Our draft itinerary is scoped for 11 days>Day 1 Dublin to Carrickmacross; Day 2 Carrickmacross (Church of St Patrick/Cemetary), Day 3 Drive to Galway; Day 4 Explore areas west of Galway; Day 5 Drive to Lahinch or Ennis; Day 6 & 7 Explore surrounding areas west; Day 8 Drive to Kenmare; Day 9 Explore; Day 10 Drive up to outside of Dublin? Day 11 Leave Dublin.
Does this seem reasonable for exploring those areas? Dublin is the only city that we are simply using as a travel portal. Saving that for another trip over as this one we wanted to concentrate on western and southwestern side of Ireland as there seems to be so much beauty and less crowded than Dublin. Thanks for any thoughts!
I forgot about the Lahinch connection in your other post. If the whole point of your trip is genealogy then Bit is right and you should concentrate on family areas rather than anything else. Have you done some advance research? Do you have names, dates, towns, marriages, death records, etc.? Or do you just want to "see" where your ancestors came from or do in-depth research?
I would also go along with Bit and stay north of the Shannon crossing on this occasion, There is a lot to offer in the places you have considered and Ennis is a great touring base for Clare and the "Shannon Region" Also consider putting a night west of Galway to get more from the Connemara area. If you need any help for Clare/Galway just ask, if I can help I will.
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Two rules for Ireland, Take your time & bring a sense of humour
We are a week away from leaving and most everything is completed. All of the B & Bs that we contacted were wonderful to work with as well as Dan Dooley Car Rental! The last item to tend to is the cell phone. Plan to read the forum about that.
Will post my final trip itinerary and give updates along the way.
Happy to help. You must be getting excited about counting down the days. I hope you have an excellent trip. We would love to hear back about your trip when you return.