Again, google it to see if it might be of interest.
We've always been rather underwhelmed by the Cliffs of Moher, and in my opinion it isn't worth the time spent to get there, especially with all of the attractions close by if you base in Clifden.
Returning to Dublin you could also visit the monastic settlement at Conmacnoise on the river Shannon ... another very evocative place.

Thank you for all your feedback Robert! I truely appreciate it and will look into some of the areas you suggested!

Temple Bar would be about the last place I'd choose to stay if you hope to get any sleep.
If you decide to get your car upon arrival and then stay in the city your first night, consider booking a place well outside central Dublin ... maybe north of town near Howth so you don't have to negotiate city traffic right away. Someplace on the DART line would provide easy access into the city. You're better off avoiding Dublin city traffic completely, IMO.
Might be easier to find parking a bit further afield too.

We enjoyed the guided tour at Dublin Castle. One night we saw a play at Abbey Theatre. And just rent your car the second day since you won't need it in Dublin.

Thanks Robert and thanks sis for your input! I appreciate it!