Michele, you had asked for our itinerary earlier, so here goes!

We are just a little over 2 months...and counting till our next trip to Ireland.  It is primarily a geneology research trip.  We will be roughly retracing the 1st trip that we took my parents on in 2006, the main difference is this time it will be a full 2 weeks instead of 11 days, and secondly, we are going open-jaw...into Dublin and out of Shannon.  (Our 2nd trip was to NW Ireland for 15 days in 2009)

On our first trip, we primarily were in Dublin only to use the airport and rent a car.  We had already spent 2 days in London, and that was enough "City" for the 4 of us.  This trip, we really need to "do Dublin" and though we don't hold much hope of finding anything in the National Library to help in our Geneology research, we are going to spend a few hours there anyway.  We hear that a fire had destroyed many of the records we would be interested in, pertaining to the time period when our ancestors were there, and immigrated.

My wife and I will join up with long time friends-they are coming from PHX (we will depart PDX) and  meet-up at JFK for an evening flight out on the 26th of March.  We are scheduled to land at 8:30 AM in Dublin.  We plan to pack carry-on only, so will be able to clear immigration and customs quickly, and head for the taxi or bus stop area.

We won't pick our  rental car up untill the 29th, 3 days later, when we return to the airport by bus/taxi and head to the Hertz car rental counter with pre-paid vouchers in hand.  We have a 4-door, manual trans. mid-size  Ford Mondeo (or similar) reserved thru www.irelandtouring.com.  It is suppose to be all inclusive up through CDW, for $539.00 US for 12 days.  Since we are splitting the cost of the rental car with the other couple, we decided to buy the CDW instead of using my World Master Card...it would just be less messy for all involved, in case we had a fender bender!  We will get the car with a full tank of petrol, and will have the option to return it full.  It is suppose to be an all inclusive price, and Conn has warned us in a letter that other charges may show up on the paper work, like Super CDW (which we will accept for 12 Euros/day) extra driver (we won't have one) PAI (what-ever that is) and refueling charges (won't be an issue if we return it full)  We need to check this all out completely before signing anything! Our all inclusive rate (in written contract) includes 13.5% VAT tax, unlimited milage, CDW, Theft protection, and third party liability insurance.  The CDW and THEFT has a DEDUCTIBLE of Euro 1,600.  Super CDW will cover this deductible except for damaged tires, lost keys or use of incorrect fuel.  (It doesn't say anything about wind screen or undercarriage or roof....I still need to check that out)  We plan to buy an "excess" policy which will cover tires, undercarriage, glass and roof of the car from: insurance4carhire.com for about $60.00 and this should cover us down to "0".  We will report back after the trip to let you all know how it went.

We plan to leave the airport by either taxi or bus... airlink or aircoach bus sounds good.  we are thinking about  getting the 3 day freedom pass for $26 Euros which includes HOHO bus and Airlink/Aircoach Bus downtown and return to airport.  One of them stops mere steps from our Hotel in Dublin; the O'Callaghan Mont Clare.  We got in on an internet hotel special...prepaid 50%;  total cost:   55 Euros/night/room for 2 nights.  It is in a great location for touring Dublin on foot or by Bus.  We hope to get to our hotel by 10:30 AM, drop our luggage if we can't check in,  grab a cup of coffee,( much needed caffeine) and head for the main gate of Trinity College for the 11:00 AM Historical Walking tour of Dublin, lasting approx. 2 hours.  Will try to do a lot of walking that day to combat jet-lag.  Next we will hit Leo Burdocks for lunch...famous for fish and chips, and have a picnic somewhere in the neighborhood of the River Liffy or Dublin Castle, weather permitting.  Next we will either tour Dublin Castle or the Chester Beatty Library.  We will take in Evensong at CC Cathedral at 3:30PM.  Hopefully we won't fall asleep!  Following that, if it isn't raining too hard (we will have our rain coats close at hand at all times), we will walk south from CCC about 15-20 minutes to Guinness Storehouse, hopefully in time for the last tour of the day at 5PM.  Want to see the City of Dublin from 8 stories up, and of course have the obligitory pint of "moothers milk!"  I don't know how long they will let us hang around, but might possibly get in on a fantastic sunset while at the gravity bar!  It would be interesting to see Dublin from up there, at dusk or even after dark!  

We will then opt for a bus or taxi to get back to the hotel to freshen up for evening activities.  Will probably do "pub grub" for our evening meal, and are leaning towards "O'Neill's"  Of course we will need another pint for a night-cap, and if we last that long, some trad music!  Doubtful, though,....because on our last trip, we were in Galway City that first night, and in our B&B and out for the night about the time trad music sessions were starting!

2nd day activites include; Kilmainham Goal....up early, find breakfast nearby (our 55 Euro rate does not include breakfast) and on the bus for the 1st Kilmainham tour of the day at  9:30AM.  This should take a couple of hours, then back on the bus to head back to Trinity College to see the book of Kells, head over the O'Connell bridge/statue, General Post Office, the Spire, James Joyce statue, Parnell Monument and square, and end at the Garden of Remembrance.  We will try to catch lunch at the Queen of Tarts, then head back to the National Library to do Geneology research for a couple of hours.  Also on our list is Iveagh Gardens, St. Stephens Green, Merrian Square.  We plan to do Evensong at St. Patricks Cathedral....around 5-5:30PM.  One Evensong will be mixed voice choir, and the other will be all male (boy/men) choir.  After that we would like to have dinner at a fairly nice restaurant, and a couple that come to mind are Gallaghers Boxty House or the Winding Stair.... we're open to suggestions!  Definitely will do a pub-crawl (on our own) checking out some of the famous Dublin pubs like: The Brazen Head (one of the oldest in Dublin) O'Donaghues, The Cobblestone, The Bank, Brogan's, Davitts....Whew!!!  Of course if we find some great trad. music, we might just settle in for the evening!

Day 3, we will check out of our hotel, grab some breakfast, and head for the airport around 9:30 AM for our scheduled 10AM rental car pick-up.  We will hit the M50 Motorway skirting around the west side of Dublin, and head for Kilkenny.  I am still researching to see if there are any interesting places to stop and see between Dublin and Kilkenny.  The Irish Stud is near the route, but I am allergic to horses.  The Japanese gardens have gotten mixed reviews.  We might opt for Ducketts Grove formal gardens instead, and the Black Abbey, the Killeshen Church and Round tower, and St. Brigids well on the Kildare road sounds interesting....however we are open to any other suggestions.  At any rate, if all else fails, we will do a lunch/tea stop...any suggestions?  I am sure there will be plenty to do in Kilkenny.  We want to do a walking tour of Kilkenny,  tour St. Canices Cathedral, Kilkenny Castle, the design center, Rothe House, Butter Slip, (a narrow medieval corridor), Black Freren Gate, and St. John's Priory.  We are staying 2 nights in Kilkenny, at Rosquil House.  It will be our friend's first Irish B&B experience, and after reading the description in Michele's book, I can hardly wait to see it, and hope they like it.  We will try to find a trad session both nights.  The next day we plan to see Kell's Priory, Kilree Round Tower and High Cross, Jerpoint Abbey, and maybe the Kilfane 13th Century Church, Round tower, glen, and waterfall, time permitting.

                                           (more to come)