1 I'd stay in Doolin. You'll be tired early that first night and the music doesn't generally start until 9:00 or so anyway. You're lucky that your first night will be a Saturday because in the off-season many of the pubs with music only have it on the weekends.

2 Stay in Cashel. It's a long drive from Dingle, and you'll have toured a castle in Cahir and the Rock in Cashel. It's a small town with several really nice B&Bs and good places to eat. See Kilkenny the next day, when you're fresher and more ready to deal with the narrow streets and traffic there.

3 In Dublin I stayed at a small place called the Glen Guesthouse (www.glenguesthouse.com). It's a couple of blocks from O'Connell St, and just across the bridge from the Trinity College/Temple Bar area. They also have free parking and great "power showers".

Good advice from Nancy. I agree with #1 -- you will be tired from the flight and while 40 miles doesn't sound like much in Minn -- late at night after and oversees flight, the first day of driving on the left etc -- it will feel like a miserable drive. Plus you would miss experiencing Doolin Unless you nap during the day, you will be hard pressed to stay up to hear the Trad music anyway! -

I also agree with Nancy on #2. We stayed in Cashel at Joy's Rockside B&B RIGHT by the Rock of Cashel. Joan is wonderful and so very helpful. We loved our stay with them.

Can't comment on the rest -- Have a great trip!

Thanks Nancy and Janet for your posts. Not that I wouldn't love to stay in Cashel, I am now leaning on skipping Cahir and then staying in Kilkenny Wednesday night. That allows us hopefully a full day to explore Glendalough (and my patron saint Kevin) on Thursday.

I checked out Glen Guesthouse. Looks like a great location, but they sure know how to charge (about $210 per night on the weekend).

Glen Guesthouse has gone up a lot since I was there two years ago! I was traveling alone, and I think I paid 90 euros for two nights. At the time it was one of the cheapest options, so I'm not sure how it compares now. That whole end of Gardiner St. is full of B&Bs, guesthouses, and hostels, so you might find something else. Things are notoriously expensive in Dublin, though.

I love Cahir and Cashel, and wasn't that thrilled with Kilkenny, except for the Design Center across from the castle. And unless you plan to hike absolutely every trail, you really won't need a full day at Glendalough. They do have a wonderful little museum, though.

I agree w/everyone. Here is some info.

check: www.dublintourist.com

this is takes you to dublin hotel page: click on CLONTARF

I have prev stayed at the Clontarf Castle Hotel and I checked October 10 to get idea of price and it is 148 Euros. You have to walk a block or two to the Quay to get bus into City Centre, but doesnt take long at all. I didn't find this place to be very friendly although it was a place to sleep.

However, the Clontarf Court Hotel is about 65 Euros a night. I really liked the site on this one. I may stay here the next time I go. I like the fact that it is family run and looks like it is on the Quay or across the street from the Quay.

I have been to York but my wife hasn't so I was hoping Kilkenny was the same type of 'medieval' town worth visiting. Would we have time to do the quick walking tour of Kilkenny and still visit Glendalough and Powerscourt on the same day?

A suggestion on the car:

Americans want their A/C automatics. Europeans (who pay less for their shorter air trips) can fly on the cheap so they also try and save money on the car. During "American" season (i.e. summer) you had better ask for that A/C automatic if you want it as you are competing with others who also want it. During off season, more Europeans who can take a shorter duration trip will be renting. That means the car companies have a glut of "American" cars. I rented 3 cars on one off-season UK/Ireland trip and all three I specified no A/C, compact, stick and all three I was upgraded for free to a bigger A/C automatic as that was all they had left.

So if you can drive a stick, ask for it. Worst that can happen is you get it. (Well, second worst - worst is you get a too-big gas guzzler).

FYI: you cant get a better medievel town than Gaillimh (Galway) ... I took a walking tour led by Kay Davis suggested by RS Ireland 2006; she is an elderly lady who was fantastic. She has a lot of knowledge about Galway and loves questions. I never realized all the times I had been to Galway to visit my relations that Galway's city streets are still laid out as they were in medievel times.

Reference to Kilkenny as a medieval town means that it has narrow streets laid out in the same way that they were in medieval times. It's not a restored town or something like that. It is very crowded with traffic, and parking is impossible except in parking garages off the street. I'm not sure what the walking tour entails, but I can tell you that the "long" path at Powerscourt takes about 45 minutes if you walk slowly (though I'm not sure what there would be to see in the gardens in October). At Glendalough you might expect to spend maybe three hours or so, depending on the weather and how much walking you want to do. So factor in your travel time/distance and that should give you an idea of whether you can fit the three things in one day.

Thanks John. I took your advice and went the manual route, and if we get upgraded to automatic, that will be great. And Nancy, how can I avoid those power showers you like much so we have reservations at the Glen Guesthouse for three nights. Thank you both for your help.

Now, I'm all set to fulfill my first goal of the trip which was to have a Guinness every day(our Sunday flight out leaves at 10:30 a.m. so my last Guinness will be my earliest as well).

Now I'm working on that birthday deal for that last Saturday night.