Nine days in Ireland with twin daughters

Start by checking out a few guidebooks from the library. Many have suggested itineraries based on the number of days you have available. And they will give you an idea of what you might like to see. You're not giving us anything to go on in making suggestions. What are you most interested in - nature, history, shopping, scenery? What do you like to do? Because you are arriving on the 5th and leaving on the 13th, you basically only have seven full days on the ground. How do you intend to get from place to place - rental car, bus, train? A few more details from you will help us make better suggestions for fine-tuning your trip once you have narrowed things down a bit.

Good points.

We are driving, and our priorities are scenery, nature and history, with a little shopping mixed in. We'd love to see puffins! Given our ancestry, I'd like to spend a couple days in Achill, so I was thinking of this possibility:

Day one (5th) -- drive thru Midlands for a couple hours, minimizing stress and travel on Day One -- perhaps stay at Carrick-on-Shannon or that area.
Day two (6th) -- drive to Achill
Day three (7th) -- Achill and environs
Day three (8th) -- drive south ... cliffs of moher, perhaps stay in Doolin or Galway
Day four (9th) -- to Kilkenny for a night
Day five (10th) -- Cashel, drive to Dingle
Day six (11th) -- Dingle
Day seven (12th) -- drive from Dingle to Shannon
Day eight (13th) -- depart

Any suggestions on this route, adjustments, are welcome.

A few asides:

One of my daughters would love to see Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge in Antrim, but that would entail driving there on the first day, making for a long drive after getting off the plane, then driving six hours to Achill the next day. That seems like a lot, but if anyone thinks it's a good idea and not that bad I'd be open to suggestions. My daughters are very good travelers, so the drive to them might not be too bad.

The same daughter also seems to think kissing the Blarney Stone worth doing.

Is Kilkenny/Cashel venture worth the time?

And ... some of my other ancestors are from near Cork.

In short, that's the framework. But I'm open to ideas/comments/suggestions from anyone who's been there, and ides/suggestions related to the asides are welcome.

Many thanks!

pat mcmanamon
avon lake, ohio

Apologies, but above itinerary did not come thru clear for some reason. I'll try again. This is waht I was pondering, but am open to ideas:

Day one -- Drive to Midlands for a couple hours to minimize stress, fatigue. Stay in Carrick-on-Shannon area.

Day two -- To Achill, home of ancestors.

Day three -- Achill and environs.

Day four -- Drive south to Cliffs of Moher, etc. Perhaps stay in Galway or Doolin.

Day five -- Cashel/Kilkenny

Day six -- Drive to Dingle

Day seven -- Dingle

Day eight -- Dingle/to Shannon

Day nine -- depart

Apologies for repetitive posts.

pat mcmanamon

No problem, sometimes it's a little hard to make things look like you intend here. Your itinerary looks basically OK.

To answer your questions: I would definitely skip driving to Antrim. Your flight most likely arrives around 9:00, and it will take an hour to 90 minutes to retrieve luggage, get to the rental counter, wait for the shuttle to the rental place to get your car, and get on the road. Driving in Ireland can be incredibly slow, especially if you are new to driving on the left. What looks like a 6 hr drive to Achill that next day may be more like 8+.

Cashel is definitely worth the drive, but I wasn't that thrilled with Kilkenny (I know others will disagree). What you might consider is driving to Cashel, then down through Cahir (great castle there!) to Blarney/Cork. Whether or not you choose to kiss the Blarney Stone, the castle grounds are gorgeous and there is a great huge Blarney Woollen Mills store right across the road. Depending on your timing, you could stay in either Cashel or Blarney (I can give recommendations in both places).

I agree with Nancy that you should skip Antrim. You can't do Antrim plus Achill plus Blarney/Cork in one week. And you have ancestors from Cork, so it makes sense to explore that area. Antrim would work better as part of a trip focused primarily on the north, or when you have more time.

Where in Cork are your people from? I visited the towns of Fermoy and Watergrasshill (more like a tiny village) in County Cork last year because family was from there, and really enjoyed it. Just taking a look around and stopping in at a local pub or restaurant to chat with a few locals is so enjoyable.

Best of luck with your planning. Enjoy your trip.

I would skip the Antrim Coast this time. So much to see along this coast and area. We did the Carrick a Rede bridge. It was something I really wanted to do.
I'm glad I did it. Having said that it was something of a 'let down'. It isn't a very long bridge and not all that high above the water. It's wonderful scenery,and definitely worth a vist next time around.

I agree with Nancy. I think Kilkenny is a nice town, but nothing special. I would head down to Blarney, especially if that's what your daughters want to do. I had no plans to go there, but my 15 year old son asked if we could go. I too loved the grounds around the castle, and hokey as it may be, I'm glad I can say I kissed the Blarney Stone.

I would go to Blarney but I don't know if I would let my daughter kiss the Blarney Stone. It's ranked the germiest world attraction. I was told buy a local that local boys thinks its great fun to relieve themselves on it.

It does seem rather unsanitary, when you think about it.

Robin, I'd sure like to know how anyone could relieve themselves on a stone on the underneath of a rampart outside of the top of a castle. Even if it were physically possible, the place is locked up when closed, and when open, is full of tourists and attendants. I'm pretty sure the guy that helps you get into position to kiss the stone wouldn't help someone get into position for that. Anyway, it's a stone, not a sponge. It's outside, fully exposed to the rain and snow. I'n sure it's no more "germy" than anything else outside.

Nancy,, I agree with you to some degree,, but at the Blarney Stone, the person in front of you has kissed it only mere seconds before you. Certain germs anb bacteria do live on surfaces for a while,, and yes, I bet the one that causes cold sores would be one of them. They do not sanitize the stone inbetween people, ,and guess what, grandpa Smith who was ten people in line in front of you,, DROOLS ...LOL

I would kiss a tree any day,, knowing that the likely hood on anyones elses lips havinb been there are almost nil,, but the Blarney Stone,, eww, I'd have to be drunk, young, or drunk and young.. LOL

TripAdvisor announces the top germ-havens that attract visitors

5/5

TODAY
1. Blarney Stone, Blarney, Ireland
Legend says that those who kiss the Blarney Stone, a block of stone built into Ireland's Blarney Castle, are rewarded with eloquent speech. But given that up to 400,000 mouths from all over the world touch the stone each year, putting your own to the grimy attraction (no easy task in itself) may be too high a price for the promised "gift of gab." One TripAdvisor traveler commented, "[You] have to bend over backwards, and kiss the stone upside down (imagine the germs on the stone from everyone doing that!)"~~~Nancy, you could do a "search" for the top germiest attractions.

TripAdvisor~~~...I've been to Ireland 30+ times. A truly amazing place. And, I love the Blarney Stone. I've taken many friends to kiss it. I love telling the story about how it is 1/2 of Jacob's Pillow. I actually proudly display a photo of me kissing it in my home.

Hoewever, that photo was taken before I learned "the real story". It actually may be Jacob's Pillow, but it is 100% certainly the "urination destination" of the youth of Cork. They love going up there at night, drinking beer and peeing on the Stone. They have a great laugh about it with their friends, knowing that the tourists will be hanging upside down, macking the rock the next day.

Pat, there is a lot of surface area there, and I'm sure that not everyone kisses it in the exact same spot. I certainly wouldn't kiss a spot that was wet! In any event, most of these "peeing on the Blarney Stone" stories are probably told by those that already have the gift of gab -- the Irish are great storytellers, and they quite often embellish things when they aren't quite as interesting in truth.

Robin, Tripadvisor reviews are written by other travelers, not experts. Other sanitation issues aside, it is not physically possible to pee on the stone, no matter what some local has told someone else. It's more of an urban legend. And I've yet to see documentation about the actual germ levels at various tourist attractions, or any that proves that anyone has been harmed healthwise by kissing the stone. I mean, you touch the same railing that someone else has touched (after maybe coughing, or wiping their nose, or whatever else) and then maybe touch your own eyes or nose, but you don't panic about that and say that people shouldn't touch railings, right?