9 days in Ireland: Dublin,Kilkenny, Kenmare and Dingle: June 7-17, 2022

This was a first trip to Ireland for us (husband/wife in our 60s).. We flew Aer Lingus from San Francisco nonstop to Dublin. Flight went smoothly and when we landed we found an ATM, got some cash, went to the taxi stand and got a taxi to our hotel.
We had a reservation at the Schoolhouse Hotel in the Ballsbridge neighborhood of Dublin, which we loved. I did not want to be in a noisy part of town, and this fit the bill perfectly. It also had outdoor seating for lunch/dinner, and the restaurant was very good. The Schoolhouse Hotel is partly an old school building with a lot of woodwork and charm. FYI, our deluxe room was below ground- it did have a full-length window, it was more like a garden level. I have to say, though i was put off at first, it was excellent for sleeping - very quiet. Our included breakfast was excellent- Full Irish, or options like scrambled eggs and smoked salmon.
The thing about Ireland in June is that sunset is 10pm, and the sun rises super early! I recommend an eye mask if light wakes you up.
We napped on arrival and had a walk and dinner at the hotel.
Newgrange/Bru Na Boinne: We had booked tickets to tour Newgrange and Knowth a month in advance. We decided to get there on our own, so we took a taxi to the train station and took a train to Drogheda. We hoped there would be a taxi stand, but there was not! i asked the person selling tickets and she showed me where taxi drivers posted their cards on the wall. We called one and he came right away. It was about a 15 minute ride.
The process of visiting Bru Na Boinne is very formally set up- you can't really customize how long you stay. This is fine, it just wasn't clear to me from their website. The time of your reservation builds in 45 minutes to go through the visitors center and see an exhibit about Newgrange. You are then given a wristband for your bus which will take you to the sites. The visitor center is very beautiful and there is a cafe- (would have liked to be able to shop in the gift shop but it was completely closed down.) After this, you walk on a beautiful pathway over wetlands to the bus stop (about a 5 min walk) and wait for your bus driver. Each site has a mandatory stop time and you wait for your bus after each stop. It was raining and cold but we had a personal guide at each site, who were both excellent. Newgrange is where you get to go inside, so that was amazing! It was an incredible visit.
It was a bit of stress to get a taxi and then back to the train station to make it in time for the express train, but it turned out fine. At Connolly station that was a nice pub, Grainger's where i had the first of many fish and chips and my husband had some beef stew which was also very good. We were gone from about 9am-3pm. Afterwards we walked around the city - Dublin has beautiful parks!
The next day was our rental car pickup day. I booked the pickup for a city location as the airport is north of the city and we were driving west. After a few hiccups (someone in the lot picking up their standard transmission car, rolled back and hit our car!) we were on our way. We had booked a night in Kilkenny because we didn't want to have a long driving day while we were learning how to drive on the opposite side of the road.
We stopped for lunch on our way out of Dublin, at the Dew Drop Inn and Cafe in Kildare - this was a recommendation from the forum and it was excellent! The first of many meals with great friendly service from the wonderful Irish people.
From there we continued to Kilkenny and our room at the Kilkenny Ormond hotel. It was fine, but I'd pick somewhere else next time.
Downtown Kilkenny was cute and has a castle right in town! We had a very nice dinner at an Italian restaurant across from the castle. The next morning we were off to Kenmare. Will continue...