We flew direct from Lyon to Dublin via Aer Linus. Ticket prices were 200 euros for adults, and 140 for children. We could have saved quite a bit had we bought the tickets 90 days in advance, but missed the chance. Flight time is 90 minutes.
Once in Dublin, we took a taxi to our hotel, Holiday Inn City Center. The taxi was 25 euros for 6 people. It took about an hour, mainly because it was rush hour. The hotel was nice, but it was about 1 mile from the heart of Dublin, which made for a long walk. In Dublin there are many churches and other sites to see. Some of the many highlights during our 3 days were:
Trinity College - Book of Kells and the Long Room
Cathedrals - Christchurch and Saint Patrick's
Dublin Castle - the Irish Whitehouse. Also has a good tour of the base of the castle and some interesting history.
Breweries - Guinness and Jamestown Whiskey. The Guinness tour was a bit pricey and does not include an actual demo of beer being made. A visit to the top floor for a pint and a great view of the city is worth it if the weather is clear.
Irish Pubs - it goes without saying.
After Dublin, we rented a van at the Dublin airport and took off for the south coast area. It was very easy to adapt to driving on the left side of the road. One other thing - get the extra insurance for your car. Normally using your VISA card provides you with collision coverage, but not in Ireland for some reason.
We drove south to Waterford and stayed at the Brown Bed & Breakfast, very nice. Waterford has a very nice crystal factory with a tour and showroom. Prices were pretty good. We walked throughout the heart of the village, seeing a few nice castle remains and churches.
From there we drove to Cork, home of the Blarney Castle. Along the way we had a great view of the Irish countryside and coast and stopped at several villages along the way. The main attraction to Cork is the Blarney Castle and a small village with a great pub and shops. We spent quite a bit of time at the castle and really didn't get a chance to see what all was in Cork. We stayed at a nice B&B called the Garnish House. It was not easy to find, a fairly new building with good service and great food.
Our last stop was Killkenny and along the way we stopped at a very nice pottery factory, Bennets Bridge. You could actually see the pottery being made and painted. We also stopped at a very old seaside town along the way. We drove out to a bluff overlooking the rugged Irish coastline and the Irish Sea. We also toured a very old cemetery and remains of a church.
Killkenny is a very old city with a large castle and many very old churches. We stayed at the Berkley House. One caution, the rooms on the front overlook a busy street and it was noisy at times. Probably can do better than this place.
After Killkenny, it was back to Dublin for our flight home. One thing to remember - give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport. The traffic near Dublin is very, very congested and you need to give yourself at least 2 extra hours on top of the normal driving time from your last stop.