Ireland by car train or both?

You can easily rent in Shannon and drop off in Dublin - we did it on our first trip to Ireland. Your flight will most likely arrive in the morning, and you could see Bunratty Castle (six miles from the airport) before heading to Doolin for the night. The Cliffs are best seen in the afternoon because the light will be from the west. The following day you could head south to Dingle. If you drive to Tarbert you can cross the River Shannon by ferry and save the drive around through Limerick. Dingle does deserve two nights (not sure why Ring of Kerry has anything to do with Dingle, as the previous poster said, though). Whether you stay in Cork itself or Cobh or Kinsale, you could also see Blarney Castle and grounds while you are in the area, then head north through Cahir (great castle) to the Rock of Cashel on your way to Dublin. You might consider staying in Cashel if that's the case.

I would say rent a car and when you arrive in Dublin, drop off the car and take a bus or taxi to your hotel. Most hotels DO NOT offer free parking so you will be storing a car in a car park for an expensive fee. I did keep my rental since we were planning to travel in and out of Dublin - but once there, we basically left the car parked for 3 days and used public transportation. Driving in Dublin is not too bad if it is at the end of your trip and you are used to driving there. It is more aggressive driving than other places, but I'm used to LA traffic - so it was similar. Cork is a large city - I would opt for Kinsale or Cobh. It is a personal choice? In my opinion, the smaller towns have a lot more character. Dingle is a great stop. If you are planning to do the Ring of Kerry, you might want to stay 2 nights there to have plenty of time to travel the Dingle Peninsula. Doolin is a small village that is down the road from the Cliffs (extremely short drive). If you are planning to spend the night in the area - this is a great place. The pubs have nightly music and serve good food. We stay at the Daly's House - wonderful hostess. She'll offer you baileys coffee and biscuits as soon as you arrive. Nice after a day of traveling. If you are looking for a nice, but inexpensive hotel in Dublin, I always stay at the Buswells Hotel. It is in a great location - just a 2 minutes walk to Grafton Street (shopping and restaurants) and about 2 minutes to Trinity College (Book of Kells). It's a 3 star hotel which I would say the rating is correct. There is also a pub attached which has a nice atmosphere and food available. Hope this helps!

My husband and I were in Ireland this time last year. One of the best parts of our adventure was driving those narrow roads through some enchanting countryside and small towns. We took a GPS that avoided all highways and kept us on some of the most amazing routes! We toured around the country a bit (Kilkenny, Dingle, Kinsale) but spent most of our time in Doolin and the west where the freedom of a car was necessary. We dropped our car off as soon as we got to Dublin for the last three days of our trip. You won't really need a car once you're there and it really would be more of a bother and unnecessary expense.