Christy,

A forum member in the past did the language class at Glencolumkill and loved it. You might look into a self-catering place nearby for that week. If you do a forum search you may come up with the posts, although it was a few years ago. As I recall there was self-catering available nearby. However, you would want to book in ahead as soon as your plans are firm.

So the class would take up a week. That will give you two weeks for Antrim, Sligo, Mayo and Galway. Since you will be flying into Belfast, you will probably want two days for the Antrim coast at a minimum. First, you will have jet-lag so who knows how the first day will go? Some places I enjoyed are:

Giant's Causeway
Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge (although I did not cross it!)
Dunluce Castle
Downhill & Mussenden Temple
Various beaches and coves along the route
Torr Road
The Dark Hedges (nr. Armoy)

In the Sligo area are a lot of ancient sites:

Carrowmore
Carrowkeel
Creevykeel Court Cairn
Knocknarea (Maeve's cairn)
Tons of Yeats associated places to visit

Mayo:

Achill Island
Westport
Ceide Fields
Museum of Country Life (nr. Castlebar)
Croagh Patrick

Donegal:

Fabulous coastline and beaches
Glenveagh Castle & Park
Grianan of Aileach
Inishowen Peninsula

Galway:

Galway City
Connemara
Great coast and mountains
Kylemore Abbey
Cong & Quiet Man country (although officially in Mayo)
Various off-shore islands including Aran Islands

There's a start for you. Have fun planning!

Michele

Christy,

Your only problem will be crossing things off your "to do" list. You can run into midges in Ireland too. It is much rarer than in Scotland (why, I don't know). But it can happen. Can't think of anything in particular at the moment.

Michele

Anchoress,

I have only encountered midges a couple of times in all my visits to Ireland. I suppose it depends on which month you are there. Since I generally travel in spring and fall perhaps I avoid the heaviest midge season. They certainly are blood-thirsty little critters.

Michele

Wow! Well, I am sure we won't be too bad in June, but if we move there, I'll come prepared (not sure how!) :)

Midges never bothered me in Scotland, though they bit my husband up terribly. Perhaps they dislike my taste :D

Christy,

Glad to hear your plans are now on the front burner. Either plan looks good although the first avoids a cross-country drive. I suppose which one you do will  be determined by where you fly into. Have you been checking on airfares yet?

Some car rental companies have a large drop-off charge when renting in No. Ireland and dropping in the Republic (and vice versa). Do check into that.

Tourism in Ireland is down about 30% according to my sources around the country. I'm sure that the official tourist boards put a positive spin on the numbers and make it a more optimistic number.  Everyone is missing American tourists and the recession is making it easier to "wing it". Although with three of you it would probaly be best to make definite plans.

I couldn't cross the rope bridge either. It made me dizzy just looking at it.

Michele

Actually, our itinerary and flight plans will depend on if I can convince my traveling companions that the Belfast-to-Shannon route is the smarter one. One has never been to Ireland, and she's skittish about flying into Belfast, despite my assurances. I like that one better as there is less backtracking, more chance to see the Giant's Causeway, and more time in each spot.

If I can convince Carla that all is going to be fine, we'll do that one. Then we'll determine flights. She's probably flying separate from us anyhow, as she uses her American Airline miles when she can, and is flying from Miami. I'm flying from West Virginia, and my friend Kim is coming from San Franscisco. All over the country we are scattered!

I'll watch for the drop off charges. Do you know of any offhand that do not charge them? We will probably want an intermediate sized manual transmission car - and I have a World Mastercard. CDW shouldn't be a problem.

Slieve Leauge is definitely on the list! I like the Pirate Queen stories, as well, and look forward to visiting Achill Island. We love abbeys, cathedrals, castles, old graveyards, neolithic/pagan sites, and charming villages. And impressive cliffs!

I know that, and YOU know that, but convincing a nervous friend of that is another thing. But I have some time to work on it.

Thanks! I'll look into Dooley. I am considering springing for an automatic, as well, but Kim will be doing most of the driving (she gets carsick if she doesn't), so it's really up to her.

Christy,

What is your departure point for the Aran Islands? Will you take the ferry or fly?

Michele

Christy,

I think that the logistics might be better if you take the ferry from Galway or Rosaveal rather than Doolin. The Doolin ferries are very weather dependent. Then can be canceled at the last moment. So consider Galway in place of Ennis.

Michele

I think we'll do this:

3 nights Kenmare
1 night Ennis/Doolin
2 nights Inis Mor (ferry from Rossaveal)
3 nights Galway
2 nights Westport
4 nights Donegal
1 night Cushendall

I think that will work :) I forgot that this is not a car ferry, so we need to return to where our car was!

Christy --

A couple of points of clarification, please ...

You mention that you will be departing from West Virginia - did you relocate from Gator-ville??

No matter if it is at the Begining or End of the trip, Kenmare is definitively, the 'Odd Man Out'.  While I certainly understand the interest/attraction, it's a good, 5-6 hour trip to/from SNN AND it is rather isolated from the Rest of your trip.  Have you cconsidered an alternate location -- say, Killorglin??

I think you will find flying into Belfast and out of Shannon to be cheaper due to the higher Departure Tax in the UK -- at least, that is what I found, the few times that I tried to price out tickets utilizing Belfast /Glasgow/ and/or Edinborough.

Bob

Christy,

If you use Dublin I think I would fly in and then get out as soon as possible. It is much easier leaving from Shannon than Dublin. Dublin Airport is a construction zone.

Have you thought of taking a night from Donegal to add to No. Ireland? You only have one night there. Although you can hit the highlights of the Antrim coast on one long driving day you will miss out on some things. It is a very beautiful drive.

As for me, it is no contest between Kenmare and Kilorglin. I just love Kenmare and the people there.

Hey, I lived in Florida for 28 years. It was a relief to move to a place that has real seasons.

Michele

Given a choice between Michele's advice and mine, it's a 'no-brainer' to go with Michele ...   

Let it be acknowledged that I LOVE the SW.  I am, after all, the one who spent a whole week nestled down on the Sheep's Head.  My option of dropping Kenmare has more to do with logistics.  While Kenmare DOES offer better access to Beara and West Cork, it's pretty far from Shannon and Galway -- particularly in light of the fact that there is NO Direct Route -- Pretty much all roads north force you through Killarney.

Depending upon WHEN in June you go, Killarney hosts the week-long, Fleahd Cheoil Chiarrai    http://www.discoverireland.ie/Search-Results/Details.aspx?touristItemID=10754

Music and dance groups flock into Killarney from all over during the Festival.  Last June, part of High Street was blocked off by a mobile stage with street performers and all the venues were PACKED with musicians, every night.

Given the choice of driving home -- IN THE DARK -- between Killarney and Kenmare ("Over the mountain and through the woods"), and Killorglin (along a semi-main highway - such as it is ... ), Kilorglin would be MUCH easier, stress-wise.

We spent a week self-catering in Kilorglin in June of '05.  It's a nice place in its own right, with my two favorite food places - Benz Cafe and Dev's On The Square -- good music venues -- the Bridge Bar comes to mind -- and nice, friendly people. 

While Kenmare doubtless has even more, it's rather inconveniently FAR from the rest of your trip.  Kilorglin is an EASY day-trip to Dingle; it actually sits ON the ROK route (If you started about 9 AM, you would actually be about 1 1/2 hours AHEAD of the Tour Buses); it is seriously close to the Gap of Dunloe;  and it is WAY closer to SNN or Doolin.

Ultimately, what you decide to include or exclude will depend upon what you and your travel partners deem as most worthy of your time.

I'm just trying to confuse the issue with options ...    

Bob

OK, 

Now I am the one that's confused ...   

When did Cork drop into the mix????? 

As to Beara, I could envision a LONG day-trip that runs something like this:

Depart Kilorglin approx 8 AM (the sun will have been up since about 4:30) and drive the ROK counter-clockwise, arriving in the vicinity of Sneem around 2PM-ish (with stops).  Enjoy a late lunch at :  http://www.strawberryfield-ireland.com/  

You KNOW that you want to ...  

After your Pancakes, you drive through Kenmare to Lauragh, North-to-South through Healy Pass to Adrigoleand then on, to Glengariff.  Then you drive up, through the Caha Pass Stone Tunnels, and return to Kenmare.

Google Maps says:

Via Unknown road - remove