Ah rookie mistake. Doesn’t have the same impact without saying a shower of langers.
Saying it is full of a shower of langers would have the impact of making me sound stupid. Anyway it is a shower of bastards, a legion of langers, a murder of crows etc.
A late friend once took a trip around the island (from Belfast to Dublin) and when he told about it he said that the first days he and his travelling partners just had to stop the car here and there, stand in awe for a while and take loads of photographs. After a couple of days they stopped the car here and there, looked around and said to themselves, “I’m pretty sure that this is breathtakingly beautiful, but I’m not able to evaluate it here and now so I’d better take loads of photographs and examine them in peace and quiet when I get home”.
Do what we did – get a travel book on Ireland (we got the Michelin Guide) and a set of Post-It Notes. Then go through and tab what you want to see.
We flew into Dublin and left from the other coast. Along the way we saw:
Tara
NewGrange
Dublin (Grafton St., Book of Kells, Shaw’s House)
Glendalough
Waterford
Limerick
Dingle Peninsula
Waterford - I am not much for factory tours nor do I have a need for fine cut crystal in my home; but the Waterford factory tour is worth the time. It is amazing the amount of time and skill put into making those pretty bowls and trophies.
They stopped doing the factory tour after their financial troubles, but presumably it will be a part of the new Visitor Center, which is slated to open in June.
Limerick is known as stab city. Crime there has risen steadily in the last decade, and there’s a bit of a gang feud going on, which has been very, very bad for more than a few people that just were unlucky enough to LOOK like an opposing gang member or live in the house next door. Pity really, I really liked Limerick when I visited twenty years ago, and found that since it’s an industrial city that doesn’t get much tourism, it was one of the realer pub experiences I had. I’m not sure I’d go back now.
I hadn’t heard that the Waterford tour had closed down – too bad. They let you get a lot closer to the glass blowers and the glass cutters than the old Corning Glass tour did in New York state. I hope they re-instate them.
Even if you can’t tour the factory, though, Waterford still has Reginald’s Tower, the old City Walls, and the Viking Ruins in the city mall parking lot.
I forgot a few things – we also saw the Rock of Cashel and Russborough House.
I lived in Limerick for a year, in 2001 and lived nearby until last year. It’s not particularly dangerous but nor is it particularly interesting, though you are correct in saying that Limerick people so much nicer than the city’s image would have you believe.
I enjoyed Kilkenny Castle as well - definitely worth a stop if you’re in the area. Also nearby is Kell’s Priory, a ruin which was another highlight of our trip. It took a bit of finding, but once we got there we literally had the place to ourselves. Not a single other person was there - and we spent almost an hour! It was very atmospheric - the rooks were cawing, sheep grazing nearby, ruined walls all around, and no humans. Incredible.
Is it worth going north of Dublin, or even Wexford (county)? You’ve got the weather, the scenery everything basically that the rest of the island has but prettier.
What’s worth seeing north of the border? Um… not much. There are the Walls of Derry, bits of Belfast, not the Giants Causeway (as Dr Johnson said).
Antrim coast, Mountains of Mourne, much of the Derry coast, Newcastle are all worth a gander. I think Northern Ireland is beautiful!
Lots of excellent suggestions already posted. I particularly concur with Dingle, Galway, the Ring of Kerry, Rock of Cashel, and Newgrange.
Get an automatic transmission if you can afford it. As someone else noted, shifting with your left hand is much harder than you think it’ll be.
Get a good map. It might be different now with GPS, but, when we went, 15 years ago, we bought something called the “Ordnance Survey” atlas. It was an incredibly detailed road atlas, and we were very, very thankful we had it…it had every road on it.
We didn’t stay in a hotel for the entire two weeks. I really believe B&Bs are the way to go (though you may get burned out on “Irish Breakfast” after a week or so 
).
A great thing to see in Dublin are the mummies in St Michan’s Church (Church Street, near the Four Courts just north of the Liffey) - surprisingly well-preserved bodies from the Middle Ages. Maybe not for the overly squeamish though.
I would agree with going north if you can, Antrim’s hills are beautiful and the murals of West Belfast and Derry are well worth seeing up close.
Limerick is perfectly safe as long as you stay out of certain housing estates you’d have no reason to go into anyway. But there isn’t a lot to see there, apart from maybe the City Museum.
Notes about using a GPS:
I bought a UK/Ireland map card for our Garmin used off eBay. It’s much cheaper that way, and you can sell it to someone else after you get back and save even more.
The map was detailed and useful. However, the direction algorithm assumes certain speed limits on roads, even if that’s not the speed you can safely drive. It had us driving on some one-lane backroads we should never have touched. Stick to “M” or “N” roads when going from one area to another. Leave “R” roads and below for sightseeing sans time limit.
Another thing I was unprepared for is that many places don’t have addresses. They’ll just list the road and expect you to know. I had a hell of a time trying to find some of the B&Bs we stayed at. One didn’t even list the road, just “between the Rock of Cashel and the ruined church.” There’s more than one ruined church in Cashel, and it’s a pretty tiny town.
The B&B listing book included latitude and longitude coordinates for many of them, so that helped when it was available, although not always 100% accurate.
Something I’ve never heard of, thanks for the heads up.
With regards the murals and the like, there are taxi firms that will take you for a tour of the “hot spots” of Belfast at least, so you don’t have to worry about the locals…
My last 2 trips to Ireland were 9 days each.
For each, I landed in Dublin and picked up a car at the airport. I then got a hotel room in the city and relaxed/looked around the first day to adjust from the flight.
The following day I was up and on the road with my GPS. I had no itinerary at all. The first trip I meandered west, then south. The second, I meandered south, then west, then back east. In both cases I covered a good deal of the island (except the north).
When night time rolled around, I’d search hotels on my GPS and pick whichever sounded good (found some really cool, old places that way).
I absolutely love going over there. The roads are a paradise for anyone who enjoys driving: twisty, scenic and the native drivers are very attentive and considerate.
On my next trip, I plan to spend more time in the southeast. It is absolutely breathtaking in that area (everywhere, really, but there especially).
If you decide to pick a series of base camps, I recommend Mullingar about in the center. I spent a night there and found it to be very scenic.
Here are a few of my favorite pics I’ve taken:
I did a bit of hiking at school in terrain like that. The lack of trees started to get to me after a bit, a strange sense of sensory deprivation I guess. Ok, maybe not an accurate diagnosis, but it just felt so empty.
You couldn’t pay me enough to go back to Ireland (you probably could but it would be a substantial sum) as I have spent 3 trips of 2 weeks each getting to know the fair land. I find the music in the pubs at night a little too touristy and “canned”; Galway and Killarney incredibly overrated. There really isn’t much to distinguish one part from the rest and trying to distinguish pictures of one area from another are nearly impossible. I do understand why some people like it, but I think there are many other places that are more “different” that are a better spending of vacation time and money.
After that note of displeasure, the places you can’t miss:
Book of Kells
Newgrange + Hill of Tara
Rock of Cashel
Cliffs of Moher (although this is exactly as you’d expect and not a penny more)
a real Irish pub in a town not found in any tourist book (people are awesome, peat fire is crazy warm, you can see how the community forms around the pub, and the beer is superb)
Things that are worth seeing if you are there:
Dingle peninsula and the hike up the mountain
The national museum in Dublin
The prison museum in Dublin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilmainham_Gaol)
King John’s Castle