only 2 days in Cork Ireland area,

There are many historical sites in the Co. Tipperary area. If you headed for Cashel, you would go through Cahir where there is a great castle in the middle of the Suir River. At Cashel itself, they have wonderful guided tours, which would be great for your husband because they fully explain the significance of the site and the area, and the people that give them, of course, have those wonderful Irish accents. Most Irish heritage sites have great films with lots of information. I'd recommend that you head toward Cashel instead of Killarney.

Also, near Cobh is Fota Wildlife Park, which your kids might enjoy if it's open at the time you are traveling, and the Kennedy Arboretum.

My family loved exploring Blarney castle. My 20 yr old son thougth it was his favorite that we visited. Other castles we went to were Kilkenny, Cahir ( my favorite) and Ross. Blarney castle is not all fancied up -- so there are lots of uneven steps and walking areas. This can be a challenge for a sited person. The grounds of Blarney castle are beautiful too.
Cobh was fine -- tho a tad unkept in comparison to other "Tidy Towns" Other than walking up the hill to see St Coleman's cathedral -- which is beautiful inside and has a great view of the harbor from outside-- and the Queenstown Story museum near the harbor, there is not as much to do in Cobh. If you have to pick then definitely Kinsale is more fun and has more to do. We enjoyed the historical walking tour that Rick suggests with either Barry Mahoney or Don Heriley. It is more history than walking so your husband would enjoy this a lot. The town is very cute and has lots of great shopping. Desmond Castle would be an interesting history stop for you too. Fair warning tho it can be very busy in Kinsale, especially on weekends. We also enjoyed watching a demonstration of crystal cutting at Kinsale Crystal shop. Just stop by to see when Thomas or his brother will be cutting.

Out of town a ways is Charles Fort. We did not take the tour -- but this would be better for you probably than just wandering around like we did.

If I had to choose between Killarney national park and Rock of Cashel I would choose Killarney. The town if Killarney didn't impress us -- except for the Riverdance show we saw at teh INEC theater in town -- but the scenery around the Ring of Kerry is wonderful. Or the Muckross house and farms might be fun for you and your kids. If you have young children you also might enjoy the Kissane sheep farm between Killarney and Kenmare on the N71 ( I think that is the right rd # ) almost to Molls Gap. This is also beautiful country and the sheep farm stop was lot so fun for our family We saw sheep herding and shearing demo and also got to feed the orphan baby lambs bottles. I can look up their website if you are interested.

That said I liked the Rock of Cashel and the informative tour there too. We stayed right at the bottom of the hill at Joy's Rockside B&B and loved it.

I am sorry I have not posted a great big thank you sooner to all of you who offered suggestions to my post,
Thank you so much for your time.

Sharon

Sharon,

I'm not sure if you've traveled yet, but I would caution you to avoid jamming too much into your days. 2 days isn't a long time, and you have much on your list. I would say that Blarney Castle (which I didn't do but to each his own), Cobh, and Kinsale would be a pretty full two days. Killarney is a full day, and the Rock is pretty much a full day to when you add driving there and back from Cork.

Select your must see destinations and then have a few standbys to add in if you have time. The last thing you want to do is rush around and not enjoy what you're seeing.

Enjoy your trip!

Sharon,
When I went to Blarney Castle 2 years ago it was just 2 months after breaking my ankle. The steps to the top (150?) are all carved out of the stone and go up in a small, tight staircase. If there were not ropes to hold on to I would not have been able to do it. As it was it was tough. It was just not that great, in my opinion. And LOTS of tourists.

I would opt for the Rock of Cashel. Lots of fun to explore (you can touch the stones and graves etc.) and get a great tour and I also stayed at Rockside at the bottom of the hill and Joy was wonderful. My favorite B&B of the trip!

And remember, everything takes longer than you think.
Maybe a day in Cashel and a day in Cork city?

Wherever you end up you will love Ireland. I will be there in September after 2 years of saving up.

Have a great trip!