Ireland tips and tricks

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Anyone hangs any suggestions to help out?

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Brush up on your English.

Don't kiss the blarney stone, the locals use it as a urinal.

Go to Dingle, tour the peninsula. There's a restaurant there that sells dishes with the fresh catch from that day, though I can't remember the name. It was great though. Also there are sometimes horse races on a beach near there that I heard were awesome.

Rent a car and be prepared to stop at anything that looks interesting to you. Be careful with right turns

If you're in Dublin and are into cool old things go see the Book of Kells at Trinity College.

Try to find local pubs where traditional Irish music is being played, it's quite the experience when random patrons walk in an out and pull out a flute or accordion and join in.

Rent a car if you are up to the challenge of wrong-side driving. It takes a couple of hours on the road to "reprogram" your brain, then it's not so bad. You might consider renting outside of Dublin proper to avoid city driving in the first minutes.

While in Dublin, consider taking the commuter rail line down to Bray and walking the coast path back up to Greystones. Nice views from the sea cliffs. More info here: LINK.

Another short trip out of Dublin is taking the train to Howth...it's a fishing village with a bunch of seafood restaurants, a picturesque graveyard overlooking the sea, and a small market (in summer) near the train station.

Dublin proper can be kind of gray, so definitely get out into the gorgeous countryside.

It's really not that hard to drive over there. STAY ON THE MAIN ROADS when you're in the country, the smaller roads can get really, really narrow and you cannot see shite around the hedgerows. The roundabouts make things really easy.

In Dublin, stay at the Shelbourne hotel. It's fricking amazing. Reserve a time to do high tea at the Shelbourne; it might sound stupid but it's pretty cool and the food/tea is good. Go to O'Donahue's to hear some great live Irish folk music. The Book of Kells at Trinity College is a really awesome piece of history. The GPO is an integral part of Irish history, but the museum tour leaves a lot to be desired. Go to Kilmainham Gaol instead.

If you make it to Derry, stay at The Bishop's Gate. It's not as nice as The Shelbourne, but still very nice and the staff there is top-notch. They have very interesting tours of the walls and The Bog Side area down there. The people in Derry are some of the best folks you'll ever meet, BUT NEVER BRING UP RELIGION. Catholic/Protestant tensions are eased but there's still some deep resentment between the two sides.

Mourne Seafood Bar in Belfast is my favorite restaurant in Ireland.

If you make it to the west coast of the Island, Ballynahinch Castle is a really cool chance to stay in a castle and the accommodations are awesome.

As stated above, spend some time in Dingle. Gorgeous area.

Some folks will say you can cover the entire Island in a week, but that's bullshite. If you want to say that you saw the entire Island, then sure, but you can't really enjoy what it offers if you're driving all over the place like a madman. Pick one area and knock that out, then plan on going back to visit other parts of the island. You'll absolutely want to go back.

My 2 cents on this...I go to Ireland at least once a year.

* If you are driving, and you really want to see a Jameson Distillery, the one in Middleton near Cork is much better than the one in Dublin (which is still a good time)
* Guinness Tour, do the Connoisseur experience.
* As others said, Dingle over Ring of Kerry, especially in the summer
* Favorite pubs in Dublin are on Lower Baggot St (Dohenys, Toners, etc) or Paddy Cullens up on Merrion
* Temple Bar - like Bourbon St, you have to do it but much better places.
* Kilmainham Gaol is worth the time
* If you are doing the CLiffs, spend a night in Galway...
* I love Kinsale for the food...and the Greyhound Pub

Let me know what else you want to see or do.
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When I went i flew in to Shannon, drove straight to the cliffs of Moher, then turned back south to make a loop on the southern end of the island (Ring of Kerry), hit Kinsale, then shot up to Dublin and flew home. It was a very manageable trip without a lot of planning required.

See a sheep herding demonstration. It sounds lame, but I enjoyed the heck out of it.

Do a bike tour (or buggy tour) of Killarney Forest.

Do the Guiness brewery tour.

Do a musical pub crawl.

Find a place with a peat fire and Baileys coffee.

Safe travels.

I'm going March 20th.
Thanks for starting this thread.

I'm in Dublin for 2 days, then renting a car and out to Dingle for a few days. Stopping at every castle and pub on the way