kmbarron,

I am also working on a family trip to Ireland mid-June 2012.  We have family ties in rural county Cork, in the Millstreet area. Our ancesters left there in the 1850's, and there are baptismal records still there in a rural church...Dromtariffe, and ancestral farmground near Banteer. 

We also struggled with selecting a central location, and while Kenmare is one of my top 3 favorite small towns in Ireland, we have chosen Killarney due to ammenities, 3 tour companys with tour bus/guided tours, a huge selection of accom. located in downtown Killarney nearby to pubs, restaurants and shopping.   The Killarney Nat. Park area is a real draw, with lots to do nearby. 

Our group plans a 6 night stay in Killarney and the final night in Bunratty.  We will also use SNN airport. We are working with a couple of travel agents for a land package that includes B&B, airport transfers to and from, and 2 day trips using the tour company's coach/driver.  We plan a day trip to Dromtariffe, and another one to Blarney/Cork English Mkt, and Jameson Distillery.  Our schedule includes 3 leisure days, as we have a wide range in age group, young adults in their 20's up to a couple of my Aunts/Spouses in their 70's.  We will encourage those who want to be on the go every day to book on the leisure days with Buckley's, O'connors, or Deros....three companies in town that offer a multiple choice of sizes of coaches/tours.  Some of these options will be:  Ring of Kerry, Ring of Beara, and Dingle Penisnula, all three easily doable out of Killarney.  RofK and RoB may include a stop in Kenmare).  We plan to take in the Cliffs of Moher and Bunratty Castle after leaving Killarney on the way back towards Shannon near the end of the trip.  We will see the Medieval Castle Banquet at Bunratty, as well as visit the Folk Park and possibly Durty Nelly's to round out the week.

About a third of our group has already been to Ireland too, and this offers a chance for those who haven't been there to do as much as they want, while those of us who have been there before will have other options, and not have to pay for repeat visits to places we have already been. 

We spent a couple of nights in Kenmare this past April, and were unable to find a good selection of Trad music....could have been just too early in the season.  However, Killarney will have more pubs and hopefully a better selection of activities for evening pub crawls, trad music, restaurants, and shopping.

As for airfare, it sounds like we need at least 6 to get a group rate, and we will be departing from PDX, DEN, and OMA....with the Omaha group the largest and most apt to be able to get a group airfare rate.

Here is our proposed itinerary as of now:  (we are still tweaking it)

Day 1 depart on internation flights

Day 2 Arrive SNN, meet our tour coach for transfer to Killarney via Adare Village where we will have a 2 hour lunch stop, and time to walk about the village to help ward off jet lag.

Day 3  Leisure Day  (  or optional Killarney Nat'l Park....outdoor activities) to get over jet lag

Day 4  Day trip to Blarney Castle, Blarney Woolen Mills, Cork City English Mkt for lunch (they have great selection of deli sausage sandwichs there!) and on to Middleton Distillery tour/tasting where Jamison Whisky is made.

Day 5 Leisure Day  ( or Ring of Kerry, Ring of Beara, Dingle Peninsula options)

Day 6 Leisure Day  (or Ring of Kerry, Ring of Beara, or Dingle Peninsula options)

Day 7 Sunday Day Trip to Dromtariffe Parish (attend Mass) near Millstreet.  Visit old cemetary, and also ancestral farm ground that had been leased in the mid-1800's near Banteer.

Day 8  Tour Coach leaves Killarney, crosses Shannon on car ferry, visit Cliffs of Moher, check in at Bunratty Castle Hotel,  take in the Medieval Banquet.

Day 9 Coach Transfer to SNN airport for return trip to US or....get rental car if folks want to stay on in Ireland for a while longer and do more touring on their own.  Of course, they could also arrive a week early and do some touring on their own.

It looks like our land package quote is coming in around $1100/person based on double/triple occupancy so far.  All lunches and dinners, and leisure day activities/tours will be on our own except for Medieval Banquet.  In pricing airfare, it is looking to be in the $1000 range OMA, and $1150 range from DEN & PDX.  That is quite a ways out, and we hope to lock that in the $800-900 range when the time comes to book.

I hope i didn't hijack your posting....thought it would be interesting to compare plans.  Hope this gives you some useful information.  We are also still open for suggestions.

Regards,

Dan

Dan and Michelle,

Thanks so much for all the information! It is a daunting task to put together this trip, but also a lot of fun!

Dan, I stayed in Killarney for a week last March with a group from my college, and we had a great time! We did not rent cars, so many of us took advantage of the bus station and train station in town on our free days. My friends and I took the public bus to Cork City one day and saw the English Market, the cathedrals, the City Goal and the Butter Museum. I even got to participate in a student art project that day. There were art students all around the city setting up public art, and one of them asked to take my picture holding what looked like a decapitated head by the hair... but was really a fake plastic head. It was on a bridge near where they displayed heads on pikes in medieval Cork. I wish I asked him to send me the picture, but I didn't think of it in the moment. Anyways, we had a great day exploring the city away from the big tour group!

Our group also had two planned coach trips, one to the Dingle Peninsula and one to Blarney Castle and the Woolen Mills. We spent the rest of the time renting bikes, exploring the national park, and going out in Killarney. There are great shops in town, we ended up buying a lot of clothes because it was really warm and sunny when we were there and we didn't bring enough warm weather clothes. All the Irish people we met kept telling us we must have brought the warm weather with us, and we had to tell them it was actually snowing at home in Maine!

There was traditional music every night in our hotel and many of the pubs. One thing I noticed about the pubs in Killarney was that some nights were really really quiet, like Monday and Tuesday, and on weekdays it seemed that everyone in the pubs were American, Australian or German tourists. Actually, more than once in town that week German tourists asked me for directions. But on the weekends it was much livlier with a more local crowd. I didn't spend much time in other towns, so I don't know if that is unique to Killarney?

My mother and I debated for a long time whether we should stay in Killarney or Kenmare. Eventually we decided on Kenmare because, with the kids and the baby, we really wanted to stay in self-catering.  That way they can eat at home at regular times, play in the yard, and take naps as needed. Not to mention the price is a lot cheaper than hotels or B&B's. We also wanted to be able to walk to town, and we thought the self-catering options in Killarney we found were a little too far outside of town.

Michelle, I read about Kenmare Rentals on your site before I posted, and I contacted them about renting some of their properties in May. I haven't heard back yet, but I think they look like a perfect fit for us so I hope that works out! Also, thanks for the tip on Cork Coach Hire and all the kid-friendly suggestions.

Dan, did you make a contact at Dromtariffe parish? I also found baptism records for my relatives in a couple of rural parishes through irishgenealogy.ie. I was curious if we could see the actual parish record book while we were there, but I didn't want to be unreasonable or annoying to anyone at the church! I think everyone wants to go to mass at the family church as well.

Thanks again for all the info!
Katie