A few years ago we had a 2 week trip around the Republic and Northern Ireland....awesome!! Really impressed by the people, the land, and the history. Gained a little understanding of the “troubles” looking at those cannons in the English fort overlooking Derry.
Jane is from west Cork. During your visit, did you visit the south west and travel up the Atlantic coast.? Some of the more remote coves are only accessible via the passes on a donkey.
Spent a night in Cork and went for a walk around St Fin Barr’s Cathedral and a night in Killarney. Also walked around Waterford and as we looked at the statue of Thomas Meagher remembered him as the first territorial Governor of Montana who fell off a river boat on the Missouri River. Since we lived in Montana, we knew how to pronounce his name! Wish we could make another trip to that amazing area.
Lots of interesting things and places all over Ireland. Some things to note: Whilst it's a relatively small island, many roads are smaller too. Not the arterial routes but rural roads can be too narrow to pass an oncoming car. So one needs to pull into a gateway or similar so the other can pass. So use Google maps at your planning stage, to know distances and timings for your journey. Eg. Dublin to Belfast - allow 2 1/4 hrs. Dublin to Galway - allow 2 1/2 hrs. The whole west coast is beautiful from Cork City up to Derry. (Also known as Londonderry). Walking tours give an understanding of the city's history. The west coast is more rugged than the east due to the Atlantic Ocean. East coast 'softer'. North coast has good stuff to see and do. Quite a lot in Belfast and surrounding area. Titanic Exhibition is very good, in the top 3 attractiois in the world, if I recall. New Grange also good. Dublin, the capital isn't as bad as some have made out in this thread. Similar issues as affect any city, imv. Has some really lovely bits. Dun Laoghaire, Howth, Malahide, Killiney, are nice towns/villages dotted around Dublin. Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford cities along east coast are interesting generally. Waterford actually on south coast, east 'corner'. Wexford has a lot of political history too, if that's your interest. Inland, there's County Tipperary, the horse racing/stud county. Cashel worth a look if you're into castles. South coast is lovely and 40 mins from Cork City is Kinsale. Last remaining original Georgian village in the Irish Republic. There's another in Northen Ireland, Hillsborough. If booking accommodation, feel free to search on online booking sites but check TripAdvisor before booking and BOOK DIRECT WITH THE ACCOMMODATION. If, as a tourist, you want to immerse yourself with locals, you can really do that if staying in Bed & Breakfast family homes. They'll often help signpost you to places to see and to the better, consistently good, restaurants. Feel free to post your interests and I'll try to signpost you. If driving around Ireland, remember the speed limits are measured in kmh. However north of the border, in Northern Ireland, it's miles per hour. No point in sitting at 60kmh in NI, where the limit is 60mph - about 90kmh - but if you do, you won't be the first. Everything will overtake you. You won't see everything Ireland has to offer, in 4wks. Not even 4 months.
