Two Weeks in Ireland with Kids

We took a trip to Ireland last year, but it was just us. We knew immediately the kids would love it, so this time we brought the kids to Ireland!

Day 1

We left the house Monday, August 14th about noon and arrived at Newark International Airport at about 2:30, breezed through security, and sat at the gate for 2ish hours. We ate dinner on the plane and then everyone tried their best to get some sleep. We had a 3-hour layover in Copenhagen, which included some chocolate shopping, pastry eating, and waiting…

We landed in Dublin about 11:30 am Dublin time on Tuesday, August 15th and hopped in a taxi to our lodging for the next two nights, Parkway Guesthouse. We dropped our bags in a room while we ventured out for some lunch at Murrays Bar O Connell Street. After lunch, we found an amazing park/playground and played a bit before checking into our room and freshened up a bit. We decided to do the Hop On, Hop Off Bus with DoDublin Tours.

This was a good 1.5-2 hours to do the whole loop without hopping off at all. It was a nice lazy way to see a bunch of things we may not otherwise see, plus some history and fun facts along the way. We grabbed dinner at The Kingfisher – Restaurant & Townhouse and took a little longer of a walk back to our b&b. Everyone showered and quickly zonked out. 

Lodging for 2 nights in Dublin: Parkway Guesthouse 

We paid $523 for 2 nights in a family room (full bed and twin bunk beds) with a private bathroom. 

Day 2

Today we got up around 8:15 am and had to wake the boys a little before 9. We grabbed some fruit, juice, and mini muffins from the b&b before hitting Koffee&kale for breakfast wraps.

Today’s scheduled activity was an active one! We learned about three Gaelic games (hurling, Gaelic football, and handball) and then played them with Experience Gaelic Games.

We definitely got the exercise and laughs in this morning because this is a three-hour experience. We grabbed some toasties and treats at Bua Coffee for lunch right outside of the club.

We changed into regular/warmer clothes and checked out the Garden of Remembrance before hopping on DoDublin Tours bus again. Fun fact: we happened to hop on a bus giving the tour in German today. We were just taking the bus to get to Dublinia and Christ Church Cathedral Dublin, which we explored for the next couple of hours.

We finished the day off with dinner and music at Darkey Kelly’s! It was one of our favorite meals when Tom and I were here last year and we wanted to go back. You can’t beat the bangers and mash + live music every night.

Day 3

Today we slept in again – woke the boys up at about 8:45 am. We packed up our bags and left them at the b&b while we went out with Kevin for our Walking Food Tours. The tour stopped at Container Coffee, Griolladh, Leo Burdock, The Music Cafe Dublin, and Murphys Ice Cream.

The tour ended near Grafton St, so we wandered around a bit and actually stumbled upon The LEGO Store in Dublin, which was celebrating its 1st birthday this week! It’s currently the only LEGO store in Ireland. We grabbed our luggage from the b&b and returned to the airport to pick up our car. Once we had our car, a Toyota C-HR, we hit the road to Howth! We found our way to our cute little b&b here (Gleann Na Smol) with the kindest host, Sean.

After a quick refresh, we met our photographer at Howth Castle for some pictures before venturing to Howth Cliff Walk for more shots!

We were too late for most of the restaurants and pubs to serve us food, but we snagged a pizza, potato wedges with dip, and churros with dip from Apache Pizza Howth. We took it back to the b&b and Sean pulled out some plates for us to eat at the dining table. It was a perfect easy way to end the night.

Lodging for 1 night in Howth: Gleann Na Smol

We paid $225 for 1 night in a Standard Quadruple Room (2 twin beds) with a private bathroom. This included a delicious full Irish breakfast made by the owner!

Day 4

We started this morning off with a delicious full Irish breakfast made by our host, Sean, before checking out of the b&b. We walked the harbor in the rain, checked out Howth Market, and had crepes from Amore Gelato Howth. We walked the pier and found a few seals while watching the fishing boats come in.

On Kevin’s (Walking Food Tours) suggestion, we had lunch at Baily Bites at Kish – shrimp with fries and seafood chowder in a bread bowl.

We made our way into Northern Ireland and checked into the cutest hostel, Portrush Holiday Hostel. After checking in, we took a short walk to Currys Funpark Portrush and the kids rode a bunch of rides. We all rode the Sky View Giant Wheel and got a nice surround view of the Portrush area.

Again, we waited too late for dinner and our options were very limited. We did find dinner at Kiwis Brew Bar and had a tasty burger and pizza.

Lodging for 2 nights in Portrush: Portrush Holiday Hostel

We paid $220 for 2 nights in a family room (The Beach Cabin) with private bathroom. This family room had a full bed and twin bunk beds. This included a great continental breakfast each morning.

Day 5

We started the morning off with a self-serve breakfast at Portrush Holiday Hostel. They had pancakes, breads, jams, cereal, fruit, yogurt, ham, cheese, and more! We then attempted to drop off laundry somewhere but they didn’t have availability, which meant we needed to do our own. We drove 5 min to Portstewart and spent two hours doing laundry in a grocery store parking lot.

We did grab some fresh fruit (because yum) and cough syrup (because yuck) inside. Once the clothes were in the dryer, we drove to pick up some lunch nearby from Superfry.

With clean clothes loaded back in the car, we made our way to The Giant’s Causeway. It is really one of the coolest places in the world. It was amazing just watching the kids play and climb, a natural playground.

We were too late to check out Dunluce Castle afterwards, so it’s on the plan for tomorrow morning. We did see it from a distance at Magheracross Viewpoint.

We opted for an early and delicious dinner at 55 North, Portrush. Then we hit Currys Funpark again to ride Aqua Valley. I have never gotten this soaked on a log flume! It’s legit!

We grabbed ice cream from Morelli’s and wandered around near the promenade before calling it a day.

Day 6

After another great breakfast at Portrush Holiday Hostel, we checked out and made our way to Dunluce Castle and explored there for a while.

We stopped at Whiterocks Beach and couldn’t get over the clear water and amazing view from the beach. After some beach time, we returned to Portrush for a yummy lunch at Shanty. And of course, we had to play on the rocks just outside.

While on our 2.5 hour drive to our next destination, we stopped to check out the Derry Walls in Londonderry.

After checking into Sligo City Hotel, we ventured out to wander the super cute little city. We had dinner at Fiddlers Creek and grabbed some lollies from Tesco to finish the walk back to the hotel.

Lodging for 1 night in Sligo City: The Address Sligo (it was Sligo City Hotel when we stayed)

We paid $199 for 1 night in a classic family room, which had one double bed and two twin beds.

Day 7

Almost halfway through our trip!

This morning we checked out of Sligo City Hotel and wandered around town for breakfast. We ended up having breakfast from Grappa Cafe and ate outside. We then continued walking around town/city and explored Sligo Abbey.

On our way back to our car, we popped into a few shops. Of course, we spent the most time in the bookstore (Owen is definitely my kiddo ). We found some fun reads by Irish authors and he struggled deciding which one to put back, so we agreed on three for him.

Then we drove over to Parke’s Castle. We watched the video and took a great guided tour from Seamus.

We hit the road again with some road snacks (crisps taste test between Tayto and O’Keough’s). We did stop for a quick lunch at Charlestown Service Station and grabbed some Supermac’s.

We checked into our Airbnb in Ennistymon. Our host was the sweetest! She chatted about where we’d been, told us all about the area, and gave us some tips for various things.

Ennistymon has a great waterfall that’s an easy walk around town, so we did that this evening. Since we have a full apartment here, we hit Fitzpatricks Supervalu Ennistymon and picked up fresh items for dinner, some fruit to snack on, and cereal for the morning (and apparently before bed because Charlie and Owen ate a bowl of Chocos at 11 pm).

We made dinner, relaxed in the living room, and watched Sing.

Lodging for 2 nights in Ennistymon: Airbnb Condo

We paid $281 for 2 nights in a beautiful 2-bedroom, 1 bath condo with a full living room and kitchen. 

Day 8

Today we had a slow start and mostly just chilled in the rental for the morning. Tom and Owen went downstairs to Foodies Korner Ennistymon and picked up some breakfast for take away. We ate, watched a little tv, read, and played some games. Tom and Owen also took a little walk around town and came back with some items from The Cheese Press. The bread and jam was amazing! The sheep cheese? That’s a no for us.

We walked to Pot Duggans and had some toasties and salad for lunch in their outdoor space. We stopped on the walk back and grabbed some fresh meat (lamb and chicken skewers) from Bernard Roughan Butchers for dinner.

On our way to Doolin Cave, we found a few castle ruins. Once at the cave, we visited with some animals and were able to see Europe’s largest stalactite!

The cliffs are just about 20 min away, so we drove over to Guerin’s Path to Cliff Walk and showed the boys the cliffs! I pulled into The Clare Jam Company on our way back and grabbed a few faves!

We drove into Lahinch, Ireland to check out the beach and have our first 99 of the trip (it’s an )!

Back at the apartment, we made dinner, watched a movie, and played another game.

Day 9

This morning we slept in a bit, had breakfast at the rental in Ennistymon (cereal, fruit, bread, and jam), and packed up to head to our next destination.

During today’s almost 3-hour drive, we stopped in Bunratty for Bunratty Castle & Folk Park. We saw some animals, wandered around a “village”, did a little shopping, and explored the castle! Then we had a late lunch across the street at Durty Nelly’s.

We checked into our Airbnb in the Gap Of Dunloe about 5:45 pm. We were here long enough to put our bags inside and do a quick change of clothes before heading out for the evening.

Tonight we saw Celtic Steps The Show! Seats are first come, first served and we got there early enough to snag front and center. It was amazing! And the kids got to go up for a song/dance!

When we got back to the cottage in the Gap, we started another load of clothes in the washer while the previous load was drying on the rack.

Lodging for 2 nights in the Gap of Dunloe: Airbnb Cottage

We paid $457 for 2 nights in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath cottage with a kitchen right inside the Gap of Dunloe. 

Day 10

Today we had breakfast at the rental (homemade French toast and cereal) before heading out. We’re able to wash clothes at the house but no dryer and the boys needed pants to wear today so we stopped at a gas station that had washer/dryer and dried their clothes a bit on our way to Dingle for the day.

We went out for a 2.5 hour rib boat ride with Dingle Sea Safari. It was one of the highlights of our trip last year and we knew the boys would love it too. Today we saw seals, dolphins, and minke whales.

I finally had Beef and Guinness Stew today for a late lunch at Murphy’s Pub & B&B. Tom had bacon & cabbage, Charlie had seafood stew, and Owen had beef roast.

Just outside of Dingle on the Slea Head Drive, there’s a place with beehive huts and you can hold a baby lamb. I was so sad that I didn’t do it last year but knew I’d do it when we returned. And we did – plus we fed them from bottles! The lambs we held were only 2-3 days old.

On the way back to the Gap, we stopped at Inch Beach and let the kids play. It was cold, but you can’t beat that view.

We stopped for some pizza at Peter’s Family Restaurant/Apache Pizza Killorglin. Picked up an Apache Special (pepperoni, pineapple, ham, peppers, sweet corn, onion), potato wedges, and a spice box. Yum! Eating like locals on a Thursday night.

Day 11

Time is flying right on by!

Today we started the morning off with breakfast at the Gap rental, ran a few loads of wash, and packed up the car. It was raining while we were packing up, so we went to The Coffee Pot Cafe at the Gap and had some sweet breakfast treats while deciding what we were doing in the rain. We decided to walk the Gap up to the Wishing Bridge.

It was pouring during most of the walk but it did stop for us to take some pics while we were there. We managed to make it back to the car before the rain started again.

We needed to dry our freshly washed clothes and wash+dry another load, so we returned to the Revolution Laundry in Killarney for that. We parked there and walked next door to Kayne’s Bar & Brasserie for lunch.

We popped over to Ross Castle to walk around it a bit but couldn’t tour it because we had something else scheduled.

One of the neatest things we’ve done this trip is Falconry Kerry! We each had a hawk and three owls land on our gloved hand, plus watched them do some extra things.

After our falconry experience, we made our way to the southeast and our home for tonight, Midleton. We checked into our b&b, An Stór Townhouse Accommodation. We chatted with the sweet host a bit and took her recommendation for dinner at La Trattoria.

The kids read in bed and we stayed up a bit longer to watch The Chase on tv. 

Lodging for 1 night in Midleton: An Stor Townhouse

We paid $163 for 1 night in a family room (one double bed and two twin beds) with a private bathroom. A delicious full Irish breakfast was included in this price! 

Day 12

Our day started with a delicious full Irish made by Maria at An Stór Townhouse Accommodation. After checking out, we visited Midleton Farmers Market, and popped into Jameson Distillery Midleton to buy a special distillery bottle.

We made it to Cobh just in time to catch our scheduled ferry to Spike Island Cork. This is a 3.5 hour experience that includes the ferry to and from the island and a short tour before being left to self explore the prison fortress.

After arriving back in Cobh from Spike Island, we had a late lunch at Jacob’s Ladder Restaurant at WatersEdge Hotel, Cobh. Charlie said it was the best seafood chowder he’s had yet.

We then hit the road to tonight’s accommodation, Littlefield B&B. We have a big beautiful room out in the country. We got here a little after 7 pm and it’s a few miles back to town with not a lot there. So we enjoyed our room and watched Ghostbusters Afterlife for a lazy evening before our last full day in Ireland.

Lodging for 1 night in Durrow: Littlefield B&B

We paid $162 for 1 night in the Deluxe Family Room (one double bed and two twins). This included continental breakfast. 

Day 13

Today we slept in while the rain sprinkled the countryside. It was lovely. We had a great continental breakfast at our B&B before heading out for our last full day.

We checked out Timahoe Heritage Centre and the round tower and church. Then we went to Rock of Dunamase. Charlie said Dunamase is his favorite of the castles/ruins we saw. I’m so glad we stopped at these two today.

We stopped for a quick lunch at Applegreen (service station) and had some great sandwiches.

Our last hotel in Ireland is the Grand Hotel Malahide. We checked in a little before 3pm and then we began our walk to Malahide Castle and Gardens. What a beautiful space! We saw what looked like a cricket tournament, some kids playing Gaelic football, and lots of families just out for some air.

We took a guided tour of Malahide Castle and did a quick walk through the butterfly garden and the fairy trail.

We had dinner reservations at Old Street Restaurant, which was perfect for Sunday dinner. My Roast Rib of Irish Beef was delicious as was Tom’s Pan Fried Chicken Supreme. We had mini desserts here!

Then… we went for a walk over to the water and looked back to Gino’s Gelato for second dessert.

Lodging for 1 night in Malahide: Grand Hotel Malahide

We paid $252 for 1 night in a standard family room (two double beds). This included an amazing buffet breakfast.

Day 14

Today started off with a great buffet breakfast at Grand Hotel Malahide.

We loaded up the car and made our way to the airport. Unfortunately, we did not pass a gas station, so we’ll get hit with the charge for them filling it up .

We had to have our passports manually verified at the SAS desk, which did take some time because their computer systems were having issues and couldn’t take credit cards for people who still needed to purchase their checked bags (you should always purchase ahead).

We skated through security, did some souvenir and duty-free shopping, and then got some nachos from Tap + Brew.