staying in Dublin or outside of Dublin

If you are going to be in Dublin, I suggest you take the bus from the airport into Dublin. You should stay either in the downtown area or somewhere along a bus route that will bring you into the areas you want to be. I would stay within 2 or 3 miles of downtown. There are many B&Bs available. Buses are very good in Dublin and from what I remember each trip was about 1.5 euros. I don't know if they have travel passes like London does. When it comes time to travel outside of Dublin, I recommend a rental car. Cars are available at different locations around Dublin.

Save the car until you're ready to leave since parking is scarce and you wind up walking anyway. Dublin has both an all-day bus pass and an all-day family bus pass. I forget what they cost, but they're a good deal. You can get any place you want by bus, even out to Howth and Malahide.

We rented a car at airport, traveled around Ireland, dropped car back at airport and stayed last three nights just outside Dublin. We then used public transportation (LUAS) to get into Dublin. Whatever works for you.

We've always liked staying outside of the city and going in by bus. We like the town of Malahide which is near the airport and has several B&B's & good places to eat. (Unfortunately our all-time favorite Irish B&B, the Belcamp Hutchinson in Malahide, is no longer in business.) Hit Gibney's pub if you go there - a great Irish pub.

The daily pass is around 6 euro for an adult, or 10 for a family (2 adults and 4 kids). Most things in Dublin are walking distance, with a couple of exceptions, though, so you'll probably be fine with paying as you go. Keep in mind that you have to pay by how far you go, so you'll have to tell the driver where you'll be getting off the bus. And you'll also need exact change, they don't give change on the bus. Just keep a bunch of coins on you. If you check the Dublin Bus website, you'll get an idea of which way you need to go, pass or pay as you go.

I just returned from Ireland and spent my last three days in Dublin. I bought a ticket on one of the hop on, hop off tour busses and found that really handy to get around. The ticket was good for 2 days.