Lupe,

First off, welcome to the Forum!

I am always advocating for famlies with young children to look in to self-catering. It gives the children a sense of "home" and they can have space to unwind and relax. As well, it allows the whole family to "become Irish" for the length of their stay. There is more time for getting to know the true sense of Ireland when you are not packing up and moving every other day.

If you were to make the visit a two week stay, you could do a self-catering cottage such as Courtyard Irish Holiday Cottages, which is in County Kerry and has its own petting farm & pony rides, as well as a play area, the first week or find a self-catering cottage on the Dingle Peninsula. The second week, you could move further North and look into a self catering cottage in either County Donegal (Bridge Cottage, perhaps), Connemara (Connemara Coastal Cottages), or Counties Mayo or Galway.

Traveling with small ones, it would be best if you could fly in and out of Shannon, as it is much easier to navigate than the Dublin airport.

This is a site which I suggest often for families headed for Ireland. It will be a good starting point for your trip. Make sure you purchase Michele's vook, as it will be of tremendous help. I would suggest that you go over in June, as it is not yet high season so there will be less crowds. Another benefit to traveling in June, especially early June, is the gardens and every where else will be in full bloom.

Let us know when you have a rough itinerary and dates. We will be more than happy to help you have the best Irish experience possible.

Slan Beo (Take Care),

Bit Devine

portland,

Bit is always full of good advice. The hard part is choosing where to stay. Do you want to be close to a town or in in a rural location? What things most interest you? Have you read up on Ireland and looked at photo books to see what appeals? Let us know a little more and we will try to help you narrow your focus and find your perfect place.

Michele

Lupe, 

I suggest you get some photo books of Ireland from your library. Sit down with your sons and look at them and see what appeals most. Donegal is beautiful, however with your sons along you might want to consider another location this time. 

There will be so much for the kids to do in the SW that you really can't go wrong there. I have been doing some research on self-catering and have my eye on this one: http://www.cooliescottage.com/  It looks cute, doesn't it? 

Michele