Dublin, Dingle & Blarney in 3 days...is it doable???

Loved Cobh, there is also a monument by the water in memory of Luisitania (spelling?) and statue to Annie Moore, supposed to be the first one to arrive in Ellis Island. Lovely cathedral on top of hill with great view, St. Colman's. If your daughter wants to kiss Blarney Stone, please go for it, the grounds are lovely also. Sorry you will miss Dingle but it is really too far. Be sure to go to Rock of Cashel, it is great. Enjoy Ireland.

Are you wanting time to explore Dublin too? Because if so, that's probably not enough time. You probably wouldn't get back to Dublin from Dingle until about noon on the 8th. You would basically have time to go to one or two sites in Dublin. If not, you might make it work. Also, I'm not sure if you're arriving from the states or if this will come after visiting other European countries. If it's the former, you'll want to factor in jet lag. It killed our first day in Ireland. I would seriously consider skipping the Blarney stone, however. It's one of those things you hear about all the time, so you really want to do it, but then the reality of it is incredibly underwhelming. Your daughter's imagination is probably a lot better than the reality. And while Dingle is a good three-hour drive from Dublin, I would actually encourage you to try and visit. It was by far the highlight of our trip to Ireland. Didn't go for the food festival so I can't tell you about that, but the views alone are worth the trip.

I agree with skipping Blarney Castle, underwhelming is a great way to describe it. If you are flying in from the US by the time you leave the airport, get to the train station and then a three hour trip to Cork I doubt very much if you will feel like seeing the castle. Have you made reservations in Dingle yet? They could be difficult with the food festival going on.
Logically, with the short length of time you have available the best thing to do would be to see some of Dublin and the surrounding area: Newgrange or Glendalough, you would be a lot less hurried and not nearly as stressed out over what time you have available.

I think the problem of finding housing in Dingle during the festival could be a big problem. And you won't see Dingle at its best then, either, with masses of people. I would suggest skipping that all together in favor of seeing Dublin and Blarney. There is much more to Blarney and the area than just the castle. And if your daughter has her heart set on it, why deny her that? If you rent a car, you could see also easily see Cahir castle and the Rock of Cashel on the way back to Dublin.

Thanks Nancy, After reading the other posts and reviewing what else to do there, I think I am going to take your advice and skip Dingle. My daughter wants to kiss the Blarney Stone and I've found many other things in that area that I'm sure will be worth the time. I would love to see the castles, so renting a car and driving back to Dublin from Cork sounds like a fantastic idea. I found that there is a Titanic memorial in Cobh and it isn't far from Blarney, so we might hit that up...only if I get time. I'm definitely not going to rush because I will probably never get to come back. Thanks so much!
Traci

Cobh is very close to Blarney and has a great museum called The Queenstown Story, about Cobh's history as a ship port (including the Titanic). That might be what you are thinking of.

Agree with skipping Blarney Castle. We went in the summer tourist season one year and went during their advertised Open times. There was a sign that said it "Closed early due to lack of tourism". We went back the next morning and were underwhelmed. So many other thing to see.